Mark 11:25

11:25 Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will ¹  also forgive you your sins.”

Mark 14:36

14:36 He said, “Abba, ²  Father, all things are possible for you. Take this cup ³  away from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Mark 15:21

The Crucifixion

15:21 The soldiers ⁴  forced ⁵  a passerby to carry his cross, ⁶  Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country ⁷  (he was the father of Alexander and Rufus).

[11:25]  ¹ tn Although the Greek subjunctive mood, formally required in a subordinate clause introduced by ἵνα ({ina), is traditionally translated by an English subjunctive (e.g., “may,” so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV), changes in the use of the subjunctive in English now result in most readers understanding such a statement as indicating permission (“may” = “has permission to”) or as indicating uncertainty (“may” = “might” or “may or may not”). Thus a number of more recent translations render such instances by an English future tense (“will,” so TEV, CEV, NLT, NASB 1995 update). That approach has been followed here.

[14:36]  ² tn The word means “Father” in Aramaic.

[14:36]  ³ sn This cup alludes to the wrath of God that Jesus would experience (in the form of suffering and death) for us. See Ps 11:6; 75:8-9; Isa 51:17, 19, 22 for this figure.

[15:21]  ³ tn Grk “They”; the referent (the soldiers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:21]  ⁴ tn Or “conscripted”; or “pressed into service.”

[15:21]  ⁵ sn Jesus was beaten severely with a whip before this (the prelude to crucifixion, known to the Romans as verberatio, mentioned in Matt 27:26; Mark 15:15; John 19:1), so he would have been weak from trauma and loss of blood. Apparently he was unable to bear the cross himself, so Simon was conscripted to help (in all probability this was only the crossbeam, called in Latin the patibulum, since the upright beam usually remained in the ground at the place of execution). Cyrene was located in North Africa where Tripoli is today. Nothing more is known about this Simon.

[15:21]  ⁶ tn Or perhaps, “was coming in from his field” outside the city (BDAG 15-16 s.v. ἀγρός 1).