Matius 27:32

The Crucifixion

27:32 As ¹  they were going out, they found a man from Cyrene named Simon, whom they forced ²  to carry his cross. ³ 

Matius 27:40

27:40 and saying, “You who can destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! ⁴  If you are God’s Son, come down ⁵  from the cross!”

Matius 27:42

27:42 “He saved others, but he cannot save himself! He is the king of Israel! If he comes down ⁶  now from the cross, we will believe in him!

[27:32]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[27:32]  ² tn Or “conscripted”; or “pressed into service.”

[27:32]  ³ 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. Mark 15:21 names him as father of two people apparently known to Mark’s audience.

[27:40]  ⁴ sn There is rich irony in the statements of those who were passing by, “save yourself!” and “come down from the cross!” In summary, they wanted Jesus to come down from the cross and save his physical life, but it was indeed his staying on the cross and giving his physical life that led to the fact that they could experience a resurrection from death to life.

[27:40]  ⁵ tc ‡ Many important witnesses (א* A D pc it sy^[s],p) read καί (kai, here with the force of “then”) before κατάβηθι (katabhqi, “come down”). The shorter reading may well be due to homoioarcton, but judging by the diverse external evidence (א² B L W Θ 0250 Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat) it is equally possible that the shorter reading is original (and is so considered for this translation). NA²⁷ puts the καί in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[27:42]  ⁶ tn Here the aorist imperative καταβάτω (katabatw) has been translated as a conditional imperative. This fits the pattern of other conditional imperatives (imperative + καί + future indicative) outlined by ExSyn 489.