Matthew 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 

Matthew 27:39-44

27:39 Those ⁴  who passed by defamed him, shaking their heads 27:40 and saying, “You who can destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! ⁵  If you are God’s Son, come down ⁶  from the cross!” 27:41 In ⁷  the same way even the chief priests – together with the experts in the law ⁸  and elders ⁹  – were mocking him: ¹⁰  27:42 “He saved others, but he cannot save himself! He is the king of Israel! If he comes down ¹¹  now from the cross, we will believe in him! 27:43 He trusts in God – let God, if he wants to, deliver him now ¹²  because he said, ‘I am God’s Son’!” 27:44 The ¹³  robbers who were crucified with him also spoke abusively to him. ¹⁴ 

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¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

² tn Or “conscripted”; or “pressed into service.”

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.

⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁵ 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.

⁶ 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.

⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

⁸ tn Or “with the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

⁹ tn Only “chief priests” is in the nominative case; this sentence structure attempts to capture this emphasis.

¹⁰ tn Grk “Mocking him, the chief priests…said.”

¹¹ 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.

¹² sn An allusion to Ps 22:8.

¹³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

¹⁴ sn Matthew’s wording suggests that both of the criminals spoke abusively to him. If so, one of them quickly changed his attitude toward Jesus (see Luke 23:40-43).