Matthäus 27:32

Lutherbibel

Und indem sie hinausgingen, fanden sie einen Menschen von Kyrene mit Namen Simon; den zwangen sie, daß er ihm sein Kreuz trug.

Parallel Translations

Schlachter Bibel (1951)
Als sie aber hinauszogen, fanden sie einen Mann von Kyrene, namens Simon; den zwangen sie, ihm das Kreuz zu tragen.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

as: Leviticus 4:3, Leviticus 4:12, Leviticus 4:21, Numbers 15:35, Numbers 15:36, 1 Kings 21:10, 1 Kings 21:13, Acts 7:58, Hebrews 13:11, Hebrews 13:12

they found: Matthew 16:24, Mark 15:21, Luke 23:26

Cyrene: Acts 2:10, Acts 6:9, Acts 11:20, Acts 13:1

Reciprocal: Matthew 5:41 - compel Matthew 10:38 - General Mark 8:34 - take Hebrews 13:13 - General

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And as they came out,.... Of the city; for no execution was made, neither in the court of judicature, nor in the city, but at some distance; as it was at stoning, so at crucifixion h:

"when judgment was finished, they brought him out to be stoned; the place of stoning was without the sanhedrim, as it is said, Leviticus 24:14, "bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp".''

Upon which the gloss and Gemara say i, without the three camps; which were these, the court which was the camp of the Shekinah; or the divine presence; and the mountain of the house, the camp of the Levites; and the city, the camp of Israel; so that he that was executed, was had without the city. Maimonides k says,

"the place in which the sanhedrim executed, was without it, and at a distance from it, as it is said, Leviticus 24:14, and it appears to me, that it was about six miles distant; for so far it was between the sanhedrim of Moses our master, which was before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the camp of Israel.''

So Jesus went without the camp, and suffered without the gate, as the antitype of the red heifer; see Numbers 19:3, compared with

Hebrews 13:11, and the notes there.

They found a man of Cyrene: a place in Libya, and one of the five cities called Pentapolis: which were these, Berenice, Arsinoe, Ptolemais, Apollonia, and Cyrene l; Kir in Amos 1:5 is rendered by the Targum, קירני, "Cyrene", as it is also by the Vulgate Latin. There were many Jews dwelt here, as appears from Acts 2:10, as this man was a Jew, as his name shows; and besides, there was a synagogue of the Cyrenian Jews at Jerusalem, Acts 6:9, so that though he was a native of Cyrene, he might now dwell there, and some of these were converted to the faith of Christ; for of those that were scattered abroad at the death of Stephen, some were men of Cyrene, Acts 11:19. And it is very likely, that this man was a favourer of Christ, which might be one reason why they laid hold on him, and obliged him to bear the cross of Christ; since he was the father of Alexander and Rufus, who were men of note among the first Christians:

Simon by name; of which name was one of the apostles, and a common name among the Jews, and signifies hearkening and obedient: and none are fit to bear, or will bear the cross of Christ, but such who hearken to his voice, and are obedient to him, being made willing in the day of his power:

him they compelled to bear his cross; which they did, not out of good will to Christ, but fearing lest through his faintness and weakness, he should, die before he got to the place of execution, and they be disappointed of their end, the crucifixion of him; or because they were in haste to have him executed, and he was not able to go so fast as they desired; for when they, first came out, the cross was laid upon Christ, and he bore it, as John relates; but he being weak and ready to faint under it, and not able to go the pace they would have him, and meeting with this man, they press him to bear it after him: which he might be unwilling to do, partly because it was scandalous and ignominious; and partly, because if a favourer of Jesus, he did not choose to be any ways accessary to his death: but he was obliged to it; and it may be observed from hence, that taking up the cross and following Christ, is disagreeable to flesh and blood: though the spirit may be willing, the flesh recoils; none care for it, or choose to bear it, unless constrained to it.

h Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 6. sect. 1. i T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 42. 2. k Hilch. Sanhedrin, c. 12. sect. 3. l Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 5.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

As they came out - That is, either out of the governor’s palace where he had been treated with such cruelty and contempt, or out of the gates of the city, to crucify him.

A man of Cyrene - Cyrene was a city of Libya, in Africa, lying west of Egypt. There were many Jews there, and they were in the habit, like others, of going frequently to Jerusalem.

Him they compelled go bear his cross - John says John 19:17 that Jesus went forth “bearing his cross.” Luke says Luke 23:26 that they laid the cross on Simon, that he might bear it after Jesus. There is no contradiction in these accounts. It was a part of the usual punishment of those who were crucified that they should bear their own cross to the place of execution. Accordingly, it was laid at first on Jesus, and he went forth, as John says, bearing it. Weak, however, and exhausted by suffering and watchfulness, he probably sunk under the heavy burden, and they laid hold of Simon that he might bear “one end” of the cross, as Luke says, “after Jesus.” The cross was composed of two pieces of wood, one of which was placed upright in the earth, and the other crossed it after the form of the figure of a cross. The upright part was commonly so high that the feet of the person crucified were 2 or 3 feet from the ground.

On the middle of that upright part there was usually a projection or seat on which the person crucified sat, or, as it were, “rode.” This was necessary, as the hands were not alone strong enough to bear the weight of the body; as the body was left exposed often many days, and not unfrequently suffered to remain till the flesh had been devoured by vultures or putrefied in the sun. The feet were fastened to this upright piece either by nailing them with large spikes driven through the tender part, or by being lashed by cords. To the cross-piece at the top, the hands, being extended, were also fastened, either by spikes or by cords, or perhaps, in some cases, by both. The hands and feet of our Saviour were both fastened by spikes. Crosses were also sometimes made in the form of the letter X, the limbs of the person crucified being extended to the four parts, and he suffered to die a lingering death in this cruel manner. The cross used in the Crucifixion of Christ appears to have been the former. The mention of the cross often occurs in the New Testament. It was the instrument on which the Saviour made atonement for the sins of the world. The whole of the Christian’s hope of heaven, and all his peace and consolation in trial and in death, depend on the sacrifice there made for sin, and on just views and feelings in regard to the fact and the design of the Redeemer’s death. See the notes at John 21:18.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 32. A man of Cyrene - him they compelled to bear his cross. — In John, John 19:16-17, we are told Christ himself bore the cross, and this, it is likely, he did for a part of the way; but, being exhausted with the scourging and other cruel usage which he had received, he was found incapable of bearing it alone; therefore they obliged Simon, not, I think, to bear it entirely, but to assist Christ, by bearing a part of it. It was a constant practice among the Romans, to oblige criminal to bear their cross to the place of execution: insomuch that Plutarch makes use of it as an illustration of the misery of vice. "Every kind of wickedness produces its own particular torment, just as every malefactor, when he is brought forth to execution, carries his own cross." See Lardner's Credib. vol. i. p. 160.