Mat 16:24-26 | RWP | e4.org | Take up his cross ( αρατω τον σταυρον αυτου ). Pick up at once, aorist tense. This same saying in , which see. But pertinent here also in explanation of Christ's rebuke to Peter. Christ's own cross faces him. Peter had dared to pull Christ away from his destiny. He would do better to face squarely his own cross and to bear it after Jesus. The disciples would be familiar with cross-bearing as a figure of speech by reason of the crucifixion of criminals in Jerusalem. Follow ( ακαλουθειτω ). Present tense. Keep on following.

‏ Matthew 16:24-26

Take up his cross ( αρατω τον σταυρον αυτου ). Pick up at once, aorist tense. This same saying in 10:38, which see. But pertinent here also in explanation of Christ's rebuke to Peter. Christ's own cross faces him. Peter had dared to pull Christ away from his destiny. He would do better to face squarely his own cross and to bear it after Jesus. The disciples would be familiar with cross-bearing as a figure of speech by reason of the crucifixion of criminals in Jerusalem.

Follow ( ακαλουθειτω ). Present tense. Keep on following.

Save his life ( την ψυχην αυτου σωσα ). Paradoxical play on word "life" or "soul," using it in two senses. So about "saving" and "losing" ( απολεσε ).

Gain ( κερδηση ) and

profit ( ζημιωθη ). Both aorist subjunctives (one active, the other passive) and so punctiliar action, condition of third class, undetermined, but with prospect of determination. Just a supposed case. The verb for "forfeit" occurs in the sense of being fined or mulcted of money. So the papyri and inscriptions.

Exchange ( ανταλλαγμα ). As an exchange, accusative in apposition with τ. The soul has no market price, though the devil thinks so. "A man must give, surrender, his life, and nothing less to God; no ανταλλαγμα is possible" (McNeile). This word ανταλλαγμα occurs twice in the Wisdom of Sirach: "There is no exchange for a faithful friend" (6:15); "There is no exchange for a well-instructed soul" (26:14).