Although Jesus calls upon his followers to love their families and to honor their parents, he makes it abundantly clear that no family loyalties must stand in the way of loyalty to God. Several commentators draw attention to Deuteronomy 33.8-11, where Levi is praised because he left his parents for the sake of God’s covenant.
Since Jesus is still addressing his disciples, it may be necessary to render He who loves in the second person, “if any of you” or “if you.”
Loves … more than means “cares more for” (New English Bible). The parallel in Luke (14.26) takes advantage of a Semitic idiom in which “hate” means “love (one) less than (the other).” Loves … more than or “cares more for” poses occasional problems. For example, in West Africa, where the comparative is generally expressed with a verb, the expression may have to be “If the love someone has for his father or mother surpasses the love he has for me.” Another way is “The caring someone has for his father and mother should not surpass the caring he has for me.”
Is not worthy of me (so also New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible) is translated “does not deserve to be mine” by Phillips. In such a context worthy means “show oneself fit to be,” which is the basis of Good News Translation, “is not fit to be.”
Of me is translated “to be mine” by Phillips and “to belong to me” by Barclay; Good News Translation has “to be my disciple.” Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition has done significant restructuring, but an idiomatic translation into English requires reversing the order of the two clauses: “I cannot use anyone who loves his father or mother more than me.”
Quite often translators have as a translation of is not worthy of me “does not deserve to be one of my disciples.” Another way is “I can’t make anyone my disciple who does not love me more than (he loves) his father or mother.”
The expression in the second part, with son or daughter, should be handled in the same way.
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .