Exegesis:

heistēkeisan de… ‘but … stood there.’ Subject is hoi gnōstoi autō and gunaikes. de may be continuative (‘and’), or contrastive (‘but’), preferably the latter. The contrast is between the crowds that went home and the friends who remained behind.

pantes hoi gnōstoi autō lit. ‘all who were known to him,’ hence, ‘all his acquaintances,’ cf. on 2.44. pantes is used here hyperbolically.

gunaikes hai sunakolouthousai autō apo tēs Galilaias ‘the women who were following him from Galilee.’ The present tense implies that the following is not envisaged as something of the past only but as still continuing.

sunakoloutheō ‘to follow,’ equivalent to akoloutheō.

horōsai tauta ‘seeing this,’ best understood as going with both hoi gnōstoi and gunaikes. tauta has the same referent as ta genomena in v. 48 and to genomenon in v. 47.

Translation:

All, or, ‘many of.’

Acquaintances, see on 2.44, but here the term probably refers to a rather more intimate relationship; hence, “those who knew Jesus personally” (Good News Translation), “friends” (New English Bible).

Followed, i.e. were his followers, cf. on 5.11.

At a distance, cf. on 15.20. Neither the phrase itself nor the context give a clear indication as to the distance; they must have been within eyeshot but probably had not ventured close to the soldiers guarding the cross.

Saw, here in the sense of looking with deep concern, not in that of ‘watching, or gazing, at a spectacle,’ as in v. 48.

Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.