Text:
Instead of elthein ‘come’ of the majority of modern editions of the Greek text, Textus Receptus and Soden have akolouthein ‘follow.’
Exegesis:
proskalesamenos (cf. 3.13) ‘summoning,’ ‘calling to himself.’
ei tis thelei ‘if any one wants’: this meaning is to be preferred over Revised Standard Version ‘if any man would’ which may be understood as introducing an element of doubt or contingency not found in the Greek.
opisō mou elthein (cf. 1.20) ‘come after me’ as a disciple.
aparnēsasthō heauton ‘he is to deny himself,’ ‘he must renounce himself,’ ‘he must give up all claims upon himself.’
aparneomai (14.30, 31, 72) ‘deny’: here with the idea of ‘renounce,’ ‘abjure.’
aratō ton stauron autou ‘he must take up his cross,’ i.e. ‘as a disciple of mine he must share my suffering and death.’ Where in current usage among Christians the phrase ‘take up one’s cross’ has come to mean simply to endure a petty burden or an unavoidable irritating inconvenience in daily living, some way should be found, if possible, of restoring the original shock and near brutality of the phrase. ‘To take up the cross’ meant to be crucified, to die in a most painful and shameful manner, as Jesus did.
stauros (15.21, 30, 32) ‘cross’: an instrument of punishment and death, usually an upright stake with a cross bar at the top, in the form of a T or dagger.
Translation:
The multitude with his disciples is in some languages ‘the crowd as well as his disciples’ or simply ‘the crowd and his disciples.’
Come after me must be understood in the sense of ‘follow as disciples’ or ‘accompany me’ (see 1.17).
Deny himself is without doubt one of the most difficult expressions in all of Mark to translate adequately. Unfortunately, too many people have taken this expression to mean ‘to deny oneself certain pleasures or objects,’ while actually the meaning is a denial of one’s own presumed prerogatives or personal interests. The different ways of expressing this concept in various languages are highly illuminating, e.g. ‘to not accept self’ (Tetelcingo Nahuatl), ‘to forget self’ (Amganad Ifugao, South Bolivian Quechua), ‘to have no regard for oneself’ (Barrow Eskimo), ‘not bother oneself about oneself’ (Toraja-Sa’dan), ‘to cover up oneself’ (Huautla Mazatec), ‘to not worship oneself’ (San Miguel El Grande Mixtec), ‘to stop doing what one’s own heart wants’ (Tzeltal), ‘to not belong to oneself any longer’ (Conob), ‘to let go that which he wants to do himself’ (Yaka), ‘says, I will not do just what I want to do’ (Cashibo-Cacataibo), ‘to let him say, I do not serve for anything,’ in the sense of having no personal value (Tzotzil), ‘to not do what is passing through his mind’ (Sapo), ‘to not take constant thought for himself’ (Central Mazahua), ‘to quit what he himself wants’ (Tabasco Chontal), ‘to undo one’s own way of thinking’ (Highland Totonac), ‘to put his own things down’ (Dan), ‘to despise himself’ (Kekchi), ‘to refuse himself’ (Kituba), ‘to turn his back on himself’ (Javanese), ‘to disobey himself,’ in the sense of denying one’s own wishes (Southern Bobo Madaré), ‘to leave himself at the side’ (Huastec), ‘to leave his own way’ (Chicahuaxtla Triqui), ‘to take his mind out of himself completely’ (Loma (Liberia)), ‘to say, I do not live for myself’ (Huanuco Quechua), and ‘to say No to oneself’ (Mitla Zapotec).
Take up is to ‘lift up and to carry.’ Where languages specify the manner of carrying, one may say ‘on the shoulder.’
For follow see above, and 1.17.
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1961. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .