Mark 14:41

Mar_14:41

Sleep on now and take your rest.

The night scene in Gethsemane

1. The first thought suggested by this text is that the Son of Man may even now be betrayed into the hands of sinners. Men are apt to imagine that had they lived in the time of Christ they would not thus and thus have treated Him. But they who despise Him unseen would have spurned Him to His face. The enemies of Christs Church are the enemies of Christ. Even in our own day Christ may be betrayed. He may be betrayed by His own disciples. The disposition to surrender Him to enemies may still exist; a disposition to secure the favour of the world at His expense. In this sense, for example, it may well be said that the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners when the truth respecting Him is given up to errorists, or cavillers, or infidels; when His divinity is called in question; when His eternal Sonship is degraded or denied; when the sinless perfection of His human nature is tainted by the breath of dubious speculation; when His atonement is disfigured or perverted; when the value of His cross and bloody passion is depreciated; when His place in the system of free grace is taken from Him and bestowed on something else. To mention one other example; Christ is betrayed into the hands of sinners when His gospel is perverted; His example dishonoured; and Himself represented as the Minister of sin. O Christian! have you ever thought that every inconsistent and unworthy act of yours is one step towards betraying Him whom you profess to love?

2. Another thought which I suggest is, that when the cause of Christ is about to be betrayed into the hands of sinners, His disciples are to watch unto prayer, lest they enter into temptation.

3. Another thought, and that a melancholy one, is, that when Christs disciples are thus left to watch, whilst He is interceding with the Father, they too often fall asleep. Some, in the touching language of the gospel, may be sleeping for sorrow. But oh! how many others sleep for sloth and spiritual indifference. It is no time to sleep. The Church, Christs weeping bride, and the dying souls of men are at your pillow, shrieking in your ears, like the shipmaster in the ears of Jonah, What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise; call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.

4. But, alas! this warning voice is often heard in vain. Amidst a world lying in wickedness, amidst the untold miseries produced by sin, amidst the fierce attacks of open enemies on the Son of Man, His friends, His chosen friends, sleep on. And that sleep would prove to be the sleep of death, if we had not an High Priest who can be touched with the sense of our infirmities, and when He sees us thus asleep, comes near and arouses us. There may be some before me now, who, though sincere believers, have been overcome by sleep. Your senses and your intellects may be awake, your conscience has its fitful starts and intervals of wakefulness when scared out of its slumbers by terrific dreams. But your affections are asleep. You hear the gospel, but it is like the drowsy lull of distant waters, making sleep more sound; you see its light, but with your eyelids closed, and so subdued is its splendour that it only soothes the sense and deepens its repose. If this is your experience, I appeal to you, and ask you whether, even in this dreamy state, you have not felt the gentle hand of Christ at times upon you. Has not your house been visited by sickness? But it is not only in personal afflictions that the Saviour rouses you. Have you not felt His hand in public trials? Have you not felt it in the trials of the Church? Have you had no signal mercies since you fell asleep? Besides the voice of personal afflictions, and of public trials, and of private mercies, there is a voice in public mercies too. But when our Lord had for the third time fallen prostrate and arisen, when He came a third time to His friends, and found them sleeping, He no longer expostulated; He no longer asked whether they could not watch with Him one hour. There is something far more awful in this mild but significant permission to sleep on, than in all the invectives or reproofs He could have uttered. Sleep on henceforth, and take your rest. That this may not prove to be indeed the case, we must arise and call upon our God; we must come up to the help of the Lord against the mighty. But, oh! remember, that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. When the presumptuous Simon was at last aroused, and saw his Masters danger, he thought to atone by violence for past neglect. And many a modern Simon does the same. When once aroused they draw the sword of fiery fanaticism. But is there no danger from an opposite direction? Is it any consolation that the sword is in its scabbard, if the bearers of the sword are fast asleep instead of watching? (J. A. Alexander, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

14:41-42 The content of Jesus’ prayer was probably the same as before (see 14:35-36, 39). The third failure of Peter, James, and John to watch and pray recalls Jesus’ prediction that Peter would deny him three times (14:30, 66-72). • The words sleep and have your rest can be interpreted as a command, as in the NLT. Others take it as an exclamation (“You are sleeping and resting!”). Still others take it as a rhetorical question (“Are you sleeping and resting?”). • the time (literally hour) has come: The passion of Jesus had begun, the hour for pouring out the blood of the sacrificial lamb (14:24). This statement coincided with the arrival of Judas and the armed crowd seeking to seize Jesus. Jesus was betrayed into the hands of sinners for whom he willingly went to the cross (2:17; 10:45; 14:21). • Up, let’s be going: Jesus accepted the cup God had given him. He went out to defeat his enemies by dying for them.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mar 14:41. Καὶ ἔρχεται, and He cometh) The third departure [Mar 14:39, “He went away”] is taken for granted, as well as the third offering of the same prayer.—καθεύδετε, sleep on) Mat 26:45, note.—ἀπέχει, it is enough) Sleep has its turn [the office which it sustains] by this time fully served: now there is another business before us [And though ye do not regard my efforts to awaken and rouse you, yet your rest is being (must now be) broken.—V. g.]

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar 14:41 . ἀπέχει , “it is enough,” A. V [135] = sufficit in Vulgate; one of the puzzling words in Mk.’s vocabulary to which many meanings have been given. Beza, in doubt as to Jerome’s interpretation, was satisfied at last by a quotation from Anacreon coming into his mind, in which the poet, giving instructions to a painter for the portrait of his mistress, concludes: ἀπέχει . βλέπω γὰρ αὐτήν · τάχα , κηρέ , καὶ λαλήσεις = “Enough! the girl herself I view: so like, ’twill soon be speaking, too”. Elsner and Raphel follow Beza. Kypke dissents and renders: ἀπέχει , ἦλθεν ἡ ὥρα , as if it were ἦλθε καὶ ἀπ . ἡ ὥ . = the hour (of my passion) is come and calls you and me away from this scene. Most modern commentators accept the rendering, “it is enough”. Vide an interesting note in Field’s Otium Nor . The meaning is: I have conquered in the struggle; I need your sympathy no longer; you may sleep now if you will.

[135] Authorised Version.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(41) And he cometh the third time.—We may note St. Mark’s omission of the third repetition of the prayer.

It is enough.—Peculiar to St. Mark, and probably noting the transition from the half-reproachful permission, “Sleep on now, and take your rest,” to the emphatic and, as it were, startled exclamation, “the hour is come.”

Is betrayed.—The tense, as in St. Matthew, is present, “is at this moment being betrayed.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

41. the third time] The Temptation of the Garden divides itself, like that of the Wilderness, into three acts, following close on one another.

Sleep on now] for ever if ye will. The words are spoken in a kind of gentle irony and sorrowful expostulation. The Golden Hour for watching and prayer was over.

it is enough] Their wakefulness was no longer needed.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rise up let us go,.... To meet the enemy and the danger; for there is no escaping;

lo, he that betrayeth me is at hand; Judas, that he had hinted at supper should betray him, was now about doing it; and was just now coming upon him, in order to deliver him into the hands of the Jews, and the Roman band of soldiers; See Gill on Mat 26:46.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

41 And he cometh the third time, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: it is enough, the hour is come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

Ver. 41. Sleep on now, take your rest] If you can, at least, or have any mind to it, with so many swords and halberds about your ears. They were in heaviness, and yet are sharply reproved for relapsing so often into the same sin. Let not us be more mild than Christ was, but deal freely and faithfully with all.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he cometh the third time, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: it is enough (apecei); the hour is come. Some have thought that our Lord here uses the language of irony. But it is far more consistent with his usual considerate words to suppose that, sympathizing with the infirmity of his disciples, he simply advised them, now that his bitter agony was over, to take some rest during the brief interval that remained. It is enough. Some commentators have thought that the somewhat difficult Greek verb (apecei) would be better rendered, he is at a distance; as though our Lord meant to say, "There is yet time for you to take some rest. The betrayer is some distance off." Such an interpretation would require a full. stop between the clause now rendered, "it is enough," and the clause, "the hour is come;" so that the passage would read, "Sleep on now, and take your rest; he (that is, Judas) is yet a good way off." Then there would be an interval; and then our Lord would rouse them up with the words, "The hour is come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners." This interpretation all hangs upon the true rendering of the word apecei , which, although it might be taken to. mean "he," or "it is distant," is nevertheless quite capable of the ordinary interpretation, "it sufficeth." According to the high authority of Hesychius, who explains it by the words apocrh and exarkei , it seems safer on the whole to accept the ordinary meaning, "It is enough."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

sinners

Sin. (See Scofield "Rom 3:23")

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

41. ἔρχεται τὸ τρίτον. Mk omits the third going away and the third prayer. Cf. 2Co 12:8; Num 24:10; 1Sa 3:8.

Καθεύδετε τὸ λοιπόν. The first reproaches (Mar 14:37) were questions; the form of the second is not recorded. This may be a question. “Are ye going to sleep on and take your rest?” “Is it quite impossible to induce you to watch and pray?” Syr-Sin. omits τὸ λοιπόν, which, however, is no obstacle to making the sentence interrogative. Even if “Sleep on now and take your rest” be understood as mournful irony rather than a conceded permission, it does not fit on well with the words which immediately follow.

ἀπέχει. Mk only. In papyri we find ἀπέχω used by persons who receive money and give a receipt. Deissmann, Bib. St. p. 229. Possibly the impersonal ἀπέχει would mean “settled,” “the transaction is at an end.” The traditional rendering “Enough,” Sufficit, seems to be right, however that meaning may be reached. The Old Latin renderings differ considerably, but they point to some such signification as “the consummation is here,” “the hour is come.” The exclamation may have been preceded by an interval of some duration. See Field, p. 39.

παραδίδοται. Is being delivered up into the hands of sinners. See on Mar 9:31, Mar 10:33.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

41. ἀπέχει] Scil. your γρηγορεῖν μετʼ ἐμοῦ. The Lord had no need of it any more, now that the hour had come: not, as Bengel, Kuinoel, ., ‘Satis somnorum est:’ this, as Meyer observes, is refuted by the καθεύδετε λοιπόν. This meaning of ἀπέχει, sufficit, is found in very few and late, but those quite sufficient examples. Meyer mentions Pseud.-Anacreon, Od. xxviii. 33, ἀπέχει, βλέπω γὰρ αὐτήν: and Cyril on Hag 2:9, ἐμὸν φησὶ τὸ ἀργύριον καὶ ἐμὸν τὸ χρυσίον· τουτέστιν ἀπέχει, καὶ πεπλήρωμαι, καὶ δεδέημαι τῶν τοιούτων οὐδενός.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

41. καθεύδετε τὸ λοιπὸν κ. ἀναπαύεσθε—sleep on now, and rest. This is a free, but not at all a bad translation. On expresses very well the meaning of the pres. imp., which does not command the beginning of an action, but the continuance of an action already begun. τὸ λοιπὸν means the rest of the time, and is contrasted with the preceding time, when he has bidden them keep awake. Now is thus not a bad translation of it. As for the feeling with which Jesus would say this, it is impossible to keep out of it a certain kind of sad bitterness. ἀπέχει—it is enough.1 This meaning is found in only one, possibly two other passages. But the other meaning, to be distant, is always used with some measure of distance. Morison supposes that the English version dates from the Vulgate, and that most everybody who has adopted it, has taken it from the Latin without much thought. But where did the Vulg. get it, and how does it happen that a mere hit, like that, should be justified by two recondite passages? It is shown to be a meaning of the word, it fits here, and it does not have against it the objection that Morison’s own translation has. This apparently abrupt disturbance of their sleep after he had just told them to sleep, would imply that there was some time between it and that permission. ἦλθεν ἡ ὥρα—literally, the hour came. The hour is that of the delivering up of the Son of Man, the announcement of which immediately follows. παραδίδοται—is delivered up.2 The word for betrayal, προδιδόναι, is not used anywhere in connection with this event. τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν—the sinners. The article denotes the class, not individuals of the class. The signal thing about the career of Jesus had been his non-assumption of the power associated with his position, while yet he claimed to be the Messianic king; not simply a king, but the ideal king. And it seemed to be a sufficient answer to his claims to be a king, that he was not a king. But so far, he had at least kept out of the hands of his enemies, owing to their fear of the people and of Jesus’ influence over them. Now, the crisis of his fate had come; the hour had struck; and the Son of Man, personating as he does in the prophecy, the kingdom of the saints of the Most High, an everlasting kingdom, and an endless dominion, is actually to be delivered up into the hands of the opposing party, the sinners. To our ears, it has a familiar sound, and we are accustomed to the whole train of ideas associated with it. But to the disciples, it must have sounded like the stroke of doom. And Jesus does not even try to escape it; he goes forth to meet his fate.

CAPTURE OF JESUS BY AN IRREGULAR FORCE SENT OUT BY THE SANHEDRIM, PILOTED BY JUDAS ISCARIOT

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

It is enough [απεχει] . Peculiar to Mark. In this impersonal sense the word occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. Expositors are utterly at sea as to its meaning.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.