Matthew 26:42

Mat 26:42-45. He went away again the second time — For the sorrow of his soul still continued; and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup, &c. — If it be necessary, in pursuance of the great end for which I came into the world, that I should endure these grievous sufferings, thy will be done — I acquiesce in thy appointment, how painful soever it may be to flesh and blood: and he came and found them asleep again — He returned thus frequently to his disciples, that by reading his distress in his countenance and gesture, they might be witnesses of his passion. Our Lord’s pains on this occasion were intense beyond expression, for he went away the third time to pray, saying the same words as before, that is, offering petitions to the same effect, and in the same spirit of intense desire and perfect resignation. It appears, however, from Luke, that his inward conflict was greater than before, for notwithstanding that an angel was sent from heaven to strengthen his human nature, left to suffer, it seems, without its usual support from the divine, yet the sense of his sorrows so increased, that he was thrown into an agony, and his whole body was strained to such a degree, that his blood was pressed through the pores of his skin along with his sweat, and fell down in great drops to the ground: a circumstance which was the more extraordinary as he was now in the open air, and that in the cool of the night. “Some, indeed, have interpreted Luke’s expression, his sweat was as it were great drops of blood, in a metaphorical sense; fancying that, as those who weep bitterly are said to weep blood, so they may be said to sweat blood who sweat excessively by reason of hard labour or acute pain. But others more justly affirm that our Lord’s sweat was really mixed with blood to such a degree, that its colour and consistency was as if it had been wholly blood.” — Macknight. Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith, Sleep on now, &c. — For by your watching you can show no further kindness and concern for me, who am now to be delivered into the hands of my enemies. Some late interpreters translate this with an interrogation thus, Do ye still sleep on and take your rest? This appears at first to suit better the words which follow, Arise, let us be going. “I cannot, however,” says Dr. Campbell, “help favouring the more common, which is also the more ancient, translation.” Nor is there any inconsistency between this order, which contains an ironical reproof, very natural in such circumstances, and the exhortation which follows, Arise, behold, the hour is at hand — The long-expected hour, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners — “The Greek word, αμαρτωλων, expresses more here than is implied in the English term sinners. Our Lord thereby signified, that he was to be consigned to the heathen, whom the Jews called, by way of eminence, αμαρτωλοι, because they were idolaters. See Gal 2:15. For a similar reason they were also called ανομοι, lawless, impious, as destitute of the law of God.”

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 26:42. Ἐάν μὴ, κ.τ.λ., except, etc.) Whilst Jesus drank the cup it passed away.—πίω, I drink) And now by this very utterance of that word He brings Himself nearer to the act of drinking.—γενηθήτω, be done) The prayer of Jesus approached now nearer to suffering; cf. Mat 26:39. Behold His obedience.

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

Mat_26:42 ff. Πάλιν ἐκ δευτέρου] a well-known pleonasm. Joh_21:15; Act_10:15. Comp. δεύτερον πάλιν, Plat. Polit. p. 260 D, αὖθις πάλιν (p. 282 C), and such like. We sometimes find even a threefold form: αὖθις αὖ πάλιν, Soph. Phil. 940, O. C. 1421.

εἰ] not quandoquidem (Grotius), but: if. The actual feelings of Jesus are expressed in all their reality in the form of acquiescence in that condition of impossibility (οὐ δύναται) as regards the divine purpose which prevents the thing from being otherwise.

τοῦτο] without τὸ ποτήριον (see the critical remarks): this, which I am called upon to drink.

ἐὰν μὴ αὐτὸ πίω] without my having drunk it; if it cannot pass from me unless it is drunk.

γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου] this is the ὑπακοὴ μεχρὶ θανάτου σταυροῦ, Php_2:8; Rom_5:19. Observe in this second prayer the climax of resignation and submission; His own will, as mentioned in Mat_26:39, is completely silenced. Marks account is here less precise.

Mat_26:43. ἦσαν γὰρ, κ.τ.λ.] for their eyes (see on Mat_8:3) were heavy (weighed down with drowsiness). Comp. Eur. Alc. 385.

Mat_26:44. ἐκ τρίτου] belongs to προσηύξ. Comp. 2Co_12:8.

τ. αὐτ. λόγ.] as is given at Mat_26:42.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 26:42-46 . Further progress of the agony . That Jesus had not yet reached final victory is apparent from His complaint against the disciples. He came craving, needing a sympathy He had not got. When the moment of triumph comes He will be independent of them.

Mat 26:42 . λέγων , saying; whereupon follow the words. Mark simply states that Jesus prayed to the same effect. οὐ δύναται : οὐ not μὴ . He knows that it is not possible, yet the voice of nature says strongly: would that it were!

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

Verse 42. O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me] If it be not possible - to redeem fallen man, unless I drink this cup, unless I suffer death for them; thy will be done - I am content to suffer whatever may be requisite to accomplish the great design. In this address the humanity of Christ most evidently appears; for it was his humanity alone that could suffer; and if it did not appear that he had felt these sufferings, it would have been a presumption that he had not suffered, and consequently made no atonement. And had he not appeared to have been perfectly resigned in these sufferings, his sacrifice could not have been a free-will but a constrained offering, and therefore of no use to the salvation of mankind.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(42) If this cup may not pass away from me.—There is a slight change of tone perceptible in this prayer as compared with the first. It is, to speak after the manner of men, as though the conviction that it was not possible that the cup could pass away from Him had come with fuller clearness before His mind. and He was learning to accept it. He finds the answer to the former prayer in the continuance, not the removal. of the bitter agony that preyed on His spirit. It is probably at this stage of the trial that we are to place the sweat like “great drops of blood” and the vision of the angel of Luk_22:43-44.

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

And he came and found them asleep again,.... For they were aroused and awaked, in some measure, by what he had said to them; but no sooner was he gone but they fell asleep again, and thus he found them a second time; or, "he came again and found them asleep"; so read the Vulgate Latin, the Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, and Munster's Hebrew Gospel:

for their eyes were heavy; with sleep through fatigue, sorrow, &c. Mark adds, "neither wist they what to answer him", Mar 14:40; they were so very sleepy, they knew not how to speak; or they were so confounded, that he should take them asleep a second time, after they had had such a reproof, and exhortation from him, that they knew not what answer to make him; who probably rebuked them again, or gave them a fresh exhortation.

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

42 He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.

Ver. 42. The second time, and prayed] Prayer is that arrow of deliverance that would be multiplied, 2Ki 13:17. God holds off on purpose that he may hear often of us, that we may ply the throne of grace, and give him no rest. The Church commenceth thrice the same suit, but riseth every time in her earnestness. {Psa 80:3; Psa 80:7; Psa 80:19} If thy petition be not lawful, never prefer it, as if it be, never give it over. God suspends you, to make you eager.

If this cup may not pass, except I drink] It passeth then, even while we are drinking of it. Το ποκρον μικρον, hold out faith and patience. It is but a storm, and will soon be over. It is but a death, and that is but the daybreak of eternal brightness. It is but winking (as that martyr said), and thou shall be in heaven presently.

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.

Mark saith Mar 14:39,40, And again he went away, and prayed, and spake the same words. And when he returned, he found them asleep again, (for their eyes were heavy), neither wist they what to answer him. Saying the same words. How our translation came to translate this so I cannot tell, in the Greek it is τον αυτ ον λογον, which must be translated, the same word, or the same speech, not words (if that were the evangelist’s sense). But that it is not, for, as it is plain our Saviour used more than one word, so it is as plain it was not the same speech, or form of words, for we have met with four different forms already: our Lord prayed but thrice, so as he could not say the same speech. But λογον here signifies matter—speaking the same matter, or to the same sense, and this we translate it, Mar 1:45; 10:10, and in a multitude of other texts, in correspondence with the Hebrew דבר he comes to them a second time, and findeth them asleep. So quickly did they find the truth of what he had but now taught them, that the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, for there is no doubt but they did what they could to keep themselves awake.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

42. He went away again — In human sympathy the Saviour finds no resource. He is completely alone. He turns again from man to God. If this cup may not pass — His prayer here has yielded the point. He prays no longer, Let it pass; but, If it may not pass, Thy will be done. “Thy will be done” limits not only all murmur, but all prayer.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Again the second time. A pleonastic expression, as in Joh_4:54 Joh_21:16, etc., calling especial attention to "the numerical re-repetition of the Saviour"s prayer" (Morison). St. Matthew alone gives the words of this second prayer, which differs in some respects from the first. The possibility of the cup passing away was considered no longer; the continuance of the trial showed that it was not to he. If this cup may (can) not pass away from me... thy will be done. He accepts the cup; his human will coincides with the Divine will; he acquiesces with perfect self-resignation. The cup, relatively to the circumstances, could not pass away from the Saviour.

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

The continuation of the agony:

v. 42. He went away again the second time and prayed, saying, O My Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me except I drink it, Thy will be done.

v. 43. And He came and found them asleep again; for their eyes were heavy.

v. 44. And He left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.

The Holy One of God was here almost submerged in the flood of grief and bitterness which threatened to engulf Him. Fearfulness and trembling had come upon Him, and horror had overwhelmed Him, Psa 55:5, the horror of death and hell. For the sins, the guilt, the curse, the punishment of the whole world lay upon Him; He was to die the death of a sinner, the most atrocious sinner the world had ever known. Therefore He felt the sting of death a thousand-, a millionfold. His battle in the shadows of Gethsemane was a second temptation of the devil. It was the prince of hell that filled His soul with the dread of death, in order to make Him shrink back from the tortures of the cross, refuse obedience to His Father in heaven. Thus would the plan of God and the redemption of mankind be frustrated. The sufferings of Christ in these hours are beyond the power of human language to express. For the second, for the third time He sank down to the earth. If it cannot be done, if it be out of the question for Him to expect any alleviation of His sufferings, if there is no recourse but that He drink out of the cup now held to His lips, He is ready to bow to the will of His Father. Comfort and encouragement from His disciples was not to be expected. Their eyes were heavy, pressed down with sleep. Cut off from all assistance of men, suffering the full wrath of His heavenly Father, Jesus had to fight the battle for the salvation of mankind to the bitter, but victorious end.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

42. He went away again the second time and prayed. “More earnestly,” says Luke, who adds the account of the bloody sweat (Luke 22:44). His agony returned on him. The continuance of the trial he accepts as God's answer to the petition, “Let this cup pass from me.” Now he asks only, “Thy will be done.”

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

He went away

"Jesus went away"

a second time ... third time

(See: Ordinal Numbers)

My Father

This is an important title for God that describes the relationship between God and Jesus. (See: Translating Son and Father)

if this cannot pass away unless I drink it

"if the only way this can pass away is if I drink it." Jesus speaks of the work that he must do as if it were a bitter liquid that God has commanded him to drink. (See: Metaphor)

if this

Here "this" refers to the cup and the contents within it, a metaphor for suffering, as in Matthew 26:39). (See: Metaphor)

unless I drink it

"unless I drink from it" or "unless I drink from this cup of suffering." Here "it" refers to the cup and the contents within it, a metaphor for suffering, as in Matthew 26:39). (See: Metaphor)

your will be done

This can be stated in active form. AT: "may what you want happen" or "do what you want to do" (See: Active or Passive)

their eyes were heavy

This is an idiom. AT: "they were very sleepy" (See: Idiom)

translationWords

pray

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

42.] Mark merely says of this second prayer, τὸν αὐτὸν λόγον εἰπών. Luke gives it as ἐκτενέστερον προσηύχετο—and relates in addition, that His sweat was like the fall of drops of blood on the ground: see notes on Luk 22:44. (At what precise time the angel appeared to Him is uncertain: I should be inclined to think, after the first prayer, before He came to his disciples.)

The words are not exactly the same: “the Lord knew that the Father always heard Him (Joh 11:42); and therefore He understands the continuance of His trial as the answer to His last words, as Thou wilt.” Stier. Here therefore the prayer is, If it be not possible.… thy will be done. It is spoken in the fulness of self-resignation. ‘Jam addita bibendi mentione, propius ad bibendum se confert.’ Bengel.

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

(M) 42. Again a second time He went away, and prayed, saying, My Father, if this cannot pass, except I drink it, Thy will be done.] Mk. has: “And again He went away, and prayed, saying the same word” The prayer added in Mt. expresses more strongly than v. 39 the submission of Christ to the Father’s will.—γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου] cf. 6:10.

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