22:44a
And: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as And is a common conjunction that is often translated as “and,” “but,” or “then.” In some languages it may be natural to indicate a contrast here. Even though the angel gave Jesus strength in 22:43, Jesus was still in great distress. In some languages a conjunction will not be needed. Connect 22:43 and 22:44 in a natural way in your language.
in His anguish: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as anguish refers here to the agony that Jesus felt as he thought about the terrible torment that he must endure. He knew that he would be punished for the sins of mankind. These thoughts caused him overwhelming grief. The suffering that he felt caused both mental and physical pain.
Some other ways to translate the phrase in His anguish are:
he felt great suffering/agony
-or-
in this exceeding hardship of his
In some languages there may be an idiom to describe this. For example:
his liver was very grieved
-or-
he was filled with anguish/grief
22:44b
He prayed more earnestly: This clause is a comparison. Jesus was already praying in 23:41–42. After the angel strengthened him in 22:43, he prayed more fervently and urgently. He put much strength, effort, and longing into his prayer. Some other ways to translate this clause are:
Jesus prayed even harder (New Century Version)
-or-
he prayed more intensely/fervently
In some languages it may be more natural to translate without using a comparison. For example:
He was praying very fervently (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
He prayed so urgently that
In some languages there may be an idiom to express this. For example:
He poured out his soul in prayer
prayed more earnestly: As 22:42 indicates, Jesus prayed to God, his Father. In some languages it is necessary to make this clear. For example:
spoke more earnestly ⌊to God⌋
-or-
begged ⌊his father God⌋ more urgently
-or-
he prayed all the harder to God
22:44c
His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground: This clause is a simile. There are two ways to interpret it:
(1) It indicates that Jesus’ sweat was like blood falling to the ground. It implies that he was sweating so much that drops of sweat fell to the ground as blood does when a person is bleeding. For example:
…his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood. (New Living Translation (2004))
(Berean Standard Bible, New Living Translation (2004), Contemporary English Version, New Jerusalem Bible)
(2) It indicates that Jesus’ sweat became bloody. Some scholars believe that Jesus began to bleed and that blood mixed with his sweat and fell to the ground. For example:
…His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground. (New American Standard Bible)
(New American Standard Bible)
Most English versions are ambiguous. If it is natural in your language, you can translate it so that either interpretation may be understood. If you need to be specific, it is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).
drops of blood: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as drops occurs only here in the New Testament. It refers to very small amounts of a liquid. Blood or sweat often form drops and sit on the skin like little separate bits of liquid. In English these bits are called drops or “beads” (“beads of sweat”). Languages have different words to describe very small amounts of blood. Use a natural word in your language to describe this.
© 2009, 2010, 2013 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.