Luke 6:12

Choosing the Twelve Apostles

6:12 Now ¹  it was during this time that Jesus ²  went out to the mountain ³  to pray, and he spent all night ⁴  in prayer to God. ⁵ 

Luke 18:7

18:7 Won’t ⁶  God give justice to his chosen ones, who cry out ⁷  to him day and night? ⁸  Will he delay ⁹  long to help them?

Luke 22:41-46

22:41 He went away from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and prayed, 22:42 “Father, if you are willing, take ¹⁰  this cup ¹¹  away from me. Yet not my will but yours ¹²  be done.” 22:43 [Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 22:44 And in his anguish ¹³  he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.] ¹⁴  22:45 When ¹⁵  he got up from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping, exhausted ¹⁶  from grief. 22:46 So ¹⁷  he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you will not fall into temptation!” ¹⁸ 

¹ tn Grk “Now it happened that in.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Or “to a mountain” (εἰς τὸ ὅρος, eis to Joro").

⁴ sn This is the only time all night prayer is mentioned in the NT.

⁵ tn This is an objective genitive, so prayer “to God.”

⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁷ sn The prayers have to do with the righteous who cry out to him to receive justice. The context assumes the righteous are persecuted.

⁸ tn The emphatic particles in this sentence indicate that God will indeed give justice to the righteous.

⁹ sn The issue of delay has produced a whole host of views for this verse. (1) Does this assume provision to endure in the meantime? Or (2) does it mean God restricts the level of persecution until he comes? Either view is possible.

¹⁰ tn Luke’s term παρένεγκε is not as exact as the one in Matt 26:39. Luke’s means “take away” (BDAG 772 s.v. παρένεγκε 2.c) while Matthew’s means “take away without touching,” suggesting an alteration (if possible) in God’s plan. For further discussion see D. L. Bock, Luke (BECNT), 2:1759-60.

¹¹ sn This cup alludes to the wrath of God that Jesus would experience (in the form of suffering and death) for us. See Ps 11:6; 75:8-9; Isa 51:17, 19, 22 for this figure.

¹² sn With the statement “Not my will but yours be done” Jesus submitted fully to God’s will.

¹³ tn Grk “And being in anguish.”

¹⁴ tc Several important Greek mss (Ì⁷⁵ א¹ A B N T W 579 1071*) along with diverse and widespread versional witnesses lack 22:43-44. In addition, the verses are placed after Matt 26:39 by ˹³. Floating texts typically suggest both spuriousness and early scribal impulses to regard the verses as historically authentic. These verses are included in א*^,2 D L Θ Ψ 0171 ˹ Ï lat Ju Ir Hipp Eus. However, a number of mss mark the text with an asterisk or obelisk, indicating the scribe’s assessment of the verses as inauthentic. At the same time, these verses generally fit Luke’s style. Arguments can be given on both sides about whether scribes would tend to include or omit such comments about Jesus’ humanity and an angel’s help. But even if the verses are not literarily authentic, they are probably historically authentic. This is due to the fact that this text was well known in several different locales from a very early period. Since there are no synoptic parallels to this account and since there is no obvious reason for adding these words here, it is very likely that such verses recount a part of the actual suffering of our Lord. Nevertheless, because of the serious doubts as to these verses’ authenticity, they have been put in brackets. For an important discussion of this problem, see B. D. Ehrman and M. A. Plunkett, “The Angel and the Agony: The Textual Problem of Luke 22:43-44,” CBQ 45 (1983): 401-16.

¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹⁶ tn Grk “from grief.” The word “exhausted” is not in the Greek text, but is implied; the disciples have fallen asleep from mental and emotional exhaustion resulting from their distress (see L&N 25.273; cf. TEV, NIV, NLT).

¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of Jesus finding them asleep.

¹⁸ sn Jesus calls the disciples again to prayerful watchfulness with the words “Get up and pray” (see 22:40). The time is full of danger (22:53).