Psalms 43:5

43:5 Why are you depressed, ¹  O my soul? ² 

Why are you upset? ³ 

Wait for God!

For I will again give thanks

to my God for his saving intervention. ⁴ 

Psalms 55:5

55:5 Fear and panic overpower me; ⁵ 

terror overwhelms ⁶  me.

Psalms 77:3

77:3 I said, “I will remember God while I groan;

I will think about him while my strength leaves me.” ⁷  (Selah)

Psalms 142:3

142:3 Even when my strength leaves me, ⁸ 

you watch my footsteps. ⁹ 

In the path where I walk

they have hidden a trap for me.

Psalms 143:4

143:4 My strength leaves me; ¹⁰ 

I am absolutely shocked. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 54:11

54:11 “O afflicted one, driven away, ¹²  and unconsoled!

Look, I am about to set your stones in antimony

and I lay your foundation with lapis-lazuli.

Mark 14:33-34

14:33 He took Peter, James, ¹³  and John with him, and became very troubled and distressed. 14:34 He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, even to the point of death. Remain here and stay alert.”

Luke 22:44

22:44 And in his anguish ¹⁴  he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.] ¹⁵ 

¹ tn Heb “Why do you bow down?”

² sn For poetic effect the psalmist addresses his soul, or inner self.

³ tn Heb “and why are you in turmoil upon me?”

⁴ tc Heb “for again I will give him thanks, the saving acts of my face and my God.” The last line should be emended to read יְשׁוּעֹת פְנֵי אֱלֹהָי (yÿshu’ot fÿney ’elohay, “[for] the saving acts of the face of my God,” that is, the saving acts associated with God’s presence/intervention. This refrain is identical to the one in Ps 42:11. See also 42:5, which differs only slightly.

⁵ tn Heb “fear and trembling enter into me.”

⁶ tn Heb “covers.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive carries on the descriptive (present progressive) force of the preceding imperfect.

⁹ tn Heb “I will remember God and I will groan, I will reflect and my spirit will grow faint.” The first three verbs are cohortatives, the last a perfect with vav (ו) consecutive. The psalmist’s statement in v. 4 could be understood as concurrent with v. 1, or, more likely, as a quotation of what he had said earlier as he prayed to God (see v. 2). The words “I said” are supplied in the translation at the beginning of the verse to reflect this interpretation (see v. 10).

¹³ tn Heb “my spirit grows faint.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “you know my path.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “my spirit grows faint.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “in my midst my heart is shocked.” For a similar use of the Hitpolel of שָׁמֵם (shamem), see Isa 59:16; 63:5.

²¹ tn Or, more literally, “windblown, storm tossed.”

²⁵ tn Grk “and James,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

²⁹ tn Grk “And being in anguish.”

³⁰ 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.