Discovery BoxMatthew 26:36-50 
Context26:36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 26:37 He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and became anguished and distressed. 26:38 Then he said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, even to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake with me.” 26:39 Going a little farther, he threw himself down with his face to the ground and prayed, 1 “My Father, if possible, 2 let this cup 3 pass from me! Yet not what I will, but what you will.” 26:40 Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. He 4 said to Peter, “So, couldn’t you stay awake with me for one hour? 26:41 Stay awake and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 26:42 He went away a second time and prayed, 5 “My Father, if this cup 6 cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will must be done.” 26:43 He came again and found them sleeping; they could not keep their eyes open. 7 26:44 So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same thing once more. 26:45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is approaching, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 26:46 Get up, let us go. Look! My betrayer 8 is approaching!”
26:47 While he was still speaking, Judas, 9 one of the twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent by the chief priests and elders of the people. 26:48 (Now the betrayer 10 had given them a sign, saying, “The one I kiss is the man. 11 Arrest him!”) 12 26:49 Immediately 13 he went up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi,” and kissed him. 14 26:50 Jesus 15 said to him, “Friend, do what you are here to do.” Then they came and took hold 16 of Jesus and arrested him.
1 tn Grk “ground, praying and saying.” Here the participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
2 tn Grk “if it is possible.”
3 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.
4 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
5 tn Grk “saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.
6 tn Grk “this”; the referent (the cup) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 tn Grk “because their eyes were weighed down,” an idiom for becoming extremely or excessively sleepy (L&N 23.69).
8 tn Grk “the one who betrays me.”
9 tn Grk “behold, Judas.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).
10 tn Grk “the one who betrays him.”
11 tn Grk “The one I kiss is he.”
12 sn This remark is parenthetical within the narrative and has thus been placed in parentheses.
13 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
14 sn Judas’ act of betrayal when he kissed Jesus is especially sinister when it is realized that it was common in the culture of the times for a disciple to kiss his master when greeting him.
15 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
16 tn Grk “and put their hands on Jesus.”
