The relations which Matthew and Mark give us are both more particular than that given us by Luke, to which we refer the reader. Luke speaketh but of his praying once; Matthew saith he prayed thrice. Luke mentions nothing of his withdrawing with Peter, James, and John from the other eight; Matthew and Mark both mention it. Luke maketh mention of an angels appearing to him, of the agony in which he was, and his sweating drops as it were of blood; which neither Matthew nor Mark take notice of: yet we must not think, that either any one of the evangelists, or all of them together, give a perfect account of all the words our Saviour used in these prayers, only they tell us the sum of them in different words; but See Poole on “Mat 26:40“, and following verses to Mat 26:41. See Poole on “Mar 14:37“, and following verses to Mar 14:38, where we have fully considered whatsoever is said by any of the evangelists upon this argument.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

And when he rose from prayer,…. The Syriac version reads, “from his prayer”, having finished it; and the Persic and Ethiopic versions read, “from the place of prayer”, or where he prayed:

and was come to his disciples; to the three, which he had left about the distance of a stone’s cast:

he found them sleeping for sorrow; on his account; for he had signified unto them, how exceeding sorrowful he was; and they might perceive by his looks and gestures, the anxiety and distress of mind he was in, which must needs affect them; and besides, he had given them some intimations of his being to be betrayed by one of them, and of his sufferings and death, and speedy departure from them; and because of these things, sorrow had filled their hearts, and this had induced heaviness and sleep upon them; [See comments on Mt 26:40].

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Sleeping for sorrow ( ). Luke does not tell of the three turnings of Jesus to the trusted three for human sympathy.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

For sorrow. The mention of the cause of the drowsiness is characteristic.

47 – 53. Compare Mt 27:47 – 56; Mr 14:43 – 52.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) “And when he rose up from prayer,” (kai anastas apo tes proseuches) “And when he rose up from the prayer,” from the third or final prayer in the Garden alone.

2) “And was come to his disciples,” (elthon pros tous mathetas) “Upon coming directly to the disciples,” who had been only a stone’s throw away, to the three, and the eight, Mat 26:36-37; Mar 14:32-33.

3) “He found them sleeping for sorrow,” (heuren koimomenous sutous apo tes lupes) “He found them sleeping from the grief,” Mat 26:40, they too had experienced that evening, and the weariness of the day; Peter slept while his master prayed, later followed afar off, sat among the Lord’s enemies, denied his Lord, and that he was “one of His.”

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

(45) He found them sleeping for sorrow.It is, perhaps, again characteristic of St. Luke, that while the other Gospels state simply the fact that the disciples slept, he assigns it psychologically and physiologically to its cause. Prolonged sorrow has, at last, a numbing and narcotising effect. (See Note on believing not for joy, Luk. 24:41.)

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

‘And when he rose up from his prayer, he came to the disciples, and found them sleeping for sorrow,’

On returning to His disciples after His bitter struggle He discovered that they had failed to maintain their watch. Once again He suffered the bitterness of seeing and experiencing the failure of His friends. No wonder that He had some doubts as to whether they were yet ready for the task that lay ahead. But the contrast with their forward going outlook in Acts is deliberate. Without the dynamic and impetus of the Holy Spirit they could but fail when such mighty forces were at work. Fortunately for them, however, they were in the hand of God, and were being prayed for by the Great Intercessor, and so their failure was ameliorated.

‘Sleeping for sorrow.’ Possibly being overcome by having watched His agony and unable to bear it any longer, and because they were bewildered at what was happening, something which was beyond their ability to comprehend. Possibly they had been discussing His words about His coming betrayal among themselves and had become very apprehensive as they recognised that Jesus must have some reason for being here, a reason which they may well have seen as linked with the dark hints that He had been dropping previously, and especially on that very night. And perhaps their thoughts had been too much for them after the strenuous week that they had had (even though it was no more strenuous than His). For the idea of the sorrow that was afflicting the disciples, even in their partial ignorance, see Joh 16:6; Joh 16:20-22; Mar 14:19. It had been enough to drive them to exhaustion.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

45 And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow,

Ver. 45. He found them sleeping ] Who should have waked, and wiped off his sweat (as the angel did Theodorus the martyr’s), but they rather added to it by their security. (Socrates, Theodoret.)

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

45. ] the effect of anxiety and watching. The words may possibly express an inference of the Evangelist (Meyer): but I would rather understand them as exactly describing the cause of their sleeping.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Luk 22:45-46 . Return of Jesus to His disciples . : rising up from the prayer , seems to continue the narrative from Luk 22:42 . , asleep from grief , apologetic; Hebraistic construction, therefore not added by Lk., but got from a Jewish-Christian document, says J. Weiss (in Meyer). Doubtless Lk.’s, added out of delicate feeling for the disciples, and with truth to nature, for grief does induce sleep (“moestitia somnum affert,” Wolf).

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

to. Greek. pros. App-104.

for = from. Greek. apo. App-104. Verses 47-53. Compare Mat 26:47-56. Mar 14:43-52.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

45.] -the effect of anxiety and watching. The words may possibly express an inference of the Evangelist (Meyer): but I would rather understand them as exactly describing the cause of their sleeping.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

[45. , and when He rose up) Given up completely to the will of the Father.-V. g.]

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

sleeping

Peter was sleeping while his Master was praying, Luk 22:45, resisting while his Master was submitting, Lu 22: 49-51, he followed afar off; sat down amongst his Lord’s enemies; and denied his Lord, the faith, and the brotherhood.

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

sleeping: Mat 26:40, Mat 26:43, Mar 14:37, Mar 14:40, Mar 14:41

Reciprocal: 1Ki 8:54 – when Solomon Dan 8:18 – I was Dan 10:9 – was I Jon 1:5 – and was Zec 4:1 – waked Mar 13:36 – he find Luk 9:32 – were heavy Joh 16:6 – General Joh 16:20 – That

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

5

Sleeping for sorrow. It was wrong for the apostles to be sleeping even for this cause, but it was not as bad as if it was from pure indifference. A like situation exisited once with the Israelites in Egypt (Exo 6:9).

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Luk 22:45-46. Luke is very brief in these verses, and we must supplement his account from those of Matthew and Mark. We learn from these that our Lord came once and again to the three disciples, and found them asleep.

For sorrow. This was the cause of their sleep. Luke is not seeking to excuse them. See on Mat 26:40-41.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Luk 22:45-46. And when he rose up from prayer After this dreadful conflict; and was come to his disciples Namely, the third time; notwithstanding the repeated admonitions he had given them, he again found them sleeping And that, as the evangelist says, for sorrow The sensations of grief which they felt at the sight of their Masters distress so overpowering them, that they sunk into sleep; a circumstance which shows how much they were affected with his sufferings. And said unto them, Why sleep ye Why do you still persist to sleep at such a season as this? I call upon you yet once more, to rise and pray, lest ye enter into and fall by the approaching most dangerous temptation. See the various circumstances attending this dreadful scene of our Lords sufferings in the garden more fully elucidated in the notes on Mat 26:36-46; and Mar 14:32, &c.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Verse 45

Sleeping for sorrow; exhausted with anxiety and sorrow.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

22:45 {15} And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow,

(15) Men are utterly sluggish, even in their greatest dangers.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

Instead of praying, the disciples were sleeping. Luke noted that they slept from sorrow. Evidently their sorrow (Gr. lupe, grief) at the prospect of Jesus’ impending death had worn them out. The NEB translation "worn out by grief" is helpful. Depression often results in weariness.

Jesus’ question had the force of "How can you sleep at a time like this?" They needed to pray so they would not enter into temptation much less fall before it. Spiritual preparation before testing has more effect than just calling for rescue when we are in it does (cf. Mat 6:13; Luk 11:4). Jesus showed concern for the welfare of His disciples even when His own needs were the greatest. Luke omitted the three trips Jesus made to the sleeping disciples that Matthew and Mark recorded (Mat 26:42-45; Mar 14:39-41). The effect is more emphasis on Jesus’ praying and less on the disciples’ failing.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)