Section 22:39–46
Jesus prayed in a garden called Gethsemane
Jesus then went out to the Mount of Olives with his disciples. There he prayed to God about his coming suffering, and there his enemies, whom Judas was leading, arrested him.
Jesus knew that his enemies would soon arrest him. So during this last time that he had with his disciples, he prayed to God and encouraged them to pray to God. He told his disciples to pray that they would not be overcome by temptation. Jesus also prayed that he himself would do what his heavenly Father wanted rather than what he himself wanted.
Other examples of headings for this section are:
Jesus Prays on the Mount of Olives (Good News Translation)
-or-
Jesus Prays Alone (New Century Version)
-or-
The Garden of Gethsemane
There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 26:36–46 and Mark 14:32–42.
Paragraph 22:39–40
22:39a
Jesus went out: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Jesus went out is more literally “And he came out, and went,” as in the Revised Standard Version. The context shows that Jesus and his disciples left the room where they ate the Passover and went out of the city of Jerusalem. They walked to a place outside the city. Some other ways to translate it are:
Jesus left the city and went (Good News Translation)
-or-
Jesus went out of the city to (God’s Word)
-or-
Jesus left ⌊the house/room⌋ and went
In 22:39b the text indicates that Jesus’ disciples went with him. In some languages it may be more natural to mention the disciples along with Jesus at the beginning of the verse. See the General Comment on 22:39a–b below for translation suggestions.
as usual: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as as usual is more literally “according to the custom/habit.” Jesus often went to this place with his disciples. In 21:37 the text indicates that Jesus and his disciples had slept there each night during the days after they arrived in Jerusalem.
Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
as he usually did (Good News Translation)
-or-
as was his custom (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
because they always slept there
to the Mount of Olives: The Mount of Olives was a hill/mountain on the east side of Jerusalem. Many olive trees grew there. The Mount of Olives was mentioned in 19:29. See the notes on “Mount of Olives” and “Olives” at 19:29b for more information and translation examples.
22:39b
and the disciples followed Him: In this context the phrase followed Him indicates that the disciples went with Jesus. They accompanied him to the Mount of Olives. Another way to translate this is:
the disciples went with him (Good News Translation)
disciples: Here the term disciples refers to the apostles who had been with him for the Passover celebration. However, it does not include Judas, who had left them during the supper. Refer back to the disciples in a natural way in your language.
General Comment on 22:39a–b
In some languages it may be more natural to change the order of some phrases in this verse. For example:
39bThen, accompanied by the disciples, 39aJesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives. (New Living Translation (2004))
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