Paragraph 22:41–44

22:41a

And He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them: This statement indicates that Jesus went a short distance away from his disciples.

about a stone’s throw: The Greek idiom that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as about a stone’s throw means “about as far as a man can throw a stone.” This idiom was used here to describe about how far Jesus went from the disciples. It does not imply that someone actually threw a stone.

In some languages a literal translation of this phrase will not be natural. If that is true in your language, use a different phrase to refer to a short distance.

22:41b

He knelt down and prayed: This clause introduces Jesus’ prayer in 22:42. Other ways to introduce it are:

knelt to pray. He said ⌊to God⌋,
-or-
knelt and prayed ⌊this prayer⌋ ⌊to God⌋:

He knelt down: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as He knelt down is literally “having placed the knees.” Jesus placed his knees on the ground with his weight on them, and he stayed in that position to pray. Some other ways to translate this are:

kneeled
-or-
stood on his knees

It was common for Jewish men to stand when they prayed. Jesus knelt. Kneeling was a way for a person to humble himself. When Jesus knelt, it implied that he was humbling himself before God. It also implies here that the prayer was very serious.

In some languages kneeling may not imply this meaning. If that is true in your language, you may use a different word or phrase that expresses humility in prayer. For example:

bowed down
-or-
humbled himself before God

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