Paragraph 22:45–46

22:45a

When Jesus rose from prayer and returned to the disciples: The phrase Jesus rose from prayer indicates that Jesus finished praying and stood up. He had been kneeling as he prayed. Then he returned to where his disciples were. They were waiting where he left them in 22:41. Some other ways to translate this are:

When Jesus ended his prayer, he got up and went to the disciples. (God’s Word)
-or-
After he had spoken to God ⌊like this⌋, Jesus stood up and came to his disciples.
-or-
Jesus got up from praying and went over to his disciples.

In some languages it may not be natural to mention that Jesus stood up. If that is true in your language, you may leave it implied. For example:

When he finished praying, he went to his followers (New Century Version)

22:45b

He found them asleep: The clause He found them asleep indicates that when Jesus came to his disciples, he saw that they were sleeping. It does not imply that Jesus did not know where they were and had to search for them. Another way to translate this clause is:

he saw that they were asleep

In some languages it is clear from the context that Jesus saw them, and a verb like found or “saw” may seem unnecessary. If that is true in your language, you may leave it implied. For example:

they were sleeping

22:45c

exhausted from sorrow: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as exhausted from sorrow is more literally “from the grief.” The Berean Standard Bible supplied the word exhausted to make the meaning clearer in English.

The phrase exhausted from sorrow tells the reason that the disciples were sleeping. They were sleeping because of their sorrow. They felt tired and weak because of all the grief that they had felt that night, so they slept. It was hard for them to think anymore about the suffering that Jesus was about to endure.

Some other ways to make the connection clear are:

because of grief
-or-

⌊They slept⌋ because they were exhausted by all the grief/sadness they felt.
-or-
they were so weak because of their grief.

In some languages there is an idiom to express this. For example:

because their hearts were so heavy
-or-
worn out from being so sad (Contemporary English Version)

sorrow: Here the word sorrow refers to the distress and anxiety that the disciples felt when Jesus talked about what would happen to him. They were troubled that he said that they would all forsake him. They were also grieved when he talked about how he would suffer and die. Use a natural word in your language to describe this feeling.

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