22:46a
Why are you sleeping?: This is a rhetorical question. Jesus rebuked his disciples for sleeping after he told them to pray in 22:40. In 22:31 Jesus had told them that Satan wanted to tempt them. It was not right for them to sleep at that time when they needed to pray. In 22:46b Jesus again told them to pray.
Some ways to translate this rebuke are:
• As a rhetorical question. For example:
Why are you asleep? (Contemporary English Version)
• As a statement. For example:
It is not good that you are sleeping ⌊now⌋.
In some languages it may not be clear why Jesus rebuked his disciples. If that is true in your language, it may be necessary to include implied information here. For example:
Is it good that you are sleeping ⌊in this time of temptation⌋?
-or-
Why are you sleeping? ⌊You should be praying.⌋
He asked: In the Greek text, this clause occurs at the beginning of this verse. It is more literally, “and he said to them.” The Berean Standard Bible has placed the clause after the rhetorical question. Place it where it is natural in your language. If you translate the question as a statement, use an appropriate verb of speech in your language.
The context implies that Jesus woke the disciples. The disciples may have awakened when Jesus returned, or Jesus may have awakened them by the question or in another way. In some languages it may be necessary to include implied information that shows that the disciples awakened and heard the question. For example:
⌊awakened them and⌋ said
22:46b
Get up and pray: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Get up may refer here to waking from sleep or to getting up from the ground. The disciples had been lying on the ground asleep.
The commands Get up and pray indicate that Jesus wanted them to rise from sleeping on the ground and pray. Jewish men often prayed standing up. Some ways to translate these commands are:
Rise and pray (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
Wake up and pray (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Stand up and pray
pray so that you will not enter into temptation: Here Jesus repeated the command that he gave his disciples in 22:40. See the notes at 22:40b for translation suggestions.
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