Translation commentary on Luke 22:41

Exegesis:

kai autos apespasthē ap’ autōn ‘and he withdrew from them.’ kai autos may mean ‘and he himself,’ or, without emphasis, ‘and he,’ probably the latter.

apospaō ‘to draw away,’ here in the passive, either with intransitive meaning, ‘to withdraw,’ or with passive meaning, ‘to be drawn away’ (i.e. by the violence of his emotions, cf. Plummer), preferably the former.

hōsei lithou bolēn ‘about a stone’s throw,’ accusative of extent.

bolē ‘throw,’ here of the distance covered by throwing a stone, approximately 30 yards.

theis ta gonata lit. ‘after bending his knees,’ hence ‘kneeling down,’ denoting a less common position of praying, standing being the more common position, cf. 18.11. For gonu cf. on 5.8.

prosēucheto ‘he prayed for some time,’ durative imperfect.

Translation:

He withdrew from them, cf. on 5.16.

About a stone’s throw, or, ‘as far as one/you may throw a stone’ (cf. Western Highland Purepecha, Sranan Tongo), or not specifying the object, ‘a throw its-distance’ (Balinese, Toraja-Sa’dan).

To kneel down, or, ‘to fall on one’s knees’ (Phillips, similarly Sranan Tongo, lit. ‘to fall with one’s knees on the ground’). The usual rendering should be used even when referring to a position that is not the normal one for prayer in the culture.

Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Luke 22:41

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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