Christ's agony at Gethsemane

Christ's Agony at Gethsemane is a passage in the Gospel of Luke (22:43–44), describing a prayer of Jesus, after which he receives strength from an angel, on the Mount of Olives prior to his betrayal and arrest. It is one of several passages which appear in the New Testament, but is absent in many of the earlier manuscripts. 
The situation of Jesus, prior to the completion of his ministry, begging weakness to God to perform the difficult task has been compared to Exodus 20, wherein the prophet Moses speaks to God and pleads weakness when told to confront Pharaoh.Busse, Heribert. "Islam, Judaism and Christianity: Theological and Historical Affiliations", 1998. p. 126.
The authenticity of the passage has been disputed by scholars since the second half of the 19th century. The verses are placed in double brackets in modern editions of the Greek text, and in a footnote in the RSV.
== Text ==
Greek:
ὤφθη δὲ αὐτῷ ἄγγελος ἀπ' οὐρανοῦ ἐνισχύων αὐτὸν. καὶ γενόμενος ἐν ἀγωνίᾳ ἐκτενέστερον προσηύχετο. ἐγένετο δὲ ὁ ἱδρὼς αὐτοῦ ὡσεὶ θρόμβοι αἵματος καταβαίνοντες ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν. 
Translation (RSV):
And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down upon the ground.
== Manuscript evidence ==
; Include passage 
:Codex Sinaiticus*, 2, D, Codex Laudianus, Codex Seidelianus I, Codex Seidelianus II, K, L, Codex Campianus, Codex Sinopensis, Codex Nanianus, Codex Monacensis, Δ*, Codex Tischendorfianus III, Codex Athous Lavrensis, Uncial 0171, f1, 174, 565, 700, 892, 1009, 1010, 1071mg, 1230, 1241, 1242, 1253, 1344, 1365, 1546, 1646, 2148, 2174, (ℓ 184, ℓ 211, Byz, it, vg, syrcur, syrh, syrp, syrpal, arm, eth, Diatessaron, Justin, Ireneaus, Hippolitus, Dionysus, Eusebius, Epiphanius, Chrysostom, Jerome, Augustine, Theodoret, Leontius, Cosmas, Facundus. 
:: 
; Exclude passage
:Papyrus 69, Papyrus 75, Codex Sinaiticus1, Codex Alexandrinus, Codex Vaticanus, Codex Petropolitanus Purpureus, Codex Nitriensis, Codex Borgianus, W, 158, 512, 542, 552, 579, 1071*, 1128, Lectpt, f, syrs, copsa, copbo, geo, Marcion, Clement, Origen. 
; Question passage
:Marked with asterisks (*) or obeli (÷). Codex Sangalensisc, Codex Petropolitanusc, 892mg, 1079, 1195, 1216, copbomss.C. R. Gregory, Textkritik des Neuen Testaments, (Leipzig, 1900), vol. 1, p. 95. 
; Relocate passage
:f13 transpose the passage after Matthew 26:39.
; Lacuna
:Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus and Minuscule 33.
== Modern scholars ==
Samuel Prideaux Tregelles (1856): 
:"the reason for the omission of these verses in some manuscripts and for their being marked as suspected in others, is by some supposed to have been that they were rejected by some of the more timid, lest they should appear to favour the Arians: it may be that they were omitted in Luke from their being early read in a lesson containing part of Matt. XXVI."S. P. Tregelles, An Introduction to the Critical Study of the New Testament (London 1856), p. 451. 
Dean Burgon (1883) said that:
:"These two Verses were excised through mistaken piety by certain of the orthodox, jealous for the honour of their LORD, and alarmed by the use which the impugners of His GOD head freely made of them. "He also cites Ephraem, who "puts... into the mouth of Satan, addressing the host of Hell" a statement of rejoicing over the Lord's agony.Burgon, The Revision Revised, 1883
Kurt Aland (1995): 
:"These verses exhibit a conclusive clue to their secondary nature (like the Pericope Adulterae) in the alternative locations for its insertion. While the majority of the (now known) manuscripts place them at Luke 22:43-44, they are found after Matthew 26:39 in the minuscule family 13 and in several lectionaries. This kind fluctuation in the New Testament manuscript tradition is one of the surest evidences for the secondary character of a text."Kurt Aland, and Barbara Aland, "The Text of the New Testament: An Introduction to the Critical Editions and to the Theory and Practice of Modern Textual Criticism", transl. Erroll F. Rhodes, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1995, p. 310. 
Bruce M. Metzger (2005): 
:"These verses are absent from some of the oldest and best witnesses, including the majority of the Alexandrian manuscripts. It is striking to note that the earliest witnesses attesting the verses are three Church fathers - Justin, Irenaeus, and Hippolytus - each of whom uses the verses in order to counter Christological views that maintained that Jesus was not a full human who experienced the full range of human sufferings. It may well be that the verses were added to the text for just this reason, in opposition to those who held to a docetic Christology".Bruce M. Metzger, The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration (Oxford University Press: 2005), p. 286.
Bart D. Ehrman:
:According to Bart D. Ehrman (1993) these two verses disrupt the literary structure of the scene (the chiasmus), they are not found in the early and valuable manuscripts, and they are the only place in Luke where Jesus is seen to be in agony. Ehrman concludes that they were inserted in order to counter doceticism, the belief that Jesus, as divine, only seemed to suffer. While probably not original to the text, these verses reflect first-century tradition.Bart D. Ehrman, The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture (Oxford University Press: 1993), pp. 187-194
== Other disputed passages ==
* Matthew 16:2b–3
* Mark 16:8-20
* Jesus and the woman taken in adultery (John 7:53-8:11)
* Comma Johanneum (1 John 5:7b-8a)
== References ==
== Further reading ==
* Bruce M. Metzger, "A Textual Commentary on the New Testament", Deutsche Bibelgesselschaft, United Bible Societies, Stuttgart 1994, p. 151. 
* Bart D. Ehrman, The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture (Oxford University Press: 1993), pp. 187-194.
== External links ==
* W. Willker, A Textual Commentary on the Greek Gospels. Vol. 3 Luke. TVU 174
* W. Willker, Luke 22:43–44 in 0171 (the earliest Greek witness to these verses)
* W. Willkier, Luk 33:43 in Codex Vaticanus
* Claire Clivaz, A Sweet like Drops of Blood" (Luke 22:43-44)
* Claire Clivaz, L'ange et la sueur de sang (Lc 22,43-44) ou comment on pourrait bien écrire l'histoire (BiTS 7), Leuven: Peeters, 2009, 737p.
Category:Biblical criticism
Category:Gospel episodes