Bible Strands
Matthew 26:38
Then He said to them, “My soul is consumed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with Me.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses Peter and the two sons of Zebedee in the garden immediately after taking them aside and beginning to feel deep distress. He instructs them to remain and keep watch while He prepares to face the coming events.
The words — The Greek term περιλύπος (perilupos) literally means "very sorrowful" or "consumed with sorrow," marking a grief that reaches the threshold of death. Jesus couples this declaration with a direct command for his companions to stay and keep watch.
The thread — The motif of a troubled soul facing imminent suffering appears in John 12:27, where Jesus acknowledges His soul troubled before the cross. The theological resolution is stated in 1 Peter 2:24 and 1 Peter 3:18, which explain that Christ bore sins once for all to bring believers to God.
Why it lands — The text requires readers to acknowledge Christ’s genuine human anguish alongside His submission to the Father’s will. It calls believers to remain present and watchful in their own trials rather than flee from suffering.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.
Cross-references
- John 12:27 Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? No, it is for this purpose that I have come to this hour.
- 1 Peter 2:24 He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. “By His stripes you are healed.”
- 1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit,
- Isaiah 53:10 Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush Him and to cause Him to suffer; and when His soul is made a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.
- Matthew 26:40 Then Jesus returned to the disciples and found them sleeping. “Were you not able to keep watch with Me for one hour?” He asked Peter.
- Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”
- 1 Peter 4:7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear-minded and sober, so that you can pray.
- Job 6:2 “If only my grief could be weighed and placed with my calamity on the scales.
- Psalms 88:14 Why, O LORD, do You reject me? Why do You hide Your face from me?
- Isaiah 53:3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.