Bible Strands
Matthew 26:39
Going a little farther, He fell facedown and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus, alone, to his Father, in Gethsemane, after telling his disciples his soul is consumed with sorrow (26:38). He has gone a little farther from them to pray.
The words — Προσευχόμενος (proseuchomenos, "praying") is a present participle, making the fall and the prayer one continuous action rather than two sequential ones. He is on the ground in the act of praying.
The thread — The same cup language recurs in Matthew 26:42, where the conditional softens to a concession. John 6:38 and Philippians 2:8 state the same subordination as a settled principle rather than a moment of crisis.
Why it lands — The verse holds two things in tension without resolving them: a real wish to escape suffering and a submission that does not erase that wish. It asks the reader to stop treating "not my will, but yours" as a formula and see it as a decision made against a genuine desire.
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
And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
Cross-references
- John 6:38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me.
- Philippians 2:8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.
- Matthew 26:42 A second time He went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cup cannot pass unless I drink it, may Your will be done.”
- Luke 22:41 And He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, where He knelt down and prayed,
- John 5:30 I can do nothing by Myself; I judge only as I hear. And My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
- Hebrews 5:7 During the days of Jesus’ earthly life, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence.
- Mark 14:35 Going a little farther, He fell to the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour would pass from Him.
- 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.
- John 14:31 But I do exactly what the Father has commanded Me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Get up! Let us go on from here.
- John 18:11 “Put your sword back in its sheath!” Jesus said to Peter. “Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given Me?”