Bible Strands
Matthew 26:43
And again Jesus returned and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus returns to the disciples after completing a second prayer in the garden to assess their condition.
The words — πάλιν (palin) means again, marking Jesus’ repeated return to the scene. καθεὺδοντας (katheudontas) translates to sleeping, describing the disciples’ physical posture.
The thread — The motif of sleep under pressure appears in Luke 9:32 and Jonah 1:6, where physical exhaustion intersects with divine urgency. Proverbs 23:34 later uses sleep as a metaphor for the disorientation of indulgence.
Why it lands — The text states Jesus observed their physical exhaustion without immediate correction, prompting readers to acknowledge human limits while continuing to pray.
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 came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy.
Cross-references
- Luke 9:32 Meanwhile Peter and his companions were overcome by sleep, but when they awoke, they saw Jesus’ glory and the two men standing with Him.
- Proverbs 23:34 You will be like one sleeping on the high seas or lying on the top of a mast:
- Jonah 1:6 The captain approached him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call upon your God. Perhaps this God will consider us, so that we may not perish.”
- Acts 20:9 And a certain young man named Eutychus, seated in the window, was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell from the third story and was picked up dead.
- Romans 13:1 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which is from God. The authorities that exist have been appointed by God.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:6 So then, let us not sleep as the others do, but let us remain awake and sober.