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Mark 14:35

in Mark 14

Going a little farther, He fell to the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour would pass from Him.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass away from him.

KJV

And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.

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This verse in Mark 14

Commentary

11 notes on this verse
He has fully taken upon himself the flesh of humanity, and with it human affections. So you read in Scripture that "going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him." Here he speaks not in the voice of God but as fully human. For how could God be ignorant of the possibility or impossibility of anything? Or is anything beyond God's ability, when as Scripture itself says: "For you nothing is impossible?"

This site's exposition

the hour would pass from Him

on Mark 14:35-36

Abba, Father keeps the Aramaic household word for father, which Paul later uses in Romans 8:15 and Galatians 4:6. The prayer closes, Yet not what I will, but what You will, the Son’s will yielded to the Father’s.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers2 voices

A commentator

Augustine of Hippo

Catena Aurea by Aquinas · Written before 430.

proposed

(de Con. iii. iv) He said not, if He could do it, but if it could be done; for whatever He wills is possible. We must therefore understand, if it be possible, as if it were; if He is willing. And lest any one should suppose that He lessened His Father's power, he shows in what sense the words are to be understood; for there follows, And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee. By which He sufficiently shows, that the words, if it be possible, must be understood not of any impossibility, but of the will of His Father. As to what Mark relates, that he said not only Father, but Abba, Father, Abba is the Hebrew for Father. And perhaps the Lord said both words, on account of some Sacrament contained in them; wishing to show that He had taken upon Himself that 1sorrow in the person of His body, the Church, to which He was made the chief corner stone, and which came to Him, partly from the Hebrews, who are represented by the word Abba, partly from the Gentiles, to whom Father belongs.

A commentator

John Chrysostom

ON THE INCOMPREHENSIBLE NATURE OF GOD 7.46 · Written before 407.

proposed

How is it, then, that in his prayer he says: "If it be possible?" He is showing the weakness that belongs to a human nature. Human nature would prefer not to be torn from the present life. It would draw back and shrink from death. Why? Because God has implanted in human nature a love for the life of this world.

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Bede

On the Gospel of Mark · Written before 735.

proposed

And he prayed that if it was possible the hour would pass from him, and said: Abba, etc. What was that voice, except the sound of our weakness? Many still frail ones grieve at the future death; but let them have a right heart, let …

A commentator

Bede

Catena Aurea by Aquinas · Written before 735.

proposed

But going forward a little, He falls on His face, and shows his lowliness of mind, by the posture of His body. Wherefore there follows: And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

He fell on the ground, and prayed. It was but a little before this, that in prayer he lifted up his eyes ( John xvii. 1 ); but here, being in an agony, he fell upon his face, accommodating himself to his present humiliation, and teaching us thus to abase ourselves before God; it becomes us to be low, when we come into the presence of the Most High.
4 more voices on this verse

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

"This short, but sharp affliction, that which I am now this hour to enter upon, let man's salvation be, if possible, accomplished without it." We have his very words (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

And he went forward a little,.... About a stone's cast, Luk 22:41, and fell on the ground, and prayed; he fell on his face to the ground, which was a praying posture.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

The history of our Lord's agony in the garden of Gethsemane is a deep and mysterious passage of Scripture. It contains things which the wisest divines cannot fully explain. Yet it has upon its surface plain truths of most momentous importance. Let us mark, in the first place, how keenly our Lord felt the burden of a world's sin . It is written that He began to be filled with horror and deep distress.
The history of our Lord's agony in the garden of Gethsemane is a deep and mysterious passage of Scripture. It contains things which the wisest divines cannot fully explain. Yet it has upon its surface plain truths of most momentous importance. Let us mark, in the first place, how keenly our Lord felt the burden of a world's sin . It is written that He began to be filled with horror and deep distress. He told them, "My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death," and that "he fell on the ground, and prayed, that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him." There is only one reasonable explanation of these expressions. It was no mere fear of the physical suffering of death, which drew them from our Lord's lips. It was a sense of the enormous load of human guilt, which began at that time to press upon Him in a peculiar way. It was a sense of the unutterable weight of our sins and transgressions which were then specially laid upon Him. He was being "made a curse for us." He was bearing our griefs and carrying our sorrows according to the covenant He came on earth to fulfill. He was being "made sin for us who Himself knew no sin." His holy nature felt acutely the hideous burden laid upon Him. These were the reasons of His extraordinary sorrow. We ought to see in our Lord's agony in Gethsemane the exceeding sinfulness of sin. It is a subject on which the thoughts of professing Christians are far below what they should be. The careless, light way in which such sins as swearing, Sabbath-breaking, lying, and the like, are often spoken of, is a painful evidence of the low condition of men's moral feelings. Let the recollection of Gethsemane have a sanctifying effect upon us. Whatever others do, let us never "make a mock at sin." Let us mark, in the second place, what an example our Lord gives us of the importance of prayer in time of trouble .

The words behind it

18 Greek words

Every Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

14 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Psalms 95:6O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.10 worksMark 14:41When Jesus returned the third time, He said, “Are you still sleeping and resting? That is enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.4 worksLuke 22:41And He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, where He knelt down and prayed,4 worksDeuteronomy 9:18Then I fell down before the LORD for forty days and forty nights, as I had done the first time. I did not eat bread or drink water because of all the sin you had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD and provoking Him to anger.3 worksMatthew 26:39Going 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.”3 worksActs 10:25–26As Peter was about to enter, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet to worship him.3 works
The other 8 cross-references, with their words ▾
Genesis 17:3Then Abram fell facedown, and God said to him,3 worksHebrews 5:7During 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.3 works2 Chronicles 7:3When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the LORD above the temple, they bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD: “For He is good; His loving devotion endures forever.”2 worksRevelation 4:10the twenty-four elders fall down before the One seated on the throne, and they worship Him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying:2 works1 Kings 18:42So Ahab went up to eat and drink. But Elijah climbed to the summit of Carmel, bent down on the ground, and put his face between his knees.2 works1 Chronicles 21:15–16Then God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but as the angel was doing so, the LORD saw it and relented from the calamity, and He said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that time the angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.1 worksRevelation 5:14And the four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.1 worksLuke 17:15–16When one of them saw that he was healed, he came back, praising God in a loud voice.1 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    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.”

    it leads to

    • 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 22:41–42

      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.

  • Through

    Deuteronomy 9:18

    Then I fell down before the LORD for forty days and forty nights, as I had done the first time. I did not eat bread or drink water because of all the sin you…

    it leads to

    • Exodus 34:28

      So Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.

    • Deuteronomy 9:9

      When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the LORD made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.…

  • Through

    Genesis 17:3

    Then Abram fell facedown, and God said to him,

    it leads to

    • Judges 13:20

      When the flame went up from the altar to the sky, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell facedown to the ground.

Where this verse is studied

About Mark

The Judas Kiss — Gustave Doré (engraving), public domain
The Judas Kiss — Gustave Doré (engraving), public domain
Mark: the study guide →Read Mark 14 →
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, Exposition of the Christian Faith 2.5.42; Augustine of Hippo, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Bede, On the Gospel of Mark; Bede, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); John Chrysostom, ON THE INCOMPREHENSIBLE NATURE OF GOD 7.46; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Mark 14 →