And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began praying that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by.
Parallel translations
- WEB 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.
- BSB Going a little farther, He fell to the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour would pass from Him.
- NKJV He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him.
- NLT He went on a little farther and fell to the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus falls to the ground and prays that the hour might pass. He honestly brings his anguish before the Father.
Overview
The posture of falling to the ground conveys the depth of Jesus' distress. 'The hour' refers to the appointed time of his suffering and death. His prayer is real wrestling, yet always within submission to the Father's will, as the next verse makes clear.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Mark 14:41He came the third time, and said to them, “Sleep on now, and take your rest. It is enough. The hour has come. Behold, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
- Deut 9:18I fell down before Yahweh, as at the first, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you sinned, in doing that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, to provoke him to anger.
- Heb 5:7He, in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and petitions with strong crying and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and having been heard for his godly fear,
- Matt 26:39He went forward a little, fell on his face, and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from me; nevertheless, not what I desire, but what you desire.”
- Acts 10:25–26When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, fell down at his feet, and worshiped him.
- Gen 17:3Abram fell on his face. God talked with him, saying,
- 2 Chr 7:3All the children of Israel looked on, when the fire came down, and Yahweh’s glory was on the house. They bowed themselves with their faces to the ground on the pavement, worshiped, and gave thanks to Yahweh, saying, “For he is good; for his loving kindness endures for ever.”
- Rev 4:10the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives forever and ever, and throw their crowns before the throne, saying,
- Luke 17:15–16One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice.
- 1 Chr 21:15–16God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. As he was about to destroy, Yahweh saw, and he relented of the disaster, and said to the destroying angel, “It is enough. Now withdraw your hand.” Yahweh’s angel was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
- Rev 5:14The four living creatures said, “Amen!” The elders fell down and worshiped.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
How Mark 14:35 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.