Limitless Word
And He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with Him, and began to be grieved and distressed.
Matthew 26:37 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and severely troubled.
  • KJV And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.
  • BSB He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.
  • NKJV And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.
  • NLT He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed.

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 takes Peter, James, and John and begins to be sorrowful and deeply troubled. He shares His anguish with His closest companions.

Overview

Taking the inner three, Jesus enters profound distress as the weight of His coming death presses upon Him. His sorrow shows the reality of His full humanity and the dreadful nature of bearing sin. That the sinless Son trembles before the cup reveals how great a price our redemption required.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 8

  • Matt 4:21Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them.
  • Matt 17:1After six days, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John his brother, and brought them up into a high mountain by themselves.
  • Mark 5:37He allowed no one to follow him, except Peter, James, and John the brother of James.
  • Mark 14:33–34He took with him Peter, James, and John, and began to be greatly troubled and distressed.
  • Matt 20:20Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, kneeling and asking a certain thing of him.
  • John 12:27“Now my soul is troubled. What shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this time?’ But for this cause I came to this time.
  • Matt 4:18Walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers: Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.
  • Luke 22:44Being in agony he prayed more earnestly. His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Matthew videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Matthew 26:37YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on MatthewMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'

How Matthew 26:37 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.