Luke 22:39

The Prayer in Gethsemane

39 And he went away [and] proceeded, according to [his] custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples also followed him.

Luke 22:39 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 22:39

And he came out
That is, "Christ", as the Persic version; or the "Lord Jesus", as the Ethiopic version expresses; he came out of the guestchamber, or upper room, and out of the house where he had been keeping the passover with his disciples; and he came out of the city of Jerusalem, to begin his sorrows and sufferings without the camp, where he was to end them:

and went, as he was wont, to the Mount of Olives.
This had been his practice and custom for several nights past, as appears from ( Luke 21:37 ) . Hence Judas knew the place he now went to, and could direct the soldiers and officers where to go, and apprehend him; and this shows the willingness of Christ to be taken, in order to suffer and die; otherwise he would have gone to another place, and not this. The Ethiopic version adds, "to pray", as he did; and, as very likely he was used; for he would sometimes continue a whole night in prayer on a mountain; see ( Luke 6:12 )

and his disciples also followed him;
eleven of them, for Judas was now gone to the chief priests to inform them where Christ was going, that they might seize him: but the other disciples followed him, which was so ordered, that they might be witnesses of his sorrows and agonies in the garden, and of his being betrayed by Judas, and apprehended by the Jews; though upon this they forsook him and fled.

Luke 22:39 In-Context

37 For I tell you that this that is written must be fulfilled in me: 'And he was counted with the criminals.' For indeed, [what is written] about me {is being fulfilled}."

38 So they said, "Lord, behold, here [are] two swords!" And he said to them, "It is adequate."

39 And he went away [and] proceeded, according to [his] custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples also followed him.

40 And [when] he came to the place, he said to them, "Pray that you will not enter into temptation."

41 And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw and {knelt down} [and] began to pray,

Footnotes

• [a]. *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participle ("went away") has been translated as a finite verb
• [b]. *Literally "the"; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun