Matthew 26:43

43 And he came again [and] found them sleeping, {for they could not keep their eyes open}.

Matthew 26:43 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 26:43

And he came and found them asleep again
For they were aroused and awaked, in some measure, by what he had said to them; but no sooner was he gone but they fell asleep again, and thus he found them a second time; or, "he came again and found them asleep"; so read the Vulgate Latin, the Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, and Munster's Hebrew Gospel:

for their eyes were heavy;
with sleep through fatigue, sorrow Mark adds, "neither wist they what to answer him", ( Mark 14:40 ) ; they were so very sleepy, they knew not how to speak; or they were so confounded, that he should take them asleep a second time, after they had had such a reproof, and exhortation from him, that they knew not what answer to make him; who probably rebuked them again, or gave them a fresh exhortation.

Matthew 26:43 In-Context

41 Stay awake and pray that you will not enter into temptation. The spirit [is] willing, but the flesh [is] weak!"

42 Again for the second time he went away [and] prayed, saying, "My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will must be done."

43 And he came again [and] found them sleeping, {for they could not keep their eyes open}.

44 And leaving them again, he went away [and] prayed for the third [time], saying the same thing again.

45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.

Footnotes

• [a]. *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participle ("came again") has been translated as a finite verb
• [b]. Literally "for their eyes were weighed down"