Mark 14:40

And when he returned, he found them asleep again, (for their eyes were heavy,) neither wist they what to answer him.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

14:32-42 Christ's sufferings began with the sorest of all, those in his soul. He began to be sorely amazed; words not used in St. Matthew, but very full of meaning. The terrors of God set themselves in array against him, and he allowed him to contemplate them. Never was sorrow like unto his at this time. Now he was made a curse for us; the curses of the law were laid upon him as our Surety. He now tasted death, in all the bitterness of it. This was that fear of which the apostle speaks, the natural fear of pain and death, at which human nature startles. Can we ever entertain favourable, or even slight thoughts of sin, when we see the painful sufferings which sin, though but reckoned to him, brought on the Lord Jesus? Shall that sit light upon our souls, which sat so heavy upon his? Was Christ in such agony for our sins, and shall we never be in agony about them? How should we look upon Him whom we have pierced, and mourn! It becomes us to be exceedingly sorrowful for sin, because He was so, and never to mock at it. Christ, as Man, pleaded, that, if it were possible, his sufferings might pass from him. As Mediator, he submitted to the will of God, saying, Nevertheless, not what I will, but what thou wilt; I bid it welcome. See how the sinful weakness of Christ's disciples returns, and overpowers them. What heavy clogs these bodies of ours are to our souls! But when we see trouble at the door, we should get ready for it. Alas, even believers often look at the Redeemer's sufferings in a drowsy manner, and instead of being ready to die with Christ, they are not even prepared to watch with him one hour.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Neither wist they ... - Neither "knew" they. They were so conscious of the impropriety of sleeping at that time, that they could not find any answer to give to the inquiry why they had done it.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Mr 14:32-42. The Agony in the Garden. ( = Mt 26:36-46; Lu 22:39-46).

See on [1507]Lu 22:39-46.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

See Poole on "Mark 14:32"

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And when he returned, he found them asleep again,.... Notwithstanding the expostulation he had used with them, the exhortation he had given them, and the danger he had suggested to them:

for their eyes were heavy: with sleep and sorrow:

neither wist they what to answer him; partly through confusion and shame, not knowing how to excuse themselves; and partly, through their being stupefied with sleep and grief.

Geneva Study Bible

And when he returned, he found them asleep again, (for their eyes were heavy,) neither wist they what to answer him.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Expositor's Greek Testament

Mark 14:40. καταβαρυνόμενοι, “their eyes were very heavy”; R. V[133], weighed down with irresistible sleep.—καταβαρύνω, here and occasionally in the Sept[134] = the more usual καταβαρέω (from the simple verb βαρέω comes βεβαρημένοι in T.R.).—καὶ οὐκ ᾔδεισαν, etc.: this remark recalls the experience of the same three on the hill of transfiguration (cf. Mark 9:6). But in the earlier instance the reference is to the stupidity produced by sleep, here probably to shame on account of unseasonable sleep. They felt that they ought to have kept awake during their Master’s hour of trial, and knew not how to excuse themselves.

[133] Revised Version.

[134]Septuagint.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

40. their eyes were heavy] “sopli her yzen were greuyd,” Wyclif. Even as had been the case on the Mount of Transfiguration. The original word supported by the best MSS. only occurs here, and denotes that the Apostles were utterly tired, and their eyes “weighed down.”

neither wist they what to answer him] A graphic touch peculiar to the second Evangelist, just as the imperfect tense equally graphically implies that the eyes of the Apostles were constantly becoming weighed down in spite of any efforts they might make to keep awake. Comp. the scene at the Transfiguration, Mark 9:6.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 40. - And again he came, and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy (καταβαρυνόμενοι): literally, weighed down. They had not deliberately yielded themselves to sleep; but an oppressive languor, the effect of great sorrow, had come over them, so that they could not watch as they desired to do; but by an involuntary action they ever and anon slumbered. They wist not what to answer him. They had no excuse, save that which he himself had found for them. Mark 14:40

Vincent's Word Studies

Heavy (καταβαρυνόμενοι)

Lit., weighed down: very heavy.