BLOODY SWEAT

(swet hosei thromboi haimatos): Described in Luke 22:44 as a physical accompaniment of our Lord's agony at Gethsemane (on the passage, which is absent in some manuscripts, see Westcott and Hort, The New Testament in Greek). Many old writers take this to mean that the perspiration dropped in the same manner as clots of blood drop from a wound, regarding the Greek word prefixed as expressing merely a comparison as in Matthew 28:3, where leukon hos chion means "white as snow." Cases of actual exudation of blood are described in several of the medieval accounts of stigmatization, and Lefebvre describes the occurrence of something similar in his account of Louise Lateau in 1870. For references to these cases see the article "Stigmatization" in Encyclopedia Britannica (11th edition), XXII, 550. It is perhaps in favor of the older interpretation that the word used by Aeschylus for drops of blood is stagon (Agam. 1122) and by Euripides stalagmos, not thromboi. None of the instances given by Tissot (Traite des nerfs, 279), or Schenck (Observ. med., III, 45:5), can be said to be unimpeachable; but as the agony of our Lord was unexampled in human experience, it is conceivable that it may have been attended with physical conditions of a unique nature.

Alex. Macalister

One of the physical phenomena attending our Lord's agony in the garden of Gethsemane is described by St. Luke, (Luke 22:44) "His sweat was as it were great drops (lit. clots) of blood falling down to the ground." Of this malady, known in medical science by the term diapedesis , there have been examples recorded in both ancient and modern times. The cause assigned is generally violent mental emotion.

What Happened Before the Crucifixion.
... on the Mount of Olives, I gave Myself up to the pangs of cruel death, and when I
felt that he was present before Me, I was bathed in a bloody sweat, because of ...
/.../suso/a little book of eternal wisdom/chapter ii what happened before.htm

Looking unto Jesus
... Sure, thy griefs are not so heavy as his were, when drops of blood were forced
through his skin, and a bloody sweat did stain the ground! ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 4 1858/looking unto jesus.htm

Our Lord in the Garden
... 26:36. Gethsemane can I forget? Or there Thy conflict see, Thine agony and
bloody sweat,"And not remember Thee? "THEN cometh Jesus ...
//christianbookshelf.org/whyte/lord teach us to pray/xi our lord in the.htm

Gethsemane
... They saw His face marked with the bloody sweat of agony, and they were filled
with fear. His anguish of mind they could not understand. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/white/the desire of ages/chapter 74 gethsemane.htm

On Our Lord's Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension
... 78 Q. What did Jesus Christ suffer? A. Jesus Christ suffered a bloody sweat,
a cruel scourging, was crowned with thorns, and was crucified. ...
/.../kinkead/baltimore catechism no 4/lesson 8 on our lords.htm

The Means Whereby Our Lord Quickened Her Soul, Gave Her Light in ...
... I thought of the bloody sweat, and of the affliction He endured there; I wished,
if it had been possible, to wipe away that painful sweat from His face; but I ...
/.../teresa/the life of st teresa of jesus/chapter ix the means whereby.htm

The Beatific vision
... We shall never see him as the bloody sweat streams from his whole body; but we shall
see him as he hath put all things under him, and hath conquered hell itself ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 2 1856/the beatific vision.htm

"It is Finished"
... The bloody sweat was forced from His pores, and fell in drops upon the ground.
Thrice the prayer for deliverance was wrung from His lips. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/white/the desire of ages/chapter 79 it is finished.htm

Going to Gethsemane, and Agony Therein.
... [Commentators give instances of bloody sweat under abnormal pathological conditions.]
45 And when he rose up from his prayer, he came { ^a cometh} unto the ...
/.../mcgarvey/the four-fold gospel/cxxiii going to gethsemane and.htm

Consolation in Christ
... vent. Behold the bloody sweat as it distils from every pore of his body,
and falls in gouts of gore upon the frozen ground. See ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 7 1861/consolation in christ.htm