Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Mark 14:36

καὶ ἔλεγεν. Here again, as in the Institution of the Eucharist, there is remarkable difference as to the words used; see on Mark 14:22. Lk. gives only one prayer. Mk gives two and says that the second was the same as the first. Mt. gives three, the second differing from the first, but the third the same as the second. There is substantial agreement between all three as to the wording of the first prayer.

Ἀββᾶ ὁ πατήρ. As in Mark 5:41 and Mark 7:34, Mk gives the Aramaic. Christ spoke both Aramaic and Greek, and it is not improbable that in the opening address He used first one language and then the other. Repetition, whether in one language or two, is the outcome of strong feeling and is impressive; Martha, Martha (Luke 10:41), Simon, Simon (Luke 22:31), Jerusalem, Jerusalem (Matthew 23:37). This is much more probable than that ὁ πατήρ is Mk’s translation of Ἀββᾶ. Translation injected into such a prayer would be unnatural. But it is possible that Mk here attributes to Christ a form of address which had become usual in public worship. Nom. with art. instead of voc. is freq. in N.T.; see on Mark 5:8. Lk. has πάτερ, Mt. πάτερ μου. See on Galatians 4:6.

πάντα δυνατά σοι. See on Mark 10:27. Mt. softens this to εἰ δυνατόν ἐστιν, Lk. to εἰ βούλει.

παρένεγκε. “Carry past, without causing Me to drink, this cup of suffering and death.” In class. Grk the words would mean, “Place this cup at my side” (Hdt. i. 119, 133; Plato, Rep. p. 354); but in Plutarch the verb is used in the sense of removing (Camill. 41). In Hebrews 13:9 and Jude 1:12 it is used of being swept out of one’s course and carried astray. Orat transire calicem, ut ostendat vere quod et homo erat (Bede). The view that our Lord’s Agony was nothing but His sorrow for the sins of men is not found in the Gospels. The metaphor of a cup is used in O.T. of both good and bad fortune (Psalms 16:5; Psalms 23:5; Jeremiah 25:15; Isaiah 51:17; etc.). In N.T. it is specially used of Christ’s sufferings (Mark 10:38-39; John 18:11).

ἀλλʼ οὐ τί ἐγὼ θέλω. Lk. has his favourite πλήν and brings the wording closer to that of the Lord’s Prayer; πλὴν μὴ τὸ θέλημά μου�. With this condition it is lawful to pray, as for other temporal blessings, so also for the removal of suffering. Whichever wording we adopt, the petition is proof of the existence in Christ of a human will, distinct from, but always submissive to, the Father’s will. Mackintosh, The Person of Jesus Christ, pp. 220–222, 294–299, 399. Note the οὐ, not μή, the effect of which is “But I am not asking,” or “But the question is not.”

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Mark 14:36

Old Testament

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