Charles Ellicott Commentary Luke 22:44

"And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became as it were great drops of blood falling down upon the ground." — Luke 22:44 (ASV)

And being in an agony.—The Greek noun primarily describes a “conflict” or “struggle,” rather than mere physical pain. The phenomenon described is obviously one which would have a special interest for one of Saint Luke’s calling, and the four words which he uses for “agony,” “drops,” “sweat,” “more earnestly” (literally, more intensely), though not exclusively technical, are nevertheless such as a medical writer would naturally use.

They do not occur elsewhere in the New Testament. The form of the expression, “as it were, great drops (better, clots) of blood,” leaves us uncertain, as the same Greek word does in “descending like a dove,” in Matthew 3:16, whether it applies to manner or to visible appearance.

On the latter, and generally received view, the phenomenon is not unparalleled, both in ancient and modern times. (Compare the very term, “bloody sweat,” noted as a symptom of extreme exhaustion in Aristotle, Hist. Anim. iii.19, and Medical Gazette for December, 1848, quoted by Alford.)

If we ask who were Saint Luke’s informants, we may think either, as before, of one of the disciples, or, possibly, one of the women from whom, as above, he clearly derived so much that he records. That “bloody sweat” must have left its traces upon the tunic that our Lord wore, and when the soldiers cast lots for it (Matthew 27:35; John 19:24), Mary Magdalene, who stood by the cross, may have seen and noticed the fact (John 19:25), nor could it easily have escaped the notice of Nicodemus and Joseph when they embalmed the body (John 19:40).