Bloody Sweat

Bloody sweat is a rare medical condition called hemohidrosis. This condition may occur when small blood vessels bleed into the sweat glands. It is thought to happen during extreme emotional stress.

This condition is of interest to Bible readers because of the description of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane before his betrayal:

"In His anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground" (Luke 22:44).

Some Bible translations may make it seem that Jesus actually sweated blood. However, the Greek text makes a comparison. It says that his sweat fell like drops of blood. In other words, the sweat poured from Jesus as if he were bleeding. This comparison would have been fitting for Luke, who was a physician.

“The bloody-sweat passage” is a name for Luke 22:43–44. These verses describe an angel strengthening Jesus and his sweat falling like drops of blood. However, some scholars doubt that Luke originally wrote these verses.

Several important ancient manuscripts do not include these verses. These include:

Papyrus 69,

Papyrus 75,

Codex Sinaiticus,

Codex Vaticanus,

Codex Borgianus, and

Codex Washingtonianus.

These manuscripts date from the second through the fifth centuries AD.

Other manuscripts also show doubt about the passage. Some mark the verses with special symbols. Manuscript 0171, which dates from about AD 300, is one example. In Codex Sinaiticus, an early corrector crossed out the passage.

Epiphanius, who wrote in the fourth century, said that the verses appeared in some “uncorrected copies” of Luke (Ancoratus 31.4–5). However, other early Christian writers accepted the passage as part of Luke’s Gospel. These writers include:

Justin,

Irenaeus,

Hippolytus,

Dionysius, and

Eusebius.

The debate about this passage has often focused on whether Jesus needed an angel to strengthen him during his suffering in the garden of Gethsemane. Some scholars think that certain Christians removed the verses because they believed that human weakness did not fit with the divine nature of Jesus.

However, the source argues that the passage was more likely added during the second century. It may have come from an oral tradition about the life of Jesus. In some manuscripts and church reading books, the passage appears in Matthew 26 instead of Luke. This may show that the passage once circulated by itself and could be added to different accounts of the suffering and death of Jesus.

Despite the manuscript evidence against the passage, most English Bible translations have kept it in the text because of tradition. Therefore, many Christians believe that this detail about the suffering of Jesus is authentic.

The passage is also often misunderstood. Some people believe that Jesus was in such great pain that he began to sweat blood. This medical condition is called hemohidrosis or hematidrosis. However, the text does not clearly say that his sweat became blood. It says that his sweat fell like drops of blood.