Lexical Summary thrombos: Drop, Clot Original Word: θρόμβος Strong's Exhaustive Concordance great drop. Perhaps from trepho (in the sense of thickening); a clot -- great drop. see GREEK trepho NAS Exhaustive Concordance Word Originfrom trephó Definition a lump NASB Translation drops (1). Thayer's Greek Lexicon STRONGS NT 2361: θρόμβοςθρόμβος, θρομβου, ὁ (allied with τρέφω in the sense to thicken; Vanicek, p. 307), a large thick drop, especially of clotted blood (Aeschylus Eum. 184); with αἵματος added (Aeschylus choeph. 533, 546; Plato, Critias, p. 120a.), Luke 22:44 (L brackets WH reject the passage (see WH's Appendix at the passage)). Topical Lexicon Scriptural Context Luke 22:44 records the only New Testament use of θρόμβοι (Strong’s Greek 2361): “And being in anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground” (Berean Standard Bible). Positioned between the resolve of verse 42 (“not My will, but Yours be done”) and the arrest in verse 47, the word heightens the intensity of Jesus’ vigil in Gethsemane and underscores the costliness of His obedience. Setting within the Passion Narrative Luke alone reports both the angelic strengthening (Luke 22:43) and the bloody sweat (Luke 22:44), portraying the scene with physician-like detail (cf. Colossians 4:14). The use of θρόμβοι turns the garden into the threshold of Calvary, revealing that the passion did not begin on Golgotha but in the place of prayer. As Adam fell in a garden (Genesis 3:6), the second Adam conquers in a garden, yet only through an agony that presses blood from His brow. Medical and Historical Considerations Ancient writers such as Aristotle and Galen used cognate terms for thickened or congealed blood. Modern medicine recognizes hematidrosis, a rare condition in which extreme stress ruptures capillaries, mingling blood with perspiration. Luke’s notation therefore reflects both clinical possibility and eyewitness precision, while also conveying a theological reality: Christ’s suffering engaged the full extremity of human frailty. Theological Significance 1. Substitutionary Suffering: The bloody sweat anticipates the shedding of blood required for atonement (Hebrews 9:22). Before a single lash or nail, the Redeemer voluntarily bleeds, portraying His life as the ransom price (Mark 10:45). Christological Implications θρόμβοι validates both the true humanity and the sinless perfection of Christ. Only a genuine human body could experience such somatic trauma; only a perfect will could endure it without rebellion. By recording this detail, Luke offers an antidote to docetic errors that minimize Christ’s fleshly reality and to any theology that detaches redemption from bodily suffering. Connections with Old Testament Foreshadowing • Genesis 3:19 links sweat with the curse; in Gethsemane the Last Adam bears cursed sweat mingled with redeeming blood, signaling reversal. Pastoral and Devotional Applications • Comfort in Suffering: Believers facing extreme distress can look to a Savior who has endured agony to the point of blood (Hebrews 12:3–4). Relation to Christian Suffering Peter admonishes, “For to this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example” (1 Peter 2:21). θρόμβοι reveals that the pathway of the Messiah—and therefore of His disciples—may include anguish, yet such anguish is never purposeless. Suffering joined to obedience is woven into God’s redemptive design (Romans 8:17–18). Doctrinal Reflections The presence of θρόμβοι strengthens doctrines of: Thus the solitary occurrence of θρόμβοι serves as a profound witness to the incarnate Son’s voluntary, bodily, and substitutionary suffering—blood that began to flow in Gethsemane and reached its consummation on the cross, securing eternal redemption for all who believe. Forms and Transliterations θρομβοι θρόμβοι thromboi thrómboiLinks Interlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts |
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