Jesus sweat real blood

[steve9191]

Luke 22:44 reads, “his sweat became like great drops of blood falling upon the ground.” Is there a general consensus among biblical scholars on whether or not this is to be interpreted as Jesus sweating actual blood?

 

[TimothyH]

I don’t know what the scholars say but it is a documented medical condition called Hematohidrosis.

***Blood usually oozes from the forehead, nails, umbilicus, and other skin surfaces. In addition, oozing from mucocutaneous surfaces causing nosebleeds, blood stained tears, and vicarious menstruation are common. The episodes may be proceeded by intense headache and abdominal pain and are usually self-limiting. In some conditions, the secreted fluid is more dilute and appears to be blood-tinged, while others may have darker bright red secretions resembling frank blood.

It may occur when a person is suffering extreme levels of stress, for example, facing his or her own death.***

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hematidrosis

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2810702/

-Tim-

 

[steve9191]

Thanks Tim. I know about the condition. What’s not clear from the passage in Luke, however, is whether Luke is using a simile or is being literal.

 

[TimothyH]

Thanks Tim. I know about the condition. What’s not clear from the passage in Luke, however, is whether Luke is using a simile or is being literal.

Yeah, the age old question - literal or spiritual - or both? The real question is what God wants us to learn from the narrative.

I just recalled that St. Luke was a physician.

-Tim-

 

[Mystophilus]

Luke 22:44 reads, “his sweat became like great drops of blood falling upon the ground.” Is there a general consensus among biblical scholars on whether or not this is to be interpreted as Jesus sweating actual blood?

I do not know about biblical scholars, but the text is using a simile:
ο ιδρως αυτου ωσει θρομβοι αιματος
the sweat of-him like clots of-blood

 

[steve9191]

I do not know about biblical scholars, but the text is using a simile:
ο ιδρως αυτου ωσει θρομβοι αιματος
the sweat of-him like clots of-blood

I agree with you, which is why I’m hesitant to, without some credible and authoritative exegesis, use the passage in question to say that Jesus sweat actual blood.

 

[TimothyH]

Doesn’t blood clot when it is mixed with sweat?

Is there a poll? Luke was a physician. I vote real.

-Tim-