The Greek noun bolē (βολή) means a throw, a cast, or the distance of a throw. It is derived from ballō (G906, to throw/cast). The word appears only once in the New Testament (Luke 22:41), in the phrase lithou bolēn — "a stone's throw" — describing the distance Jesus withdrew from His disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane to pray.
The single appearance of bolē in Luke 22:41 is one of the most intimate and sacred moments in all of Scripture. Jesus withdrew "about a stone's throw" from His disciples and knelt down to pray: "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." The measurement captures both the nearness and the solitude of that moment. Within earshot yet alone, Jesus engaged in the most profound act of human surrender ever offered — the Son of God submitting His will entirely to the Father's redemptive plan. This aloneness prefigures the ultimate aloneness of the cross: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"