The Greek noun agōnia (ἀγωνία) means agony, extreme anxiety, anguish, or intense mental distress. It derives from agōn (a contest, struggle, race), capturing the idea of a soul straining under unbearable weight — a word borrowed from athletics to describe a spiritual and psychological battle. It appears only once in the New Testament — Luke 22:44 — where Jesus in Gethsemane prays with such intensity that "his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground" — the very picture of agōnia.
Luke's use of agōnia in Gethsemane (Luke 22:44) is one of the most theologically profound moments in the Gospels. Hebrews 5:7–8 expands it: "During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death… he learned obedience from what he suffered." The agōnia of Gethsemane is not weakness — it is the ultimate expression of the Incarnation. The Son of God entered fully into human dread before death and before taking on the sin of the world. This is the "sorrowful and troubled" soul of Matthew 26:37 — the very suffering that makes Hebrews 4:15 possible: "We do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses." Jesus' agōnia in the garden is the guarantee of His compassion in the throne room.