Luke 6:12

ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ταύταις, ‘in these days,’ wearied with their incessant espionage and opposition. Probably these two last incidents belong to a later period in the ministry, following the Sermon on the Mount (as in St Matthew) and the bright acceptable Galilaean year of our Lord’s work. In any case we have here, from Luke 6:12 to Luke 8:56, a splendid cycle of Messianic work in Galilee in the gladdest epoch of Christ’s ministry, and it will be seen that it consists of 12 incidents. These symmetrical combinations are generally intentional.

εἰς τὸ ὄρος, ‘into the mountain,’ with special reference to the Kurn Hattîn, or Horns of Hattîn, the traditional and almost certainly the actual scene of the Sermon on the Mount.

ἦν διανυκτερεύων. The analytic imperfect which we have already met several times heightens the sense of continuance. The verb διανυκτερεύω, ‘I pass the whole night,’ is unique in the N.T., though found in Xenophon and Plutarch. The verb is formed on the analogy of διημερεύω.

ἐν τῇ προσευχῇ τοῦ θεοῦ. The expression used is peculiar. It is literally “in the prayer of God.” Hence some have supposed that it should be rendered “in the prayer-house of God.” The word προσευχὴ meant in Greek not only ‘prayer,’ but also ‘prayer-house,’ as in the question to a poor person in Juvenal, “In what proseucha am I to look for you?” The προσευχαὶ were merely walled spaces without roof, set apart as places of worship where there was no synagogue, as at Philippi (Acts 16:13). There is however here an insuperable difficulty in thus understanding the words; for προσευχαὶ were generally, if not invariably, in close vicinity to running water (Jos. Antt. XIV. 10, § 23), for purposes of ritual ablution, nor do we ever hear of their being built on hills. On the other hand, if τὸ ὄρος mean only ‘the mountainous district,’ this objection is not fatal. For another instance of a night spent on a mountain in prayer, see Matthew 14:23.