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Answer: The reference is to an alleged bloodlike sweat
reported by the author of the Gospel of Luke (Luke 22:44).
A sweat of blood is not physically impossible. There
are instances of hematidrosis, involving intense dilation
of subcutaneous capillaries that burst into the sweat
glands. The blood then clots and is carried to the surface
of the skin by the sweat. The Gospel of Luke, however,
does not speak of a sweat of blood but of a sweat so
profuse that it was like blood. It describes the drenching
perspiration as becoming "like drops of blood," but
there was no actual blood. The shedding of sweat does
not qualify as atonement sacrifice. Additionally, the
Torah condemns any form of human sacrifice.
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