Passage

Matthew 27.46

Book: Matthew · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

44. And the robbers also that were crucified with him cast upon him the same reproach. 45. Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.

46. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

And some of them stood there, when they heard it, said, This man calleth Elijah. 48. And straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. (Matthew 27:44-48, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

44. The robbers also who were crucified with him cast on him the same reproach. 45. Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.

46. About the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lima sabachthani?” That is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Some of them who stood there, when they heard it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” 48. Immediately one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him a drink. (Matthew 27:44-48, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

44. The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth. 45. Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.

46. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias. 48. And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. (Matthew 27:44-48, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

44. with the same also the robbers, who were crucified with him, were reproaching him. 45. And from the sixth hour darkness came over all the land unto the ninth hour,

46. and about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a great voice, saying, 'Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?' that is, 'My God, my God, why didst Thou forsake me?'

And certain of those standing there having heard, said, 'Elijah he doth call;' 48. and immediately, one of them having run, and having taken a spunge, having filled [it] with vinegar, and having put [it] on a reed, was giving him to drink, (Matthew 27:44-48, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Jesus, from the cross, addressing the Father
Audience: the bystanders at the crucifixion (soldiers, mockers, and the women watching from a distance); the cry itself is directed to God
Location: Golgotha, just outside Jerusalem
Time period: about the ninth hour (roughly 3 p.m.) on the day of the crucifixion, Passover, c. AD 30 to 33

Theological reading

The cry quotes the opening of Psalm 22 (Psalm 21 in the fathers' Greek numbering), and the early commentators read it as testimony rather than despair. Jerome takes Christ to use the psalm's first words to bear witness to the Old Testament and to honor the Father to the last hour, and Chrysostom notes he speaks them in Hebrew so the bystanders would recognize the Scripture being fulfilled. On the "forsaking" itself, the Gloss explains that God forsook the Son only in exposing him to his persecutors, withdrawing protection while not breaking the union, and John of Damascus likewise holds that though Christ truly died as man, his Godhead "remained inseparate" from both his soul and his body. Hilary reads the cry as the voice of Christ's human weakness in death, not of any real abandonment. Taken together, the line stands as the sharpest scriptural anchor for the reality of Christ's suffering and for substitutionary readings of the atonement, without dividing the Godhead.

Key words

God (theos, G2316), the Greek behind the Aramaic Eli; the address is to the Father.
Jesus (Iesous, G2424).
saying (lego, G3004).
sabachthani (Aramaic, "you have forsaken me"), rendering the Hebrew of Psalm 22:1; no curated lexicon entry.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.