I believe that Matthew’s account lists Jesus’s cry\u00a0from the ancient texts when he wrote “Eli, Eli lama sabachthani”.\u00a0 This is not a quote from Psalm 22.\u00a0 The Hebrew in Psalm 22 is ‘azab, not sabachthani.\u00a0 I’ve seen some stretches that try to link sabachthani with ‘azab, but I believe it is a bit of a stretch.\u00a0 While I don’t necessarily believe he was referring to the sabach plant, as do some who take the strictly Chaldean approach, the lamb of Genesis 22 was caught in a plant with thistles.\u00a0 Jesus could have easily had that occurrence (Isaac’s offering) \u00a0in mind as well as Psalm 22 when he called out from the cross.\u00a0 I also find it interesting that Mark records the words of Jesus as “Eloi, eloi…”, a slight difference from Matthew’s record.\u00a0 If we were to take a position that the Greek text as we have it was inspired by God, it begs the question, which Greek text?<\/p>\n\t
The answer would be the entire Greek text of the New Testament.<\/p>\n
Before digging into difficulty you have between Matthew and Mark’s record of Jesus’ death, we need to first point that both agree as to meaning of what Jesus cried out.<\/p>\n
“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”<\/em>” (Matthew 27:46).<\/p>\n
“And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”<\/em>” (Mark 15:34).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Thus the only difference is in the spelling of “My God” in the transliteration of what Jesus cried out. First, we need to determine what language Jesus was speaking. An English transliteration of the beginning of Psalms 22:1 is\u00a0‘eli<\/em>\u00a0‘eli lamah ‘azavtani<\/em>. An Aramaic translation of the same phrase transliterated into English would be\u00a0elahi elahi lama shabachtani<\/em>.<\/p>\n
Noting that neither transliteration matches what is in our Bibles points out a difficulty in transliteration. Different languages sometimes have sounds that can’t be directly represented in the letters of another language. What we are reading is a transliteration of the original language into Greek and then from Greek into English.<\/p>\n
The last word,\u00a0sabachtani<\/em>\u00a0shows us that Jesus was speaking Aramaic.\u00a0shabach<\/em>\u00a0is the equivalent word to the Hebrew word\u00a0‘azab<\/em>. The thing is, Greek doesn’t have a sh<\/em>\u00a0sound (the letter\u00a0shin<\/em>\u00a0in Aramaic), so the nearest sound is the\u00a0s\u00a0<\/em>sound of the Greek letter\u00a0sigma<\/em>, which is used. This was then transliterated into English as\u00a0sabachtani<\/em>.<\/p>\n
Perhaps you wonder why two letters aren’t used in Greek, like the English. The thing is that Greek has no\u00a0h<\/em>\u00a0sound represented by a letter. You can get a rough approximation at the beginning of a word with a rough breathing mark, but definitely not at the end of a word. That is why\u00a0lamah<\/em>\u00a0becomes\u00a0lama<\/em> in a Greek transliteration. By the way, Hebrew and Aramaic are very similar languages. In both languages, the word\u00a0lamah<\/em>\u00a0have the same meaning. Even more difficult is that both Hebrew and Aramaic have two\u00a0h<\/em>\u00a0sounds. One, from the letter\u00a0he<\/em>\u00a0sounds like the English\u00a0h<\/em>, but the other from the letter\u00a0chet<\/em>\u00a0has no English equivalent. The nearest we have is the sound you get at the end of the word “loch.” The problem is that in English we pronounce\u00a0ch<\/em>\u00a0with various sounds depending on its position in a word and the vowels that are next to it. The Greek does have a letter that sounds close to\u00a0chet<\/em>, which is the letter\u00a0chi<\/em>.<\/p>\n
Next, we need to understand that dictionaries did not exist in those days. People generally spelled words as they sounded. Some letters, especially vowels can be debated as to which is the closest sound in another language, so though we might assume that\u00a0elahi<\/em>\u00a0would be spelled\u00a0elai<\/em>\u00a0in Greek (remember there is no general\u00a0h<\/em>\u00a0sound in Greek), we don’t know exactly how the\u00a0ah<\/em>\u00a0sound was pronounced in those days.\u00a0Omega<\/em>\u00a0could well be the closest approximation as rendered in Mark.<\/p>\n
Finally, we must realize that people don’t always pronounce their words distinctly. This causes dialects to appear. For example, in the English word\u00a0herb<\/em>\u00a0is pronounced\u00a0erb<\/em>\u00a0in America even though in England the leading\u00a0h<\/em>\u00a0is sounded. Greek, for instance, commonly drops a vowel when one word ends in a vowel and the next word begins with a vowel. The process is called “elided.” We don’t know the dialect that Jesus spoke. It is possible, and even likely that center vowel in\u00a0elahi<\/em>\u00a0was weak or even dropped in his dialect. One reason to suspect this is because it was a Jewish region and the Hebrew word for “my God” is\u00a0eli<\/em>. So people who spoke both Hebrew and Aramaic would naturally have a tendency to blend toward a similar sound.<\/p>\n
We must also note that Jesus was hanging on a cross. It is difficult to breathe while on a cross. That alone could cause some blurring of the way words are pronounced.<\/p>\n
It is an assumption, but not a far fetched one. If we grant it, then Matthew recorded the words as they were pronounced giving his readers understanding as to how people misunderstood Jesus to be calling for Elijah. In other words, Matthew showed the dialect. Mark recorded the words as they were commonly transliterated in his day. In other words, Mark showed the language used. But both give us the same statement with the same meaning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: I believe that Matthew’s account lists Jesus’s cry\u00a0from the ancient texts when he wrote “Eli, Eli lama sabachthani”.\u00a0 This is not a quote from Psalm 22.\u00a0 The Hebrew in Psalm 22 is ‘azab, not sabachthani.\u00a0 I’ve seen some stretches that try to link sabachthani with ‘azab, but I believe it is a bit of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[228,121,708,76,190],"class_list":["post-14721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-crucifixion","tag-mark","tag-matthew","tag-terminology","tag-translation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":27372,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-eli-or-eloi-in-matthew-2746\/","url_meta":{"origin":14721,"position":0},"title":"Is it “Eli” or “Eloi” in Matthew 27:46?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 29, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: God bless you my brothers and sisters of this church. Now I noticed when I was reading\u00a0one of your articles\u00a0on the calling that Jesus shouted while on the cross; I noticed that you have Matthew 27:46 incorrect. What it should say is \"Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?\" Not Eli. Answer:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34001,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/im-still-confused-why-matthew-used-eli-while-mark-used-eloi\/","url_meta":{"origin":14721,"position":1},"title":"I’m still confused why Matthew used “Eli” while Mark used “Eloi”","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 10, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Your explanation of the above subject is a bit\u00a0confusing because we are told that the Old Testament was translated from Hebrew\u00a0to English while the New Testament was translated from Greek to English. So, I expect them to pick the pronunciation of the same words uttered before translation into English\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28480,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-the-new-testament-written-in-greek-or-aramaic\/","url_meta":{"origin":14721,"position":2},"title":"Was the New Testament written in Greek or Aramaic?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In what language was the New Testament written: Greek or Aramaic? Answer: The New Testament was written in Greek. All the earliest manuscripts are in Greek. The style of writing is in the Greek style, though some of the writers, such as Matthew, wrote with a Hebrew \"accent,\" if\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14679,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-matthew-originally-written-in-hebrew-or-aramaic\/","url_meta":{"origin":14721,"position":3},"title":"Was Matthew originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 21, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: One of the problems I would have with\u00a0your explanation\u00a0is whether or not Matthew wrote the words in Greek or did he write the words in the original Aramaic.\u00a0 Most Bible scholars believe that Matthew wrote in Aramaic and while Mark's words are almost identical, he too was a Jew\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1876,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-the-phrase-eli-eli-lama-sabachthani-have-a-different-meaning-in-aramaic-than-in-the-greek\/","url_meta":{"origin":14721,"position":4},"title":"Does the phrase “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani” have a different meaning in Aramaic than in the Greek?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 1, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I would like to comment on the use of Aramaic in\u00a0Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani. It's not the Greek word and its meaning that's in question or the crux of the argument. The Aramaic is the problem. The Aramaic word that the Greek word was translated from was supposed to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1972,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-the-people-think-jesus-was-calling-for-elijah\/","url_meta":{"origin":14721,"position":5},"title":"Why did the people think Jesus was calling for Elijah?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 11, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In regards to\u00a0Matthew 27:46: if the translation is as reported in the text, how come the bystanders thought he was calling for Elijah? It seems like the translation given in the text does not coincide with the bystanders' reaction to our Lord's words. Are they misinterpreting? Answer: \"And about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14721\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}