Explanation of the Phrase “Eli, Eli”
Estimated reading time: 19 minutes
Why are Aramaic words left in the text?
The phrase “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani” in Matthew 27:46 (KJV) or “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani” in Mark 15:34 (KJV), is pronounced in Aramaic as “elee elee.”
Matthew 27:46 KJV:
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?
The translation “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” seems to contradict so many other places in God’s Word where God loved Jesus and would never forsake him. Let’s take a look at a few of those places.
Would God ever forsake us? Then why would He forsake Jesus Christ, especially while Jesus was doing his Father’s will?
If one of your children was sick, hurt, or dying, would you abandon them? Or would you want to be there with them? I would rush to their side and stay with them as long as they needed. If we, earthly parents, would have the kind of love and care for our children that we would do anything for them if they needed it, wouldn’t God do the same? Would God forsake Jesus on the cross, especially while Jesus was doing His will?
Matthew 3:16–17 KJV:
16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: 17 And lo [behold] a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
John 8:28–29 KJV:
28 Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man [on the cross], then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me [he always did what the Father wanted him to do], I speak these things. 29 And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.
Because Jesus always did and said what God wanted him to do and say—he always did the Father’s will—the words he spoke on the cross were words that the Father wanted him to say.
There is an apparent contradiction between John 8:29 “the father hath not left me alone” and Matthew 27:26 (and Mark 15:34).
John 10:30 KJV:
I and my Father are one.
Luke 22:42–43 KJV:
42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. 43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.
Even before the torture, we see God already strengthening Jesus. So, let’s look at the difficult verse.
Some keys to understanding “difficult” verses:
- It must be understood in light of the clear verses.
- The context must be examined closely to be sure what it’s talking about.
Matthew 27:44–47 KJV:
44 The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth. 45 Now from the sixth hour [noon] there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour [about 3:00 PM]. 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? 47 Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias.
Mark 13:32–35 KJV:
32 Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him.
33 And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? 35 And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias.
“Elias” is another spelling of the word “Elijah,” which, in Aramaic, is pronounced “El-eye-ah” (Elia).
Keep in mind that it was extremely difficult for Jesus to breathe at this point. If he wanted to speak or breathe, he would need to push up on his feet in order to take a breath. Even then, formulating the words would require a great deal of effort. That’s why they thought he was saying “Elia” (El-eye-ah”); perhaps they thought he wasn’t able to say the “ah” sound at the end. “Eli” and “Elia” sounded very similar in Aramaic.
Keep in mind:
- This takes place about 3:00 PM, just before Jesus died.
- Jesus makes this cry with “a loud voice.”
The Aramaic words “eli eli lemana shabakhtani” are the words from the Aramaic Targum, the paraphrase of Psalm 22:1. The Hebrew word for “forsaken” in Psalm 22:1 is a different word than in the Aramaic Targum.
When the priest would read the scriptures in a synagogue, he would read them in Hebrew and then explain them in Aramaic. The explanation of the Scripture was called a “Targum.” In the Targum, the word for forsaken is the exact word that’s in Matthew.
The Aramaic word transliterated as “sabachthani” (KJV) or “sabaktanei” (NASB) is the exact word that’s used in the Targum for Psalm 22:1.
“Shabakh” or “shebakh” means to leave, forsake, divorce, or dismiss. It can also mean “spare” or “reserve.” It has a range of meanings (determined by context), just like English words have a range of meanings. One end of the range of meanings is to spare or reserve him for a purpose, and the other end of the range of meanings is to forsake or leave him alone. So, how do we know which is meant in this particular context?
This was a common way to call attention to a particular phrase in Scripture. Jesus was calling attention to this verse in Psalms, and the people listening (chief priests, Mary, John, etc.) would have instantly been reminded of Psalm 22. They wouldn’t have just thought of that verse but of all of Psalm 22, the entire passage.
Why would he call people’s attention to Psalm 22? He would have everyone note that the Scriptures in Psalm 22 were being fulfilled right then and there. So, let’s go to Psalm 22 and see some of the things that were being fulfilled.
The first part of Psalm 22 is a description of the crucifixion.
Psalm 22:6 KJV:
But I am a worm [the worm that made the scarlet dye], and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
That reminds you of Isaiah 53.
The word “worm” comes from the word that referred to the worm they used to make scarlet dye. Remember the scarlet chord? Throughout the Word, scarlet is a symbol of Jesus’s blood. It would require the shedding of blood to have remission of sins.
See also The Red Thread, Part 1.
Psalm 22:7–8 KJV:
7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, 8 He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
Matthew 27:38–43 KJV:
38 Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left. 39 And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, 40 And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. 41 Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, 42 He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him [they didn’t believe even after he was raised from the dead]. 43 He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.
Psalm 22:9–15 KJV:
9 But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts. 10 I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly.
11 Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help. 12 Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. 13 They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. 14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
The description, poured out like water and my bones are out of joint, is understood in terms of the cross. The cross was not shaped like a “T” like we see in crosses today; it was a stake. The arms would have been straight up and nailed through the wrists. Your hand is not strong enough to support the weight if the nails are through the hands. He was nailed through his wrists. The feet would have been crossed on a small platform and one nail would have been driven through both ankles (not through the feet). The only way to breathe would have been to push yourself up slightly so that air could enter your rib cage.
Hanging like that pulls your joints out of joint. If you’ve ever had a dislocated shoulder, you know how excruciatingly painful it is.
Mark 15:23 KJV:
And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not.
This is important to note. Right after they crucified him and drove the nails through his wrists and ankles, they offered him wine mingled with myrrh, but he refused to drink it.
Mark 15:24– KJV:
24 And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take. 25 And it was the third hour [about 9:00 AM], and they crucified him.
Psalm 22:16 KJV:
16 For dogs [gentiles] have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. 17 I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me [they could see his ribs every time he drew a breath]. 18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.
John 19:23– KJV:
23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. 24 They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.
Psalm 22:19–20 KJV:
But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me. 20 Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling [only begotten, only one, unique one] from the power of the dog [gentile].
The words “O my strength” in the Aramaic are a very specific spelling of the word “El,” spelled “eil.” It’s the same word used in Matthew 27. Eil can mean either “strength” or “God.” In this case, it should be translated as “strength.” “O my strength.” It’s not saying “O my God,” it’s saying “O my strength.”
This is a play on words between El, which means the mighty God or the God of strength, and the actual word “strength.”
Psalm 22:20 (my translation):
Deliver my soul from the sword, my unique one [the only begotten one] from the power of the dog [gentile].
The whole purpose of this Psalm is to show that there was going to be deliverance even though Jesus had to go through all this description of what was going to happen (parting his garments, scorning and beating him, hanging there, barely able to breathe). Despite all these things, there was going to be a deliverance.
Why did Jesus quote, “My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?”
First, it was to draw their attention to Psalm 22.
One of the various translations was Dr. Lamsa’s:
Matthew 27:46 Lamsa1:
And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice and said, Eli, Eli, lemana shabakthani! My God, my God, for this I was spared! [This was my destiny.]
There are some problems with that translation. First of all, lemana is always interrogatory; it’s always a question. There are no places where lemana is not a question. It literally means “for what,” but there is no “purpose” part. Even if you just say, “For what?” it’s still a question, not a statement.
Second, has to do with shabakh.
Psalm 22:1 KJV:
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me [Yeshua, salvation], and from the words of my roaring?
The literal translation of the later part of that verse is: “far from my deliverance or salvation are the words of my groaning.” The word for deliverance or salvation is yeshua, salvation. “Far from my salvation are the words of my groaning.”
Jesus was doing the Father’s will so that there could be yeshua, salvation. The deliverance was going to come even in spite of his groaning at that point.
Psalm 22:2– KJV:
2 O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. 3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. 4 Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. 5 They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.
Despite how desperate verse one seems, David knows that his fathers trusted in God, and he can trust in God. David knows that if he cries out to God, God will deliver him.
So, the answer to the question as to why the Aramaic words eli eli lemana sabakthani are left in the text is that it’s a play on words with the word “strength.”
Matthew 27:46b my translation:
My strength, my strength, why have you forsaken me?
Jesus had no more strength to continue. He uses the last bit of strength he has to remind them of Psalm 22; he was going to do what David did and trust in God. God will give him the strength to last until it is finished.
Yes, my strength is gone but God will never, ever leave me. He will be there to strengthen me until the very end.
What is left for him to finish? Besides being out of strength and barely able to breathe, his thirst would have been overpowering by this point.
Jesus Christ had to fulfill every jot and tittle in the law and every passage that was about him. He must have been thinking about the Scriptures and considering whether there was anything else that he must fulfil.
Psalm 69:21 KJV:
They gave me also gall [a toxic derivative of opium] for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
The gall, a narcotic, he had refused at the beginning of the crucifixion so that he would go through all of the suffering. He had nothing to dull the pain. But, remembering this verse, look at Matthew.
Matthew 27:48– KJV:
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. 49 The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.
In order to put together all the details we must look at all the gospels. In John we see that Jesus knew that all things were now accomplished.
John 19:28–30 KJV:
28 After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. 29 Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar [sour wine]: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
There was one other detail, and we see that in Luke.
Luke 23:46 KJV:
And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
After he said, “My strength, my strength, why have you forsaken me,” he went through the Scriptures in his mind to see if there was anything else to fulfill. He realized one thing and, therefore, said, “I thirst.” Then they give him the sour wine (vinegar) mixed with opium. Then he says, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” That’s a quote from Psalm 31.
Psalm 31:5 KJV:
Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed [ransomed] me, O LORD God of truth.
The faithful Yahweh Elohim was going to ransom him not only from this process but also from the grave after his death. When he said, “Into thy hand I commit [commend] my spirit,” he is acknowledging that he knows that God will raise him up.
Psalm 22:31 KJV:
They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this [or it is done].
The last part of Psalm 22 is about the future, when Jesus Christ comes back to establish his kingdom that will never end. That’s why there will be a time when people shall declare his righteousness; it was done, finished, over.
The Aramaic word for “it is finished” means “it’s done.”
A paraphrase of a quote from a Messianic Jew:
“Before three o’clock in the afternoon, Yeshua cried out with a huge effort, ‘El El, lemana sabakthani.’ He thought of the Psalm and wondered why the people who were watching him did not realize that the prophecy had been fulfilled this day. It flashed through Yeshua’s mind of the particular parts of this: I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax; it is melting inside me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaves to my jaws and remains in the dust of death. Dogs have surrounded me. A band of evildoers has encompassed me. They look and stare at me.
“Some of the people thought that he was losing his resolve and asking God why He had forsaken him, like David did in the Psalm. Some thought he was calling for Elijah. All he was really doing was reminding them that David had turned to trust in God and that they should have remembered the rest of the Psalm. That it was being fulfilled right before their very eyes.
“Yeshua knew he wasn’t going to last much longer. His chest had filled with the blood of internal bleeding from the severe beatings; it was too hard to breathe and he was beginning to lose consciousness from lack of oxygen. It was now close to three o’clock, and the pain had stopped—a good sign of imminent death.
“His question to the Father was, ‘Is there anything else?’ And he thought of Psalm 69. In my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink. He had not taken the sour wine with myrrh before. His mouth was parched.
“He looked down at the centurion who was appointed to stand guard, and he said [in Aramaic], “I thirst.” The centurion put a sponge into a bowl of sour wine and laced with opium and put it on the end of a stick of hyssop, lifting it to Yeshua’s lips. Momentarily, the liquid on his dried and cracked lips felt good, but the concoction was very bitter. He felt a chill go through him and felt like he was emptying out. “Then he said [in Aramaic], ‘My Father, into your hands I place my spirit. I know you will ransom and deliver me from the grave.’
“His head dropped, and he hung limply. The once bright eyes that could either warm the soul or pierce the heart glazed and dulled. And he said [in Aramaic], ‘It is done.’
“His mother, Yohannan, and the rest found they couldn’t move. The world seemed to lose all sound, and everything was silent. Everyone, including the Roman legionnaires, felt a chill. And slowly, almost imperceptibly at first, a tremor began. A slight vibration that felt like a hum under everyone’s feet. Then, it began to build until the ground shook. And the followers and conquerors alike fell in fear, digging their fingers into the trembling earth.
“It was the middle of the afternoon, yet the sky was so dark it was like midnight. Lightning flashed, and thunder was a sharp crack rather than a deep rumble. A fierce wind blew across the ridge. And that exact moment, when Jesus Christ said, ‘It is finished,’ the shofar [trumpet] blew to begin the hours of Passover. The first lamb was killed, and the blood was poured on the altar. And as the blood was being poured out, the veil of the holy of holies was torn in two.
“The centurion at the foot of the cross was obviously very much affected by the events of this day. He looked up at the body of the Galilean hanging now in death and said, ‘This man was the son of God.’”
Jesus’s statement was not a cry of despair at all. It also was not a cry of triumph in the sense of “now I understand my purpose.” But it was a cry saying God’s Word is now fulfilled.
All of our salvation was accomplished at that point. Now, what’s the application for us?
We have Christ in us now. All of the power, all of the strength latent within him—even as he cried out for God to come through with His strength to help Christ do that last bit—that strength is within us. God will always be there for us when our strength fails. We can do the same thing Jesus did and cry out to the most high God for the strength we need.
Philippians 4:13 KJV:
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Philippians 4:13 APNT:
I find strength for everything in Christ who strengthens me.
God will always be there for us. He will never withdraw from us. Jesus Christ went through so much so that we could have yeshua, salvation.
Footnote
- Lamsa, George Mamishisho. Holy Bible: From the Ancient Eastern Text. ↩︎
See Also:
Eli Eli Lmana Shabachtani on the Acts Now Fellowship website.
Bookstore Suggestions:
