GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
MARK 15:34
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34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
We will consider three things here. The reader may pick and choose where you want to just read the third one or the others as well: (1) The Aramaic words themselves (how to say them and what they mean). (2) Why do so many pastors struggle to pronounce them when reading them in worship? (3) What does this cry from the cross mean?
First, let’s look at the four Aramaic words: “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?”
“Eloi” has three syllables, rhyming with the names Eloise and Heloise. It’s an Aramaic form of “My God” (the “i” on the end is “my” in Hebrew or Aramaic). Matthew’s account has the shorter “Eli” which we usually say just like the name “Eli” by which probably should be Aye-LEE.
“Lema” Is simply the question “Why?” It’s pronounced with the accent on the first half of the word. It rhymes with the name Emma, and often comes out like “llama” because the Hebrew of Psalm 22:1 says “lama.”
“Sabachthani” has two accents, on the second and last syllables, the way we say “the bumblebee,” except that, strictly speaking, the stronger emphasis should be on the last syllable, like the end of the phrase “I hurt my knee.” It means “forsaken me.” In Hebrew it would have used the root azav, “forsake, abandon,” as in “Gaza will be abandoned” (Zephaniah 2:4).
Second, why do so many pastors struggle to pronounce these words if they’ve had so much Hebrew and Greek in school? It’s true that pastors in our fellowship have generally had the same education: Eight years of Greek, and six years of Hebrew, counting the vicar year when they were under the supervision of a single pastor in the field. Some men have had even more, with summer classes and other things. Only a small number, however, have had any Aramaic, which is usually offered as an elective course, focusing on the Aramaic portions of Ezra and Daniel. In Greek, “foreign” (non-Greek) words are left unaccented, and therefore we run into the problem of where to put the accents in terms that not all have learned. Most pastors I know default to the way their childhood pastors (often their own fathers) said these words, learned more like the way many Americans learn a handful of French terms without ever learning French. So even if a pastor’s College Professor said the words correctly in class one day, the chances are poor that your pastor (as a student) wrote them out phonetically on that afternoon, decades ago. In the end, it’s more important that your pastor can explain these words of Jesus than pronounce them perfectly.
Third: What does this cry from the cross mean? From the cross, Jesus prayed or called out to the Father three times. Matthew and Mark only record this one, which is a quote of Psalm 22:1. What pain is worse than the pain of being separated from God? What torment could ever be worse than the ongoing, eternal and everlasting torment of hell?
This is what Christ suffered at this time: All eternity in a few hours of agony. He cries out, even now holding dear to the Sacred words of the holy Scriptures, to describe what cannot be imagined. He says this so that we, the members of Christ, can lament along with him when we feel forsaken, knowing that our Lord was forsaken even more.
And yet even in his agony with his Father’s face turned away, he says, “My God!” He does not consider himself an unbeliever, but only a punished man. He does not consider himself to be treated unfairly, but punished on behalf of those he loves. He sees death approach, but he is the Good Shepherd laying down his life for the sheep at his Father’s command. He does not think that God is no longer his Father, but knows that God is his Father and he is God’s Son, punished though he is. Peter speaks to us here: “After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who called you into his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you” (1 Peter 5:10).
We should not come to foolish conclusions about this word from the cross, as some have done. Let us be clear about what happened: The Son of God was in agony, and asked the Father, using David’s words, why he was forsaken? The answer of course is for all to know: Because he suffered the torment that we, that I, deserve. But he suffered in our place. Therefore this should be our greatest comfort in our own troubles and suffering: that such sufferings were also experienced by our Lord, our Head, Jesus Christ. He knows our need, and he will help us. “You have remembered me, O God, and you have not forsaken those who love you.” May he grant us this grace.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – Mark 15:34 Lema sabachthani?