Most New Testament versions report in Matthew 27: 46 that, at the moment just prior to the death of Jesus on the cross, He called out to God, asking why God had forsaken Him. Is that what Jesus really meant when He called to God? The verse in question as recorded in the King James Version is written below. Following this is how thirteen other versions record what Jesus said. There is very little difference except for the use of a verb other than “forsake.”
Versions Compared
- AB – Amplified Bible
- CEV – Contemporary English Version
- CJB – Complete Jewish Bible
- CNT – Cassirer New Testament
- EBR – The Emphasized Bible
- GW – God’s Word
- KJV – King James Version
- NAB – New American Bible
- NCV – New Century Version
- NLV – New Life Version
- SV – The Scholars’ Version
- TEV – Today’s English Version
- TM – The Message
- WET – Wuest Expanded Translation
Other Versions Used
- LBP – Lamsa Bible
- LXX – The Septuagint
- NJPS – New JPS Version
- NWT – New World Translation
- SNB – Restoration of Original Sacred Name Bible
Matthew 27: 46
KJV – And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani! My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
AB – …? that is, My God, My God, why have You abandoned Me – leaving Me helpless, forsaking and failing Me in My need?
CEV – … which means, “My God, my God, why have you deserted me?”
CJB – “… (My God! My God! Why have you deserted me?)”
CNT – … which means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
EBR – … that is
My God! my God! to what end hast thou forsaken me?
GW – … which means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
NAB – … which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Footnote: Eli, Eli, lema sabachtani?: Jesus cries out in the words of Psalm 22:2a, a lament that is the Old Testament passage most frequently drawn upon in this narrative. In Mark the verse is cited entirely in Aramaic, which Matthew partially retains but changes the invocation of God to the Hebrew Eli, possibly because that is more easily related to the statement of the following verse about Jesus’ calling for Elijah.
NCV – This means, “My God, my God, why have you rejected me?”
NLV – My God, my God, why have You left me alone? Why are You so far from helping me, and from the words I cry inside myself?
SV – … (which means, “My God, my God, why did you abandon me?”)
Footnote: In verse 46, the words Jesus is reported to have uttered as he died are borrowed from Mark but are derived ultimately from Psalm 22:1 (“My God, my God, why did you abandon me?”). Luke and John report different dying exclamations. The scriptures provided the words in this case, just as the same Psalm (22:18) provided the suggestion that Jesus’ clothes were divided at his death (Matthew 27:35; Mark 15:24). Both are the fabrication of Christian storytellers.
TEV – “My God, my God, why did you abandon me?”
TM – … which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
WET – …, that is, O my God, O my God, why did you let me down?
The Other Gospels
Mark reports much the same as Matthew, thus suggesting that the information in these two gospels came from the same source. Luke and John do not record this final statement, but different ones. Below are what the King James Version records in these three gospels.
Mark 15: 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?
Luke 23: 46
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.
John 19: 30
When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
Psalm 22: 1
It is generally accepted that in Matthew 27: 46 Jesus was quoting Psalm 22: 1. This verse is written below as the King James Version and seven other versions record it.
KJV – My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
CEV – My God, my God, why have you deserted me?
Why are you so far away?
Won’t you listen to my groans
and come to my rescue?
GW – My God, my God,
why have you abandoned me?
Why are you so far away from helping me,
so far away from the words of my groaning?
NCV – My God, my God, why have you rejected me?
You seem far from saving me,
far from the words of my groaning.
NLV – My God, my God, why have you left me alone? Why are You so far from helping me, and from the words I cry inside myself?
NWT – My God, my God, why have you left me?
[Why are you] far from saving me,
[From] the words of my roaring?
SNB – My El, my El, why hast Thou forsaken me? Far from saving me, the words of my loud lamentation.
Footnote: A prophetic reference to Yashua, Son of the MOST HIGH Yahvah.
TEV – My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
I have cried desperately for help,
but still it does not come.
Answer 1
I have heard it stated in Christian circles that when Jesus took on the sin of the world, God turned away because He cannot look upon sin. This means that Jesus was left by Himself to suffer. The three scriptural references quoted below show that God does not forsake the righteous. Four versions having very different backgrounds are used.
Deuteronomy 4: 31
KJV – …; (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.
LBP – … (For the LORD your God is a merciful God), he will not destroy you, neither forsake you, nor forget the covenant which he swore to your fathers.
LXX – Because the Lord thy God is a God of pity; he will not forsake thee; he will not forget the covenant of thy fathers, which the Lord sware to them.
NJPS – For the LORD your God is a compassionate God: He will not fail you nor will He let you perish; He will not forget the covenant which He made an oath with your fathers.
2 Chronicles 15: 2
KJV – …; the LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.
LBP – …: The LORD is with you forever and ever; and if you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.
LXX – … . The Lord is with you, while ye are with him; and if you seek him out, he will be found of you; but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.
NJPS – …; the LORD is with you as you are with Him. If you turn to Him, He will respond to you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.
Psalm 37: 25, 28
KJV – I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaken not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.
LBP – I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread. For the LORD loves justice, and he forsakes not his righteous ones; he keeps them forever; but the seed of the wicked, he destroys.
LXX – I was once young, indeed I am now old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed seeking bread. For the Lord loves judgment, and will not forsake his saints; they shall be preserved for ever; the blameless shall be avenged, but the seed of the ungodly shall be utterly destroyed.
NJPS – I have been young and am now old, but I have never seen a righteous man abandoned, or his children asking bread. For the LORD loves what is right, He does not abandon His faithful ones, They are preserved forever, while the children of the wicked will be cut off.
Answer 2
This answer was presented in a Messianic Jewish class. When Jesus made the call, He wanted the people to recognize that He was referring to all of Psalm 22, not just the first verse. The people would recognize the quote and later would read all the psalm. Then, they would know that what had just happened had been prophesied long before. A few key verses (16-19, 24) are quoted here from the King James Version.
Psalm 22: 16-19, 24
For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. But be not thou far from me, O Lord: O my strength, haste thee to help me. For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.
Answer 3
In the introduction to his translation of the Bible, George Lamsa criticizes the various versions in their rendering of Matthew 27: 46. He points out that what they say is in contradiction to the King James Version of John 16: 32 and several instances of the Old Testament (which he does not state). Included here are several verses from the Lamsa Bible.
Psalm 22: 1
My God, my God, why hast thou let me to live? and yet thou hast delayed my salvation from me, because of the words of my folly.
Matthew 27: 46
And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice and said, Eli, Eli, lemana shabakthani! My God, my God, for this was I spared!
Footnote: This was my destiny.
Mark 15: 34
And at the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lemana shabakthani! which means, My God, my God, for this was I spared.
Footnote: “which means” used by Mark to explain translation from one Aramaic dialect to another.
Luke 23: 46
Then Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, O my Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit. He said this and it was finished.
John 19: 30
When Jesus drank the vinegar, he said, It is fulfilled; and he bowed his head and gave up the spirit.
