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Mark 15:34

in Mark 15

At the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

KJV

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?

This verse in Mark 15

Commentary

15 notes on this verse
As human he doubts. He experiences amazement. It is not his divinity that doubts, but his human soul. He had no difficulty being amazed because he had taken humanity fully to himself. In taking upon himself a human soul, he also took upon himself the affections of a soul. As God he was not distressed, but as a human he was capable of being distressed. It was not as God he died, but as man. It was in human voice that he cried: "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"

This site's exposition

Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani

Jesus cries out Psalm 22:1 kept in Aramaic, Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani. Only here in Mark does Jesus address the Father as God. Psalm 22 turns from lament to vindication by its end.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers2 voices

A commentator

Augustine of Hippo

LETTER 140, TO HONORATUS 5 · Written before 430.

proposed

In his most compassionate humanity and through his servant form we may now learn what is to be despised in this life and what is to be hoped for in eternity. In that very passion in which his proud enemies seemed most triumphant, he took on the speech of our infirmity, in which "our sinful nature was crucified with him" that the body of sin might be destroyed, and said: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" … Thus the Psalm begins, which was sung so long ago, in prophecy of his passion and the revelation of the grace which he brought to raise up his faithful and set them free.

A commentator

Augustine of Hippo

LETTER 140, TO HONORATUS 6 · Written before 430.

proposed

Out of the voice of the psalmist, which our Lord then transferred to himself, in the voice of this infirmity of ours, he spoke these words: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" He is doubtless forsaken in the sense that his plea was not directly granted. Jesus appropriated the psalmist's voice to himself, the voice of human weakness. The benefits of the old covenant had to be refused in order that we might learn to pray and hope for the benefits of the new covenant. Among those goods of the old covenant which belonged to the old Adam there is a special appetite for the prolonging of this temporal life. But this appetite itself is not interminable, for we all know that the day of death will come. Yet all of us, or nearly all, strive to postpone it, even those who believe that their life after death will be a happier one. Such force has the sweet partnership of flesh and soul.

The Medieval Church3 voices

At the ninth hour, the tenth piece of money which had been lost is found, by the overturning of the house.

A commentator

Bede

On the Gospel of Mark · Written before 735.

proposed

And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying: "Heloi, Heloi, lama sabachthani?" which is interpreted, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" He used the beginning of the twenty-second psalm. That which is read in the middle of …

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Commentary on Mark · Written before 1107.

proposed

The Lord utters the prophetic saying in Hebrew, showing that He honors the Hebrew language to His last breath. "Why have You forsaken Me?" He says this from the perspective of human nature, as if to say: why have You, O God, forsaken me—mankind—so that …
8 more voices on this verse

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Bede

Catena Aurea by Aquinas · Written before 735.

proposed

(ubi sup.) For when Adam sinned, it is also written that he heard the voice of the Lord, walking in paradise, in the cool after mid-day; (Gen. 3:8.) and in that hour when the first Adam by sinning brought death into the world, in that same hour the second Adam by dying destroyed death. And we must observe, that our Lord was crucified, when the sun was going away from the centre of the world; but at sunrise He celebrated the mysteries of His resurrection; because He died for our sins, but rose again for our justification. Nor need you wonder at the lowliness of His words, at the complaints as of one forsaken, when you look on the offence of the cross, knowing the form of a servant. For as hunger, and thirst, and fatigue were not things proper to the Divinity, but bodily affections; so His saying, Why hast thou forsaken me? was proper to a bodily voice, for the body is never naturally wont to wish to be separated from the life which is joined to it. For although our Saviour Himself said this, He really showed the weakness of His body; He spoke therefore as man, bearing about with Him my feelings, for when placed in danger we fancy that we are deserted by God.

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Catena Aurea by Aquinas · Written before 1107.

proposed

Or, He speaks this as man crucified by God for me, for we men have been forsaken by the Father, but He never has. For hear what He says; I am not alone, because the Father is with me. (John 16:32) Though He may also have said this as being a Jew, according to the flesh, as though He had said, Why hast thou forsaken the Jewish people, so that they have crucified Thy Son? For as we sometimes say, God has put on me, that is, my human nature, so here also we must understand thou hast forsaken me, to mean my nature, or the Jewish people. It goes on: And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias.

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice,.... See Gill on Mat 27:46; saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? in Matthew it is, "Eli, Eli", Both "Eli" and "Eloi", are Hebrew words, and signify the same; and are both used in Psa 22:1, from whence the whole is taken: which is, being interpreted, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? See Gill on Mat 27:46.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

38 ); and it was always a token of God's acceptance. The fire that should have fallen upon the sinner, if God had not been pacified, fell upon the sacrifice, as a token that he was so; therefore it now fell upon Christ, and extorted him from this loud and bitter cry. When Paul was to be offered as a sacrifice for the service of saints, he could joy and rejoice ( Phil. ii.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

We have in these verses the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. All deaths are solemn events. Nothing in the whole history of a man is so important as his end. But never was there a death of such solemn import as that which is now before us. In the instant that our Lord drew His last breath, the work of atonement for a world's sin was accomplished. The ransom for sinners was at length paid. The kingdom of heaven was thrown fully open to all believers.
We have in these verses the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. All deaths are solemn events. Nothing in the whole history of a man is so important as his end. But never was there a death of such solemn import as that which is now before us. In the instant that our Lord drew His last breath, the work of atonement for a world's sin was accomplished. The ransom for sinners was at length paid. The kingdom of heaven was thrown fully open to all believers. All the solid hope that mortal men enjoy about their souls, may be traced to the giving up the spirit on the cross. Let us observe, in these verses, the visible signs and wonders which accompanied our Lord's death . Mark mentions two in particular, which demand our attention. One is the darkening of the sun for the space of three hours. The other is the rending of the veil which divided the holy of holies from the holy place in the temple. Both were miraculous events. Both had, no doubt, a deep meaning about them. Both were calculated to arrest the attention of the whole multitude assembled at Jerusalem. The darkness would strike even thoughtless Gentiles, like Pilate and the Roman soldiers. The rent veil would strike even Annas and Caiaphas and their unbelieving companions. There were probably few houses in Jerusalem that evening in which men would not say, "we have heard and seen unusual things today." What did the MIRACULOUS DARKNESS teach? It taught the exceeding wickedness of the Jewish nation. They were actually crucifying their own Messiah, and slaying their own King. The sun himself hid his face at the sight. It taught the exceeding sinfulness of sin in the eyes of God. The Son of God himself must needs be left without the cheering light of day, when He became sin for us and carried our transgressions. What did the miraculous RENDING OF THE VEIL mean?

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

My God, my God, etc. - See on Mat 27:46 (note).

Modern Voices1 voice

A commentator

GK Chesterton

Orthodoxy, Ch. 8: The Romance of Orthodoxy (1908) (1908)

proposed

Lastly, this truth is yet again true in the case of the common modern attempts to diminish or to explain away the divinity of Christ. The thing may be true or not; that I shall deal with before I end. But if the divinity is …

The words behind it

26 Greek words

Every Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Matthew 27:46

    About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

    it leads to

    • Hebrews 5:7

      During the days of Jesus’ earthly life, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Psalms 22:1

      My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving me, so far from my words of groaning?

    • Isaiah 53:10

      Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush Him and to cause Him to suffer; and when His soul is made a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days,…

    • Psalms 71:11

      saying, “God has forsaken him; pursue him and seize him, for there is no one to rescue him.”

    • John 19:28–30

      After this, knowing that everything had now been accomplished, and to fulfill the Scripture, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”

  • Through

    Psalms 22:1

    My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving me, so far from my words of groaning?

    it leads to

    • Matthew 27:46

      About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    Hebrews 5:7

    During the days of Jesus’ earthly life, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His…

    it leads to

    • Luke 22:41–44

      And He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, where He knelt down and prayed,

    • John 17:1

      When Jesus had spoken these things, He lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may glorify You.

Where this verse is studied

About Mark

The Crown of Thorns — Gustave Doré (engraving), public domain
The Crown of Thorns — Gustave Doré (engraving), public domain
This page draws on 15 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, Exposition of the Christian Faith 2.7.56; Augustine of Hippo, LETTER 140, TO HONORATUS 5; Augustine of Hippo, LETTER 140, TO HONORATUS 6; Bede, On the Gospel of Mark; Bede, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Charles Spurgeon, The Gospel of the Kingdom; GK Chesterton, Orthodoxy, Ch. 8: The Romance of Orthodoxy (1908); J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); John Calvin, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Pseudo-Jerome, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Mark and Theophylact of Ohrid, Catena Aurea by Aquinas.