In the Peshitta ancient Syriac New Testament, in both Matthew 27v46 and Mark 15v34, Jesus' last words are recorded as:
Transliteration: /'yL 'yL Lmn'
$bqtny/.
Translation: "O God! O God! Why have you
forsaken me?"
However, the Peshitta Syriac version is not the oldest Syriac version of the gospels. Two manuscripts of the Old Syriac gospels survive. One is called the Sinaitic Palimpsest because it was found in 1892 by Agnes Smith Lewis et al in Saint Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai, Egypt. The other manuscript was found in Egypt by Archdeacon Tattam in 1842 and it is called “the Curetonian” after William Cureton who first identified and edited the Syriac text in 1858. These manuscripts contain a version of the Syriac gospels which has been conformed to the Greek four gospels. Even so, they still contain some readings from even earlier Syriac gospels and from the Diatessaron gospel harmony mentioned elsewhere on this web site.
In the Sinaitic Palimpsest Syriac version of the same passages, Jesus' last words were recorded as:
/'Ly 'Ly Lmn' $bqtny/ in Matthew
27v46
Translation: "My God, my God, Why have you forsaken
me?"
/'Lhy 'Lhy Lmn' $bqtny/ in Mark
15v34
Translation: "My God, my God, Why have you forsaken
me?"
The possessive format, 'My God' is supplied by the Old Syriac and by the explanation of the text given in the Peshitta version of the Mark text. These readings conform to the text of the Greek gospels, Matthew and Mark.
Even in the Greek translation of Matthew and Mark's gospel from a lost Aramaic original, these last words of Jesus are written out as a phonetic transliteration in Greek letters of the Aramaic words He spoke. Hence, we have several readings from different Greek manuscripts. Given it's probable semitic origin, Codex Bezae is quite interesting. This fifth or sixth century Greek manuscript has the following phonetic readings from Matthew 27v46 and Mark15v34:
/ELei, ELei, Lama Zaphthani/
Matthew 27v46, Codex Bezae (< the BFBS NT Greek critical
edition)
/ELi, ELi, Lama Zaphthani/ Mark 15v34, Codex Bezae
The 'standard' Greek texts
are:
/ELei, ELei, Lema Sabakthanei/ Matthew 27v46 (< the BFBS
NT Greek critical edition)
/ELoi, ELoi, Lama Sabakthanei/ Mark
15v34
The 'standard' Greek readings could
both have been generated by the Aramaic sentence:
/'Ly 'Ly Lm'
$bqtny/ which would have sounded like this, 'Elee, Elee, Lema
shabaqthanee'
Translation, "My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me?"
Note the similarity between this Aramaic
reconstructed text and the Syriac text of Matthew 27v46 found in the
Sinai Palimpsest. Only one letter is different in my Aramaic
reconstruction. The method used to reconstruct the Aramaic text is
explained below.
Compare the Aramaic reconstructed text just
given with the equivalent sentence written in classical Hebrew which
I quote from the BFBS version of the Hebrew Masoretic text at Psalm
22v2:
/'Ly 'Ly Lmh `zbthny/ which would have sounded like this,
'Elee, Elee, Lomoh `azabthani'
Most of the Greek witnesses have a word resembling 'shabaqthanee' = 'you have forsaken me'. This is an Aramaic word unknown in Hebrew indicating that an Aramaic text underlies the Greek gospels not a classical Hebrew text. The Codex Bezae Greek version differs because it more closely resembles the classical Hebrew equivalent from Ps22v2, but equally well the Hebrew of Ps22v2 might explain the origin of this reading in Codex Bezae.
It seems highly probable that most of the Greek texts we have of this verse reflect an original Aramaic text. This follows since an Aramaic reconstruction of the text resembles the main Greek text very closely and differs greatly from anything we would expect if the original were written in classical Hebrew. The different Greek reading in Codex Bezae suggests that the reading originates from a classical Hebrew text of Matthew. The question remains whether we can tell whether Jesus spoke in Aramaic or in Hebrew. This question is essentially a historical one. Can we say what language most Palestinian Jews spoke at the time of Christ? Well yes, we can. There are inscriptions on graves and ossuaries and there are many other references in the gospels and Acts that can help us. All these sources indicate that the ordinary people of Palestine spoke Palestinian Aramaic at the time of Christ. Hence, we have a collection of diverse pieces of evidence that indicate that Christ would have needed to speak Palestinian Aramaic to be understood by the ordinary Jewish people. The historical evidence and the textual evidence does not prove that Christ certainly spoke His last words on the cross in Aramaic, but it shows that He very probably did.
How I reconstructed the Aramaic text of Mt27v46
The reconstruction of the source text in Aramaic was arrived at by researching the Aramaic texts found in amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls. These texts are written in the Palestinian Aramaic dialect current at the time of Jesus. For this reason the scrolls provide us with unique evidence for the reconstruction of Aramaic gospel texts.
Beginning from the Greek and Syriac texts we look for the equivalent words used in the Aramaic texts of the Dead Sea Scrolls, (Or DSS, NB: The Q numbers relate to the DSS scroll identification numbers. For example, 4Q designates all scrolls which were found in Qumran cave 4.).
The word 'El' used in Syriac and Greek for God is the first word to look for. Sure enough 'El' occurs with this meaning quite a few times. Here are some examples: 4Q113 A copy of the biblical book of Daniel which was originally written in Aramaic, Dan5v11a reads, 'heyai El' = the living God. The MT Old Testament Aramaic text of Daniel has exactly the same word for God. 4Q542 Testament of Kohath (written in Palestinian Aramaic). Column 1, line 5: "and that they have given to you, your fathers and God." Here also we have 'El' 4Q246A Messianic apocalyptic text (written in Palestinian Aramaic). Column 2, line 4: "Until the nation of God will arise" Here we have '`em El' = 'the nation of God' column 2, line 7: "The Great God will help him" Here we have 'El raba' = 'Great God'.
In our textual witnesses the Sinaitic and the usual Greek, the word 'El' for 'God' has an ending 'ee' sound which modifies the meaning to 'my God'. Sure enough, in the DSS Palestinian Aramaic we find this word ending 'ee' sound means the same thing. Here are some examples: ‘my father’ in 4Q197 [frag. 4 col. 3 line 8] and again twice in 4Q542 [col. 2 line 11] and 6Q8 [frag. 1 line 4], and 'my Lord' 1Q Test. Levi frag 52 line 1 and 4Q Test. Levi col 1 line 10 and many others.
The word /Lm'/ or /Lmh/ 'lema' = 'why?' occurs in 1Q20 column 22, lines 22 and 32 and in 11Q10 column 11 line 2 and also elsewhere in 11Q10. The Sinaitic reads /Lmn'/ because 'Lemana' ='why' is the Syriac equivalent of the Aramaic word.
Finally, the verb 'shabaq' = 'to forsake' can be found in 11Q10 once, 1Q20 thrice and again elsewhere. This verb does not occur in classical Hebrew at all. The verb ending '-thani' modifies the meaning to 'you have forsaken me'
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