Interpretations & debates
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Mark 15:34 · Matthew 27:46 · Psalm 22:1
Mark and Matthew report that as Jesus was dying he cried out the opening words of Psalm 22: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Mark gives the words in Aramaic, Matthew partly in Hebrew, and both then translate them into Greek.Mark 15:34 (Greek)Matthew 27:46 (Greek)Psalm 22:1 (Hebrew)
That the cry comes from Psalm 22 is not in doubt: the wording matches the psalm, and the crucifixion accounts echo other lines of the same psalm. The disagreements are about what it means. Does quoting the first line bring in the whole psalm, which ends in praise? Did Jesus feel abandoned by God, and what would that mean? Did he say these words, or did the evangelists tell his death in the psalm’s language?Psalm 22:7, 8, 18; Mark 15:24, 29; Matthew 27:43; John 19:24Psalm 22:21, 22, 24, 27
Luke and John give different last words, and some later writers and copyists changed this one. Christian theologians have explained it in several ways: as the voice of Christ’s humanity, as Christ speaking in our name, as Christ bearing God’s judgment, or as godforsakenness within the life of God. Historians differ on how much the evangelists’ wording owes to memory and how much to the psalm.Luke 23:46John 19:30Gospel of Peter, 5.19Mark 15:34: manuscripts
The passages
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?”
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?”
My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving me, so far from my words of groaning?
Berean Standard Bible (public domain). The Greek, Hebrew and other translations are in the reader.
Draft, not yet reviewed by a specialist· How these pages are made
The questions
Each question shows how far it is agreed. Open it for the evidence and the main interpretations.
Do the Gospel passages quote Psalm 22?Agreed
Not disputed. The wording is the psalm’s opening line in every witness, and the passion accounts echo several other lines of the psalm.
Scope: The textual relationship only, not what it means.
What the evidence shows
- The translation both Gospels give is the opening line of Psalm 22 (Hebrew 22:2): “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”Mark 15:34 (Greek)Matthew 27:46 (Greek)Psalm 22:1 (Hebrew)
- Their Greek verb, ἐγκατέλιπες (“you have forsaken”), is the verb of the Greek Psalm; Matthew’s ἱνατί (“why”) also matches the Greek Psalm’s ἵνα τί, while Mark has εἰς τί.Mark 15:34 (Greek)Matthew 27:46 (Greek)Septuagint (Swete), Ps 21:2 (Greek numbering)
- Other lines of Psalm 22 are echoed in the crucifixion accounts: the dividing of clothes by lot (Psalm 22:18; quoted in John 19:24), the passers-by shaking their heads (22:7) and the taunt “He trusts in God; let God deliver him” (22:8).Psalm 22:7, 8, 18; Mark 15:24, 29; Matthew 27:43; John 19:24
Does quoting the first verse bring in the whole psalm?Interpreters disagree
A real disagreement among interpreters. The texts quote only the first line; whether the rest is meant to be heard is a judgement about the evangelists’ use of Scripture.
Scope: Whether Mark and Matthew mean the reader to hear Psalm 22 as a whole, including its turn to praise and deliverance (22:21–31).
Why readers differ
Mark and Matthew quote only the opening line, translate it, and follow it with misunderstanding and death. But early Christians plainly knew and used the rest of the psalm, including its praise.
What the evidence shows
- Psalm 22 moves from complaint (22:1–21) to praise and thanksgiving: God “has not hidden his face from him; but when he cried to him, he heard” (22:24).Psalm 22:21, 22, 24, 27
- Hebrews 2:12 puts the psalm’s turn to praise (22:22) on Jesus’ lips.Hebrews 2:12
Interpretations
Listed without ranking.
The first line calls up the whole psalm
a reading of the text
Readers who knew the psalm would hear its whole course, from abandonment to God’s answer. On this view the cry is still real anguish, but it is the anguish of the righteous sufferer whose vindication the psalm promises and Mark’s story goes on to tell.
Supported by
- The crucifixion accounts draw on several other lines of the psalm, so the evangelists had more of it in view than its first line.Psalm 22:7, 8, 18; Mark 15:24, 29; Matthew 27:43; John 19:24
- Early Christians read the psalm’s praise section as Jesus’ own words (Hebrews 2:12).Hebrews 2:12
Complicated by
- Neither Gospel quotes or alludes to the psalm’s ending at the cross; the scene continues with mockery and death.Mark 15:35, 36, 37
Argued by
The cry should be heard for what it says
a reading of the text
The words quoted are words of abandonment, and Mark leaves them unexplained. Bringing in the psalm’s ending risks softening what the Gospel presents as Jesus’ last words.
Supported by
- Mark translates only the opening line and gives it as Jesus’ last words before his final loud cry.Mark 15:34 (Greek)Mark 15:35, 36, 37
Complicated by
- The cry is addressed to “my God”: even as complaint, it is a prayer.Mark 15:34 (Greek)
Argued by
Still open
- How widely a first-century audience would have recognised the psalm from its opening words.
How should the cry of abandonment be read alongside the psalm’s praise?Interpreters disagree
Interpreters agree that the cry is a lament addressed to God; they differ on whether the Gospel means it as despair, as the opening of a prayer of trust, or as part of a scene of judgment.
Scope: The meaning of the cry within Mark’s and Matthew’s accounts.
Why readers differ
The Gospels report the words without comment, and what follows in Mark is both dark (Jesus’ death) and revealing (the temple curtain torn, the centurion’s confession).
What the evidence shows
- After the cry Mark reports Jesus’ death, the tearing of the temple curtain and the centurion’s words “Truly this man was the Son of God!”Mark 15:35, 36, 37Mark 15:38, 39
Interpretations
Listed without ranking.
A lament that is also a prayer of trust
a reading of the text
Like the psalm, the cry complains to God and still calls him “my God”. Mark’s story supplies the answer the psalm anticipates.
Supported by
- The psalm itself joins complaint and trust.Psalm 22:21, 22, 24, 27
Complicated by
- The words quoted at the cross are only the complaint.Mark 15:34 (Greek)
Argued by
- Holly J. Carey (2009)source
Part of a scene of judgment
a reading of the text
The darkness, the cry, the torn curtain and the centurion’s confession belong together as a scene of divine judgment and of a gospel opened to the nations.
Supported by
- Mark places the cry between the darkness over the land and the tearing of the temple curtain.Mark 15:38, 39
Complicated by
- Mark does not himself call the scene a judgment.Mark 15:35, 36, 37
Argued by
- Thomas E. Schmidt (1994)source
Real abandonment, unsoftened
a theological reading
The cry expresses a real experience of being forsaken, which theology must not explain away.
Supported by
- Luke and John do not report the cry, and later writers reworded it, which suggests that early Christians found it hard.Luke 23:46John 19:30Gospel of Peter, 5.19Mark 15:34: manuscripts
Complicated by
- The Gospels do not explain the cry; they report it.Mark 15:34 (Greek)
Argued by
Did Jesus say these words?The evidence cannot settle it
The surviving evidence cannot settle this. Historians weigh the same facts differently, and the answer depends partly on how they judge the passion accounts as a whole.
Scope: What historians can say about Jesus’ actual words, as distinct from how the evangelists present his death.
Why readers differ
Only Mark and Matthew report the cry, and their accounts run closely parallel (most scholars hold that Matthew used Mark). Its wording is Scripture, which could mean that Jesus prayed a psalm, or that the story of his death was told in the psalm’s words.
What the evidence shows
- Mark and Matthew report the cry; Luke and John report other last words (Luke from Psalm 31:5).Luke 23:46John 19:30Psalm 31:5
- Later retellings and copies changed the words: the Gospel of Peter has “My power, power, you have forsaken me”, and Codex Bezae’s Greek of Mark reads “why have you reproached me?”Gospel of Peter, 5.19Mark 15:34: manuscripts
Interpretations
Listed without ranking.
Remembered from the crucifixion
a historical judgement
The saying goes back to the event. It was kept because it was remembered, and its difficulty for later Christians counts against its having been invented.
Supported by
- Luke and John leave it out, the Gospel of Peter rewords it and a copyist of Mark changed it, which suggests the saying was felt to be difficult.Luke 23:46John 19:30Gospel of Peter, 5.19Mark 15:34: manuscripts
Complicated by
- The words are Scripture, and Scripture shapes much of the passion story.Psalm 22:7, 8, 18; Mark 15:24, 29; Matthew 27:43; John 19:24
Argued by
- Raymond E. Brown’s approach to the passion accounts (1994)sourceDescribed by later scholars as treating the passion traditions as resting on early memory; his treatment of this verse was not checked here.
Told from the psalm
a historical judgement
Early Christians searched the Scriptures to understand Jesus’ death and told it in their words. The cry is “prophecy historicized” rather than “history remembered”.
Supported by
- Psalm 22 supplies several details of the crucifixion scene.Psalm 22:7, 8, 18; Mark 15:24, 29; Matthew 27:43; John 19:24
Complicated by
- A saying invented from Scripture would not need the difficulties that later writers removed.Gospel of Peter, 5.19Mark 15:34: manuscripts
Argued by
- John Dominic Crossan (1995)source
Remembered events told in Scripture’s words
a historical judgement
Neither pure memory nor pure invention: early tradition about Jesus’ death was retold in scriptural language from the start (“scripturalized”), so the psalm’s words and the memory of the event cannot be cleanly separated.
Supported by
- Scriptural allusions run through the earliest passion account alongside details with no obvious scriptural source.Psalm 22:7, 8, 18; Mark 15:24, 29; Matthew 27:43; John 19:24
Complicated by
- This leaves open, rather than answers, whether these particular words go back to Jesus.Mark 15:34 (Greek)
Argued by
- Mark Goodacre (2006)source
Still open
- Whether Jesus said “Eli” (Hebrew, as in Matthew) or “Eloi” (Aramaic, as in Mark); see the next question.
How do the Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek forms relate?Agreed in substance; some details open
The forms themselves are not in dispute. Which form Jesus used, and why the two Gospels differ, cannot be settled.
Scope: The forms reported in the Greek Gospels, the Hebrew psalm, the Greek Psalms and a later Aramaic translation of the psalm.
Why readers differ
The Gospels are written in Greek but report the cry in a Semitic language, and the Greek manuscripts spell it in several ways.
What the evidence shows
- Mark’s Ἐλωΐ (Eloi) is an Aramaic form of “my God”; Matthew’s Ἠλί (Eli) is the Hebrew form, as in the psalm.ἐλωΐ (dictionary)ἠλί (dictionary)Psalm 22:1 (Hebrew)
- Σαβαχθανι (sabachthani) is Aramaic, “you have forsaken me”. The Hebrew psalm has a different verb: עֲזַבְתָּנִי (ʿazabtani).σαβαχθάνι (dictionary)Psalm 22:1 (Hebrew)
- A later Jewish Aramaic translation of the psalm, the Targum, uses the same Aramaic verb as the Gospels (שְׁבַקְתַּנִי, shbaqtani), with a different word for “why”. Its date is uncertain, so it shows how the verse could be put into Aramaic, not what was said in the first century.Targum of Psalms, Targum Ps 22:2
- Greek editions spell “why” in Mark as λεμά (SBL, NA28), λαμά (Westcott–Hort, Tregelles) or λιμά (the Byzantine text).Mark 15:34: Greek editionsλαμά (dictionary)
- The Greek Psalm adds “attend to me” (πρόσχες μοι), which is not in the Hebrew and not in either Gospel.Septuagint (Swete), Ps 21:2 (Greek numbering)
- Westcott and Hort printed Mark’s Ἐλωΐ in Matthew too; most editions print Ἠλί there.Matthew 27:46: Greek editions
Still open
- Which form Jesus used. The bystanders’ “He is calling Elijah” (Ἠλίας) sounds closer to Matthew’s Ἠλί than to Mark’s Ἐλωΐ; interpreters have drawn different conclusions from this.
- Whether Matthew changed Mark’s Aramaic towards the Hebrew of the psalm, or knew another form of the tradition.
How have Christian interpreters and modern scholars understood the cry?Christian traditions differ
These are theological readings. They differ by tradition and period, and historical evidence cannot decide between them; the Atlas does not rank them.
Scope: Representative readings from the early Church to the present. A selection, not a complete history.
Why readers differ
Christian teaching holds that the Son is one with the Father, so a cry of abandonment needs explaining. Each tradition explains it from its own account of who Christ is and what his death achieved.
Readings
Listed without ranking.
The voice of Christ’s humanity
a theological reading
The cry is spoken by the man Jesus, flesh and soul, not by the divine Word, so the Father did not abandon the Son in his divinity.
Argued by
- Tertullian (c. 213), ch. 30source
Christ speaks in our name
a theological reading
Christ was not forsaken by the Father or by his own Godhead; he took our forsaken condition as his own and spoke it on our behalf.
Argued by
Christ bore God’s judgment in our place
a theological reading
On the cross Christ underwent the judgment due to sinners and felt its dread, while his faith in the Father held.
Argued by
- John Calvin (1555)source
Godforsakenness at the heart of God
a theological reading
The cry is the centre of a theology of the cross: what happens between Father and Son at Jesus’ death reveals who God is.
Complicated by
- Critics argue that the Gospels do not explain the cry and do not speak of a break within God.Thomas H. McCall (2012)
Argued by
- Jürgen Moltmann (1974)source
Still open
- Augustine’s readings of the psalm as the voice of the whole Christ, head and members, and Eastern Orthodox liturgical use of the psalm on Good Friday, are not yet included: their sources were not checked in this pass.
Also
- Psalm 22 also had a life in Jewish interpretation. The Babylonian Talmud puts its opening words in the mouth of Queen Esther, entering the king’s inner court.Babylonian Talmud, b. Megillah 15b
- On later rereadings of the psalm and who its sufferer is, see Menn (2000).Esther M. Menn (2000)
The evidence in full
In the original languages
- Mark 15:34 (Greek)
- Ἐλωῒ ἐλωῒ λεμὰ σαβαχθάνιElōi elōi lema sabachthani
- Matthew 27:46 (Greek)
- Ἠλὶ ἠλὶ λεμὰ σαβαχθάνιĒli ēli lema sabachthani
- Psalm 22:1 (Hebrew)
- אֵלִי אֵלִי לָמָה עֲזַבְתָּנִיʾēlî ʾēlî lāmâ ʿăzabtānî
- Septuagint (Swete), Ps 21:2 (Greek numbering)
- Ὁ θεὸς ὁ θεός μου, πρόσχες μοι· ἳνα τί ἐγκατέλιπές με“O God, my God, attend to me; why have you forsaken me?” (literal translation by the Atlas)
- Targum of Psalms, Targum Ps 22:2
- אֵלִי אֵלִי מְטוּל מַה שְׁבַקְתַּנִיʾēlî ʾēlî məṭûl mah šəbaqtanî“My God, my God, on account of what have you forsaken me?” (literal translation by the Atlas)
- Babylonian Talmud, b. Megillah 15b
- אלי אלי למה עזבתני
Every piece of evidence (25)
Mark 15:34 (Greek)
Ἐλωῒ ἐλωῒ λεμὰ σαβαχθάνι
Read: Mark 15:34Word by word
Matthew 27:46 (Greek)
Ἠλὶ ἠλὶ λεμὰ σαβαχθάνι
Psalm 22:1 (Hebrew)
אֵלִי אֵלִי לָמָה עֲזַבְתָּנִי
Read: Psalm 22:1Word by word
Septuagint (Swete), Ps 21:2 (Greek numbering)
Ὁ θεὸς ὁ θεός μου, πρόσχες μοι· ἳνα τί ἐγκατέλιπές με
The Septuagint’s numbering of the Psalms differs from the Hebrew; this is Psalm 22:1 in English Bibles.
Targum of Psalms, Targum Ps 22:2
אֵלִי אֵלִי מְטוּל מַה שְׁבַקְתַּנִי
Psalm 22:7, 8, 18; Mark 15:24, 29; Matthew 27:43; John 19:24
They divide my garments among them. They cast lots for my clothing.
WEB, Psalm 22:18
Read: Psalm 22:7, Psalm 22:8, Psalm 22:18, Mark 15:24, Mark 15:29, Matthew 27:43, John 19:24
Psalm 22:21, 22, 24, 27
Neither has he hidden his face from him; but when he cried to him, he heard.
WEB, Psalm 22:24
Read: Psalm 22:21, Psalm 22:22, Psalm 22:24, Psalm 22:27
Hebrews 2:12
I will declare your name to my brothers.
WEB, Hebrews 2:12
Read: Hebrews 2:12
Mark 15:35, 36, 37
Read: Mark 15:35, Mark 15:36, Mark 15:37
Mark 15:38, 39
Truly this man was the Son of God!
WEB, Mark 15:39
Read: Mark 15:38, Mark 15:39
Luke 23:46
Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!
WEB, Luke 23:46
Read: Luke 23:46
Psalm 31:5
Into your hand I commend my spirit.
WEB, Psalm 31:5
Read: Psalm 31:5
John 19:30
It is finished.
WEB, John 19:30
Read: John 19:30
Mark 14:36
Abba, Father, all things are possible to you.
WEB, Mark 14:36
Read: Mark 14:36
Gospel of Peter, 5.19
The Greek reads ἡ δύναμίς μου, ἡ δύναμις, κατέλειψάς με (“My power, power, you have forsaken me”). Translations differ slightly. Checked in reproductions, not against an edition.
Mark 15:34: manuscripts
Codex Bezae (about 400) is the only Greek manuscript to read ὠνείδισάς με (“you have reproached me”) for ἐγκατέλιπές με in Mark 15:34, with Latin support notably in Codex Bobbiensis. Ehrman (1993) argues that the change answered Christians who held that the divine Christ left Jesus before his death; Clivaz (2023) examines the reading and argues for its importance. Not in the SBLGNT apparatus, which compares printed editions rather than manuscripts.
Read: Mark 15:34Source
Mark 15:34: Greek editions
Apparatus: • λεμὰ NA28 ] λαμὰ WH Treg; λιμὰ RP
Read: Mark 15:34
Matthew 27:46: Greek editions
Apparatus: • Ἠλὶ ἠλὶ Treg RP NA28 ] Ἐλωῒ ἐλωῒ WH NIV
Read: Matthew 27:46
ἐλωΐ (dictionary)
ἐλωΐ: “Eloi”. Abbott-Smith (1922), adapted by STEPBible.
ἐλωΐ: Aramaic, “my God”.
ἠλί (dictionary)
ἠλί: “Eli”. Abbott-Smith (1922), adapted by STEPBible.
ἠλί: Hebrew, “my God”.
λαμά (dictionary)
λαμά: “why?”. Abbott-Smith (1922), adapted by STEPBible.
λεμά, λαμά: “why”.
σαβαχθάνι (dictionary)
σαβαχθάνι: “sabachthani”. Abbott-Smith (1922), adapted by STEPBible.
σαβαχθανι: Aramaic, “you have forsaken me”; the Hebrew of Psalm 22 has a different verb.
Babylonian Talmud, b. Megillah 15b
אלי אלי למה עזבתני
She immediately said: “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” (Psalms 22:2).
Esther M. Menn (2000)
Thomas H. McCall (2012)
Sources and how far each was checked (19)
- , Swete, The Old Testament in Greek according to the Septuagint, vol. 2 (Cambridge, 1896 printing): Psalms, First1KGreek digitisation. LinkWording checked against the source fileWording checked against the file with SHA-256 a028f5bccc6f23ed0b77f9d578cb08b91ca7b6b4f6dda6ed24efe790a8a9987c.Licence: Printed text public domain; digital encoding CC BY-SA 4.0 (First1KGreek, University of Leipzig)Septuagint text after H. B. Swete, digitised by the First Thousand Years of Greek project, University of Leipzig. CC BY-SA 4.0.
- , Aramaic Targum to Psalms (Mikraot Gedolot text), Sefaria export. LinkWording checked against the source fileWording checked against the file with SHA-256 eee9c13752e9e4f15653d2f16b3699854ee3d3a2c5429ee581a2f5ab28628588.Licence: Public domain (as recorded by Sefaria)Aramaic Targum to Psalms, Mikraot Gedolot text, via Sefaria (public domain).
- Gospel of Peter (Akhmim fragment), Gospel of Peter, usually dated to the 2nd century; known from a much later manuscript found at Akhmim in 1886–87. Partly checkedThe cry 'My power, (my/O) power, you have forsaken me' and the Greek ἡ δύναμίς μου, ἡ δύναμις, κατέλειψάς με confirmed in several reproductions found by search; not checked against a critical edition. The Gospel of Peter is not in the Library.
- Claire Clivaz, Marc 15,34 dans le codex de Bèze et le codex Bobbiensis, in L. Pinchard and J.-C. Haelewyck (eds.), Traditions et traductions des textes bibliques. Études de critique textuelle et d'exégèse en l'hommage de Christian-Bernard Amphoux (Langues et cultures anciennes 35; Brussels: Safran), 2023, pp. 55–70. LinkDetails and the point cited checked; not read in fullRepository record, abstract and volume pagination (open-access author manuscript, CC BY 4.0): Codex Bezae is the only Greek witness to ὠνείδισάς με at Mark 15:34, with Latin support notably in Codex Bobbiensis; the chapter argues for the importance of this minor variant; not read in full.
- Bart D. Ehrman, The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture: The Effect of Early Christological Controversies on the Text of the New Testament, Oxford University Press, 1993. Partly checkedArgument and page range as reported by Clivaz's open-access discussion; Ehrman's pages not read in this session.
- G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (Scribner's, 1922), as adapted in STEPBible TBESG, 1922. Details and the point cited checked; not read in fullDataset entries G2193, G3739.
- , Babylonian Talmud, Megillah 15b, Sefaria export. LinkWording checked against the source fileWording checked against the file with SHA-256 1867903e8e200a22b7931d936bfdd6cc2fb9fc032c425427cba695944650fd87.Licence: Aramaic/Hebrew: Hebrew Wikisource, CC BY-SA. English: The William Davidson Edition (Koren Noé Talmud, Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz), CC BY-NC, used on the owner's decision that the Atlas is non-commercial (as for the Talmud pilot, Library data 0.5.0-rc2).Megillah 15b: Aramaic/Hebrew text from Hebrew Wikisource (CC BY-SA); English from The William Davidson Edition, Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz (CC BY-NC), via Sefaria.
- Esther M. Menn, No Ordinary Lament: Relecture and the Identity of the Distressed in Psalm 22, Harvard Theological Review 93.4, 2000, pp. 301–341. Partly checkedBibliographic details from Cambridge Core; cited only for its subject as its title states (later rereadings of the psalm and who its sufferer is); the argument was not read.
- Thomas H. McCall, Forsaken: The Trinity and the Cross, and Why It Matters, IVP Academic, 2012. Partly checkedThe book's critique of readings that find a rupture within the Trinity in the cry, and its observation that Mark and Matthew do not explain the cry, as reported in a published review; publisher and year not independently confirmed.
- Holly J. Carey, Jesus' Cry from the Cross: Towards a First-Century Understanding of the Intertextual Relationship between Psalm 22 and the Narrative of Mark's Gospel, T&T Clark (Library of New Testament Studies 398), 2009. Details and the point cited checked; not read in fullCatalogue records (LNTS 398, 221 pp., revised Edinburgh PhD 2007) and the thesis abstract: asks whether the citation is 'atomistic' or 'contextual' and argues that a contextual reading heightens rather than dilutes Jesus' distress, presenting him as a righteous sufferer with a promise of vindication; not read in full.
- Thomas E. Schmidt, Cry of Dereliction or Cry of Judgment? Mark 15:34 in Context, Bulletin for Biblical Research 4, 1994. Details and the point cited checked; not read in fullRecord and abstract (Galaxie): argues that judgment is the unifying theme of Mark 15:33–39 and reads the cry with Psalm 22's movement towards a universal horizon; page range not confirmed.
- Jürgen Moltmann, The Crucified God: The Cross of Christ as the Foundation and Criticism of Christian Theology, SCM Press / Harper & Row (trans. R. A. Wilson and John Bowden), 1974. Details and the point cited checked; not read in fullEnglish edition, translators and the book's grounding of its theology in the cry of Mark 15:34 confirmed through several reviews and studies; not read in full in this session.
- John Calvin, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark and Luke, on Matt 27:46, 1555. Partly checkedThe point cited (Christ underwent the judgment of God in our place and felt its dread, while his faith held) confirmed only through a secondary excerpt; not checked against the primary text or a named translation.
- Raymond E. Brown, The Death of the Messiah: From Gethsemane to the Grave. A Commentary on the Passion Narratives in the Four Gospels (2 vols.), Doubleday, 1994. Partly checkedBibliographic details from library catalogues; cited here only for its general approach as described by later scholars (passion traditions resting on early memory). Brown's own discussion of Mark 15:34 was not checked and is not summarised.
- John Dominic Crossan, Who Killed Jesus? Exposing the Roots of Anti-Semitism in the Gospel Story of the Death of Jesus, HarperSanFrancisco, 1995. Partly checkedThe contrast 'prophecy historicized' vs 'history remembered' confirmed through several reviews and interviews; the book itself not read in this session.
- Mark Goodacre, Scripturalization in Mark's Crucifixion Narrative, in Geert van Oyen and Tom Shepherd (eds.), The Trial and Death of Jesus: Essays on the Passion Narrative in Mark (Leuven: Peeters), 2006, pp. 33–47. LinkDetails and the point cited checked; not read in fullPages and volume from Duke repository record and Duke Scholars; the proposal of 'scripturalized' tradition as a middle way between 'prophecy historicized' and 'history remembered' from secondary descriptions; not read in full in this session.
- Tertullian, Against Praxeas, trans. Peter Holmes, Ante-Nicene Fathers vol. 3 (1885), c. 213. Details and the point cited checked; not read in fullChapter 30 located in two online copies of the ANF translation and the Latin/German editions of the Bibliothek der Kirchenväter, by search: the cry is the voice of the man (flesh and soul), not of the Word, and the Father 'forsook' the Son only in giving up his humanity to death; the full chapter was not re-read in this session.
- Gregory of Nazianzus, Oration 30 (Fourth Theological Oration, On the Son), trans. C. G. Browne and J. E. Swallow, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, vol. 7 (1894), 380. Details and the point cited checked; not read in full§5 located by search in the NPNF translation and the Greek (Mason 1899): Christ was not forsaken by the Father or by his own Godhead; he speaks in his own person as representing us, who were the forsaken; the section was not re-read in full in this session.
- Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1992; 2nd ed. 1997. LinkPartly checkedParagraph number from the Vatican's own concordance; wording (Christ, without experiencing reprobation, assumed us in our state of sin and could say in our name 'My God, my God …') from secondary quotations; not read on vatican.va in this session.
Scope, review and corrections
Not covered here
- The meaning of Psalm 22:16 (“they pierced my hands and feet”), a separate textual question.
- Harmonising all the words of Jesus from the cross reported by the four Gospels.
- The darkness at noon (Mark 15:33).
Review
1 Nov 2026, from the sources listed, which were checked to the level each one states. Not yet reviewed by a specialist.
Needed before review is complete
- A New Testament scholar to check the summaries of Carey, Schmidt, Goodacre, Crossan and Brown against the works themselves.
- A patristic and historical theologian to check the readings attributed to Tertullian, Gregory of Nazianzus, Calvin, the Catechism and Moltmann, and to supply Augustine and Eastern liturgical use.
- A textual critic to check the account of Codex Bezae and Codex Bobbiensis.
- An Aramaist to check the account of the forms.
Corrections
None yet. Version 1, 2026-11-01.
Texts quoted: Berean Standard Bible (public domain). Greek New Testament: SBL Greek New Testament, © 2010 Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew Bible: Westminster Leningrad Codex (public domain), via the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (CC BY 4.0). World English Bible (public domain). Septuagint text after H. B. Swete, digitised by the First Thousand Years of Greek project, University of Leipzig. CC BY-SA 4.0. Aramaic Targum to Psalms, Mikraot Gedolot text, via Sefaria (public domain). Megillah 15b: Aramaic/Hebrew text from Hebrew Wikisource (CC BY-SA); English from The William Davidson Edition, Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz (CC BY-NC), via Sefaria. Dictionary entries: Abbott-Smith via STEPBible (CC BY 4.0); BDB and Strong via the Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon.