Mark 15:34

Mark 15:34 elwi elwi lema sabacqani

The reading hlei hlei of D Q (059 elei) 0192 (131 hli) 565 al represents the Hebrew yliae (“my God”), and has been assimilated to the parallel in Matthew ( Matthew 27:46). The great majority of uncials and minuscule manuscripts read elwi elwi, which represents the Aramaic yhil'a/ (“my God”), the w for the a sound being due to the influence of the Hebrew yh;l{a/.

The spelling lema (a C L D Y 72 495 517 579 1342 1675 al) represents the Aramaic am'l. (“why?”), which is also probably to be understood as lying behind lima (A K M R U X G P ¦¹³ 33 106 118 131 209 543 697 700 1270 al), whereas lama (B D N Q S 1 22 565 1295 1582 al) represents the Hebrew hM'l(' (“why?”).

All Greek manuscripts except codex Bezae read sabacqani or something similar (sibakqanei, A; zabafqanei, B; sabacqanei, C al), which represents the Aramaic ynIT;q.b;v. (“thou hast forsaken me”). The reading zafqani of D (it^d reads zapthani; it^k zaphani; it^ff2 sapthani; it^i* izpthani) is a scholarly correction representing the Hebrew of Psalms 22:1 ynIT;b.z:[] (“thou hast forsaken me”). ¹⁸

Thus, in the text preferred by the Committee the entire saying represents an Aramaic original, whereas the Matthean parallel is partly Hebrew and partly Aramaic (see the comment on Mt 27.46).

¹⁸ It is perhaps not surprising that most witnesses have dropped the initial a-sound (with the ‘ain), coming as it does immediately after the terminal vowel of lama.