Word Pictures in the New Testament - David Cox

Word Pictures in the NT [Matthew: Chapter 27].
light. One need not be disturbed if nature showed its sympathy
with the tragedy of the dying of the Creator on the Cross (Ro
8:22), groaning and travailing until now.
27:46 {My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?} (\Thee mou,
thee mou, hina ti me egkatelipes;\). Matthew first transliterates
the Aramaic, according to the Vatican manuscript (B), the words
used by Jesus: _El•i, el•i, lema sabachthanei_; Some of the MSS.
give the transliteration of these words from Ps 22:1 in the
Hebrew (_Eli, Eli, lama Zaphthanei_). This is the only one of the
seven sayings of Christ on the Cross given by Mark and Matthew.
The other six occur in Luke and John. This is the only sentence
of any length in Aramaic preserved in Matthew, though he has
Aramaic words like amen, corban, mammon, pascha, raca, Satan,
Golgotha. The so-called Gospel of Peter preserves this saying in
a Docetic (Cerinthian) form: "My power, my power, thou hast
forsaken me!" The Cerinthian Gnostics held that the _aeon_ Christ
came on the man Jesus at his baptism and left him here on the
Cross so that only the man Jesus died. Nothing from Jesus so well
illustrates the depth of his suffering of soul as he felt himself
regarded as sin though sinless (2Co 5:21). Joh 3:16 comes to
our relief here as we see the Son of God bearing the sin of the
world. This cry of desolation comes at the close of the three
hours of darkness.
27:48 {Gave him to drink} (\epotizen\). Imperfect of conative
action, {offered him a drink} of vinegar on the sponge on a reed.
Others interrupted this kindly man, but Jesus did taste this mild
stimulant (Joh 19:30) for he thirsted (Joh 19:28).
27:49 {Whether Elijah cometh to save him} (\ei erchetai Eleias
s•s•n auton\). The excuse had a pious sound as they misunderstood
the words of Jesus in his outcry of soul anguish. We have here
one of the rare instances (\s•s•n\) of the future participle to
express purpose in the N.T. though a common Greek idiom. Some
ancient MSS. add here what is genuine in Joh 19:34, but what
makes complete wreck of the context for in verse 50 Jesus cried
with a loud voice and was not yet dead in verse 49. It was a
crass mechanical copying by some scribe from Joh 19:34. See
full discussion in my _Introduction to the Textual Criticism of
the N.T._
27:50 {Yielded up his spirit} (\aph•ken to pneuma\). The loud cry
may have been Ps 31:5 as given in Lu 23:46: "Father, into thy
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