Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Fred P Miller <fmoeller AT ao.net>]

Chaver ha-yaqar Rachman,

I want to answer you questions within the text of your letter.

yahua'sef wrote:

> Shalom To the List:
>
> In the book of Tehilim chapter 22:1 we have the direct quote from David as
> to what Ishua said on the execution stake:
>
> "My God, My God why hast thou "forsaken me". In Ivrit(hebrew) this is:
>
> "Eli Eli Lama Azbatany"
>
> BUT
>
> In when Ishua is on the cross He is recorded to have said
>
> "Eli Eli Lama Sabachthani" in Mattityahu/Matthew chapter 27.
>
> So we have a toss up. The word Azbatany or Sabachthani.
>
> Here is the definition for Azbatany:
>
> 05800 `azab {aw-zab'}
> a primitive root; TWOT - 1594,1595; v
> AV - forsake 129, leave 72, leave off 4, faileth 2, fortify 2, help 2,
> committeth 1, destitute 1, refuseth 1, surely 1; 215 1) to leave, loose,
> forsake 1a) (Qal) to leave 1a1) to depart from, leave behind, leave, let
> alone 1a2) to leave, abandon, forsake, neglect, apostatise 1a3) to let
> loose, set free, let go, free 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to be left to 1b2) to be
> forsaken 1c) (Pual) to be deserted 2) to restore, repair 2a) (Qal) to
> repair   Here is Sabachthany: In the lexicon there is a questi
> on mark beside this word!!!!!!!!!
>
> 4518 sabachthani {sab-akh-than-ee'}
> of Aramaic or 07662 with pronominal suffix;; Aramaic transliteration  AV -
> sabachthani 2; 2 1) thou hast forsaken me. It is said that this word
> corresponds to the word Shebaq which is number 7662:
>
> 07662 sh@baq (Aramaic) {sheb-ak'} corresponding to the root of 07733; TWOT
> - 3018; v AV - leave 4, let alone 1; 5 1) to leave, let alone 1a) (P'al)
> to llet alone 1b) (Ithpael) to be left
>
> Why if this is a direct quote from Davud would he then not say Azbatany
> and say Sabachthani?

Chaver ha-yaqar this seems to me to be easily answered since all the records 
say that
the Nazarene Carpenter was not formally educated and spoke the language of 
the people
of the Near East,- Aramaic.  Thus he did not quote David's prophetic psalm 
and cry out
Eli (my God) but his petition was to Eloi (Aramaic for my God) (Mark gives the
unhelenized proper pronunciation of what the Galilean Rabbi said in Mk 15:34) 
and he
did not use the Hebrew word "azavtaniy" but the Aramaic equivalent 
"Shabaqtaniy" which
was "Helenized when translated into the Greek in which the statement in 
Matthew was
recorded. Since there is no SH in Greek it becomes Sabaqthani with a 
sephardic accent
and sabaqtani with a current Israeli accent when rendered in Greek.

The word "shabaq" is the Aramaic equivalent to the Hebrew word "azav."  It is 
found 5
times in the Tanach but only in the Aramaic portions of Ezra and Daniel:  It 
(Shabaq)
is found  in Ezra 6:2 a 3rd stem imperative ("let" the work "alone")  Dan 
2:44 a 5th
stem verb; translated (will not be left)  Dan 4:12 in Aramaic - 4:15 in 
English a 3rd
stem imperative. "leave the stump" ;  and 4:20 in Aram. and 4:23 in English 
the same,
a 3rd stem imperative ("leave the stump") and 4:23 in Aramaic 4:26 in English 
 a 3rd
stem  infinitive  (they said "to leave" the stump)  You should be able to see 
that the
words "azav" and Shabaq" are equivalents and mean left or abandoned.  And why 
the
Nazarene would use the word "shabaq" and not "azav."   He spoke Aramaic, he 
did not
speak Hebrew.

> Why in the world would Ishua say "why hast thou forsaken me ANYWAY?"!!!!!
> he would already know the answer to such a question, supposedly according
> to Christian mythology.

This is a theological question and not a textual question and therefore 
introduces a
religious theme.  But to answer: the psalm of David makes plain that the one 
speaking
has a real human sense of abandonment. which illustrates his human nature.  
The psalm
goes on to describe the deep depression that however is overcome and the task
performed after casting all care on the Almighty  and the answer comes  in vs 
24  that
he had not been abandoned but rather expressed human as well as divine 
natures and his
human nature is expressed in his sense of aloneness in a task that he alone 
could and
according to the Psalm, did accomplish  but God in heaven had not abandoned 
him as is
made clear in these words  vs 24

"For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; 
neither hath
he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard"

> One word means he said "why hast thou FORSAKEN me" While the other says
> something entirely different?

Slak liy chaveriy. Excuse me my friend, but you miss the mark considerably.  
"Leave"
and "abandon" and "forsake" are legitimate English attempts to give the 
meaning of
either the Hebrew "azav" or  the Aramaic   "shabaq"  -- they all mean the same
thing..

> Religious discussion aside,

You introduced the "religious" aspect in this exchange in your own letter.  
You have a
right to challenge the person hood of the Capernaum Sage but you should 
remember with
respect that he shook the foundations of Western Civilization about 2000 
years ago and
the reverberations of his life still are deeply felt by multitudes of all 
races.
While you and I "achiy  ha-yaqar" will probably be completely forgotten 
within months
of our departure from the planet.

You say: what grammatical explanation can be asserted here?


With respect the answer has been given

Fred P Miller
----------------
Fred P Miller
For Bible Study Majoring in Isaiah
Http://www.ao.net/~fmoeller