The rendering of Psalms 22:1 as "My God, My God Why have you forsaken me is correct." The Hebrew Eli, Eli Lama Azavtani does have the meaning assigned before. What we are going discuss here is what jesus said on the cross and whether it comes from the Psalm in question.
The Gospels of Matthew and Mark both say that Jesus said "My God, My God why hast thou forsaken me" here they are below:
Matthew 27:46(KJV)- And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli lama sabachthani? Which is, being interpreted, My God, My God why have you forsaken me?
Mark 15:34(KJV)- And at teh ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Now lets compare these two transliterated citings witht eh Hebrew of Psalms 22.
The Hebrew of Psalms 22:1 has "Eli, Eli, lama Azavtani", while the Texts Matthew and mark have some minor Variations, "Eli/Eloi, Eli/Eloi lama Sabachthani." The Question here is, Does Sabachthani and Azavtani have the same meaning?" The root of Azavtani is the word Azav meaning to abandon/forsake/leave the word Sabachthani does not exist in the Hebrew nor Aramaic language. The Closest term that I can think of to Sabachthani is the word "Zevakhtani" which is not used in the Tanakh. The word Zevakhtani comes from the word Zevakh meaning "he Salughtered" Knowing this would make the passage read "My G-d, My G-d why have you slaughtered me?"
The term "Lama(Lamed-Mem-Heh)" used here is one of two derogatory ways to say "Why" in Hebrew. The word "lama" does not have that meaning in Aramaic. In aramaic The Targum Yonatan which is the Targum containing Psalm 22 renders the passage as "Eli, Eli, metul mah Shevaqtani" The word Shevaq means he left/forsook in Aramaic. There are still problems with this; the transliteration of the words into Greek is in question: Since Greek does not have a "Sh" sound the "S" was used in its place. The "Ch" used for the Qof used here is possible, since greek had lost the actual alphabetic cognate for the Qof--the Koppa, not the Kappa---centuries earlier, and the letter "Chi" was used instead..
If you look at it from that perspective I would say it is possible that Shevaqtani became Sabachthani through tranliteration but there is still trouble for that in the form of a Psalm by David
Psalm 37:25(KJV) I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the rightous forsaken, no his seed begging bread.
this would imply that since jesus was complaining about G-d, he was not rightous, i.e. not without sin....
Now,in Aramaic "Metul Meh" is a legitimate way to say "Why." Targum Onkelos also has a word used to say why in Aramaic and it is Lem'a(Lamed-Mem-Aleph). As you can see the two terms Lama(Lamed-Mem-Heh)[hebrew] and Lem'a(lamed-mem-Aleph)[aramaic] are not the same and have a different vocalization and spelling.
Can it be safe to assume at this point that what Jesus said on the Cross was Hebrew and not Aramaic? With the evidence at hand I would have to say YES!
B. Psalms 22:17[16]
here is a comparison of a Jewish Translation and a Christian Translation
Jewish Translation: Psalms 22:17 For dogs have surrounded me; a band of evildoers encomapssed me, like a lion [they are at] my hands and my feet.
Christian Translation: Psalms 22:16(KJV) For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of teh wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.
The word that comes into question in this verse is the word Ka'ari meaning Like a Lion. TRhe distinctive transaltions have been highlighted in the verses of both. So the question is which one is correct?
The hebrew word Ka'ari is found elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible Numbers 23:24 (V'Chari) [and as a young Lion], Numbers24:9 (Ka'ari) [like a lion], Isaiah 38:13(Ka'ari) [like a lion], Ezekiel 22:25(Ka'ari0 [like a lion] and Psalms 22:17[16] (Ka'ari) [They Pierced]. All of which are highlighted red are rendered correct by the KJV translaters the one that is blue is not rendered correctly. Here the Preposition (Ka-) the Hebrew equivalent to like/as is used to give the word (Ari) a preposition and a reading as "Like a lion."
The Hebrew word "Ari" is related to the hebrew word for lion "Aryeh." The Word doesnt even come close to meaning pierced.. The Hebrew Bible uses several words for pierced those including "Khadar" in Ezekiel 21:19, "Naqav" in Hab 3:14, "palakh" in Job 16:13, and "ratza" Exodus 21:6. It doesnt take a rocket scientist to see that none of these words even resembles the term Ka'ari...
So is peircing implied here we can say no. Is the word for Pierced even used here the answser is NO!
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