My God, My God, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me

In my first real post I want to go on record as siding with an interpre-
tation of Matt. 27:46 that exhonerates the passion of the Lord Jesus
as pure benevolence, substituted and vicarious suffering for man's
sin, in total and unbroken sympathy with the Father and the Holy Spirit.


Scott Taylor
Alabama 09


On “My God, My God, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me”.  (Matt 27:46) 
 Adam Clarke – Commentary, NT.


“Some have taken occasion from these words to depreciate the character of
our blessed Lord. “They are unworthy,” say they, “of a man who suffers,
conscious of his innocence, and argue imbecility, impatience, and despair.”
This is by no means fairly deducible from the passage.  However, some
think that the words, as they stand in the Hebrew and Syriac, are capable
of a translation which destroys all objections, and obviates every difficulty.
The particle lamah (Hebrew), may be translated, to what - to whom - to
what kind or sort - to what purpose or profit: Genesis 25:32; Genesis 32:29;
33:15; Job 9:29; Jeremiah 6:20; 20:18; Am 5:18; and the verb azab signifies
to leave - to deposit - to commit to the care of.  See Genesis 39:6; Job 39:11;
Psalm 10:14, and Jeremiah 49:11.

The words, taken in this way, might be thus translated: My God! my God!
to what sort of persons hast thou left me? The words thus understood are
rather to be referred to the wicked Jews than to our Lord, and are an
exclamation indicative of the obstinate wickedness of his crucifiers, who
steeled their hearts against every operation of the Spirit and power of God.
See Ling. Brit. Reform. by B. Martin, p. 36.

Through the whole of the Sacred Writings, God is represented as doing
those things which, in the course of his providence, he only permits to be
done; therefore, the words, to whom hast thou left or given me up, are
only a form of expression for, “How astonishing is the wickedness of
those persons into whose hands I am fallen!” If this interpretation be
admitted, it will free this celebrated passage from much embarrassment,
and make it speak a sense consistent with itself, and with the dignity of
the Son of God.” ...

But whatever may be thought of the above mode of interpretation, one
thing is certain, viz. That the words could not be used by our Lord in the
sense in which they are generally understood. This is sufficiently evident;
for he well knew why he was come unto that hour; nor could he be
forsaken of God, in whom dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
The Deity, however, might restrain so much of its consolatory support as
to leave the human nature fully sensible of all its sufferings, so that the
consolations might not take off any part of the keen edge of his passion;
and this was necessary to make his sufferings meritorious. And it is
probable that this is all that is intended by our Lord’s quotation from the
twenty-second Psalm.”