Matthew 27:46 records the words Jesus spoke near the end of his crucifixion, when he cried out to God and asked why he had been abandoned. The verse is a raw, honest cry of anguish, and it is also a quotation of Psalm 22, which Jesus’s listeners would have recognized at once. Jesus speaks these words aloud, in Aramaic, to his Father in heaven, while hanging on the cross outside Jerusalem.
About the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lima sabachthani?” That is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Matthew 27:46 (WEB)
What Matthew 27:46 Means
The verse opens with a time marker, about the ninth hour, which is roughly three in the afternoon. Jesus cries with a loud voice, which tells you this was not a whisper of resignation but a cry that could be heard by the crowd. The first two words, “Eli, Eli,” mean “my God, my God,” and the phrase that follows is Aramaic, the everyday language of Jesus and his people. Matthew then gives a translation so his Greek-reading audience can follow.
The heart of the verse is the question “why have you forsaken me?” Jesus is not asking for information, since he knows the answer. He is voicing the agony of feeling cut off from the one he has trusted fully. The verse does not explain away that pain or promise an immediate rescue at that moment. It shows that even the Son of God experienced real distress, and that honest lament before God is not a failure of faith.
The Context of Matthew 27:46
Matthew’s Gospel was written for a community that knew Jewish scripture well and needed to see how Jesus fulfilled it. Traditionally the book is attributed to Matthew, one of the twelve disciples and a former tax collector. Its readers would have recognized that Jesus’s words open Psalm 22, a psalm that begins in desperate pain and moves toward trust and deliverance. Matthew wants us to see the whole shape of the crucifixion, including its painful depths.
The verses just before and after show the mockery Jesus endures. Passersby shake their heads, and the chief priests, scribes, and elders say he trusted God and should be rescued if God wants him. The verses that follow show bystanders misunderstanding the cry as a call for Elijah. Reading the verse among these taunts and misunderstandings makes its isolation more striking, and it shows that the words were spoken in the middle of public humiliation rather than in private prayer.
Key Phrases in Matthew 27:46
Psalm 22:1
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?
(WEB)
This is the psalm Jesus quotes on the cross, and its first verse is nearly identical to Matthew 27:46. Reading the full psalm shows that the desperate opening moves toward praise and confidence in God’s faithfulness. Matthew 27:46 becomes richer when you see the whole arc of lament and trust that the psalm contains.
Psalm 34:18
The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves those who have a crushed spirit.
(WEB)
This verse speaks of God’s nearness to those who are brokenhearted, which offers a counterpoint to the feeling of being forsaken. It reminds readers that the God who seemed distant in the cry of Matthew 27:46 is also the one who draws near to the crushed in spirit. The two verses together hold the pain and the comfort side by side.
A Short Prayer From Matthew 27:46
Lord, when I feel far from you, help me to say so honestly rather than pretending everything is fine. You know the weight I carry, and you have not turned away from my questions. Remind me that the Son who cried out to his Father from the cross understands what it means to feel abandoned. Hold me close in the silence, and let my honest words become a doorway back into your presence. Amen.
