Matthew 27:41-46

27:41 In ¹  the same way even the chief priests – together with the experts in the law ²  and elders ³  – were mocking him: ⁴  27:42 “He saved others, but he cannot save himself! He is the king of Israel! If he comes down ⁵  now from the cross, we will believe in him! 27:43 He trusts in God – let God, if he wants to, deliver him now ⁶  because he said, ‘I am God’s Son’!” 27:44 The ⁷  robbers who were crucified with him also spoke abusively to him. ⁸ 

Jesus’ Death

27:45 Now from noon until three, ⁹  darkness came over all the land. ¹⁰  27:46 At ¹¹  about three o’clock Jesus shouted with a loud voice, ¹²  “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” ¹³ 

Matthew 27:63-64

27:63 and said, “Sir, we remember that while that deceiver was still alive he said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 27:64 So give orders to secure the tomb until the third day. Otherwise his disciples may come and steal his body ¹⁴  and say to the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.”

[27:41]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[27:41]  ² tn Or “with the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[27:41]  ³ tn Only “chief priests” is in the nominative case; this sentence structure attempts to capture this emphasis.

[27:41]  ⁴ tn Grk “Mocking him, the chief priests…said.”

[27:42]  ⁵ tn Here the aorist imperative καταβάτω (katabatw) has been translated as a conditional imperative. This fits the pattern of other conditional imperatives (imperative + καί + future indicative) outlined by ExSyn 489.

[27:43]  ⁶ sn An allusion to Ps 22:8.

[27:44]  ⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[27:44]  ⁸ sn Matthew’s wording suggests that both of the criminals spoke abusively to him. If so, one of them quickly changed his attitude toward Jesus (see Luke 23:40-43).

[27:45]  ⁹ tn Grk “from the sixth hour to the ninth hour.”

[27:45]  ¹⁰ sn This imagery has parallels to the Day of the Lord: Joel 2:10; Amos 8:9; Zeph 1:15.

[27:46]  ¹¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[27:46]  ¹² tn Grk “with a loud voice, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[27:46]  ¹³ sn A quotation from Ps 22:1.

[27:64]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “him.”