G2241 G2241
Eli, transliteration of Hebrew 'my God'
This is the Aramaic word for 'my God,' transliterated into Greek in Jesus's cry from the cross. Both occurrences in Matthew 27:46 preserve Jesus's anguished prayer: 'Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?'—'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' (Psalm 22:1). Matthew records the Aramaic words Jesus actually spoke before translating them, preserving the raw sound of that desolate moment. The bystanders' confusion (thinking he called for Elijah) shows they heard the Aramaic but misunderstood it, adding pathos to Jesus's isolation in his God-forsakenness.
Senses
1. sense 1 — The doubled vocative 'Eli, Eli' intensifies the address, expressing both desperation and relationship—even in feeling abandoned, Jesus calls God 'my God' twice. Matthew's preservation of the Aramaic (unlike his usual Greek composition) suggests the cry's liturgical significance in early Christian memory. The fact that Psalm 22, which begins in forsakenness, ends in vindication and universal worship makes this cry both utterly desolate and ultimately hopeful—the darkest moment before resurrection dawn. 2×
AR["إِيلِي"]·ben["এলী"]·DE["ἠλὶ", "Ἠλὶ"]·EN["Ēli"]·FR["Éli"]·heb["אֵלִי"]·HI["एली"]·ID["Eli"]·IT["Eli"]·jav["Éli,"]·KO["엘리"]·PT["Eli"]·RU["Эли"]·ES["Ēlí"]·SW["Ēli"]·TR["Eli", "eli"]·urd["ایلی"]
Related Senses
G3588 1. definite article (18298×)H0853 1. definite direct object marker (10915×)G2532 1. (8312×)H3068 1. YHWH (the divine name) (6522×)H0834a 1. relative pronoun (who/which/that) (4839×)H3588a 1. causal: because, for (3498×)G1161 1. and (2806×)H3478 1. Israel (proper name and nation) (2507×)G4771 1. you (plural address) (1853×)H1931 1. personal pronoun he/she/it (1431×)G3739 1. relative pronoun who/which/that (1149×)H1732 1. David (proper name) (1075×)H2088 1. this, this one (demonstrative) (1059×)G1063 1. (1047×)G3778 1. this thing, these things (1003×)H???? 2. (1002×)G2424 1. (924×)G3754 1. that (content clause) (881×)H2009 1. presentative particle: behold, look (881×)H0589 1. I (first person singular pronoun) (874×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
Transliteration of Hebrew אֵל 'god' [H0410]. Not in LSJ.