Did Jesus call God YHWH?

Question

In Matthew 27:45-46 Jesus is recorded as saying:

Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?

Based on Jesus the Phoenician Jesus called God 'EL'—which is a Phoenician God—when he was on the cross. Is this claim true or false? Did Jesus call God YHWH?

Answer 1

No. The tetragrammaton was not used in Jesus' time. Faithful Jews would avoid saying it so as to not transgress the third commandment. The most common circumlocution was "Lord" (Andonai in Hebrew or Kurios in Greek), though he might also be referred to simply as "Heaven."

In answer to Jesus using El from the cross. El is the common word for God from all over the ancient near east. It appears in Biblical Hebrew to refer to the God worshiped by Jews in Psalm 18:2[H3]¹, 30[H31], 32[H33], 47[H48]; 22:1[H2], 10[H11]; 68:20[H21]; Job 8:3, 4, and 13; and others. This name (El instead of Eloh or Elohim) is more common in poetry than in prose. It can also be used to refer to idols (as in Exodus 34:14; Isaiah 44:10, 15; Psalm 81:9[H10]; and others), but it is also a name for the Hebrew God as seen when Jesus quoted Psalm 22 from the cross:

Psalm 22:1 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?...

The Greek letters in Matthew 27:45 (ἠλι ἠλι λεμα) are a perfectly good transliteration of the first three Hebrew words in Psalm 22:1[H22], אלי אלי למה. Regarding the word for "abandoned", instead of the Biblical Hebrew 'azab (עזבתני) from the Psalm, Matthew transliterates the Mishnaic Hebrew word sabak with σαβαχθανι. The root sabak is found in both Aramaic and Mishnaic Hebrew.²

You will note that is the cry from the cross. The first two words are אלי אלי which is the Hebrew spelling of Eli, Eli. The long i ending is the first person possessive in Hebrew. אלי אלי means "My God, my God."

In the Hebrew Bible, it can be seen that El, YHWH, and Eloh(im) all refer to the same deity. For example,

18:30 [El] acts in a faithful manner; 
[YHWH]’s promise is reliable; 
he is a shield to all who take shelter in him.
18:31 Indeed, who is [Eloh] besides the [YHWH]?
Who is a protector besides our [Eloh]? 

You can see that El and YHWH act the same (reliably and faithfully). The next verse states outright that Eloh is the same as YHWH. Thus, YHWH, El, and Eloh are the same being in this Psalm. There are clearly places where El is not YHWH (see above for the idolatry references). However, in Psalm 22, it is clearly a reference to YHWH.

And thus, Jesus used El because that was an accepted name for YHWH, especially when quoting a poem that used it.

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¹In the Psalms, the Hebrew verse references are often 1 off of the English because the Hebrews count the heading as the first verse.

²David Bivin and Roy Blizzard Jr., Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus, 10.

Answer 2

Jesus spoke primarily Aramaic followed by Hebrew and Greek. Since most of the new testament was written in greek, you will probably never find it recorded that Jesus said "YHWH" in scriptures. This doesn't mean he didn't say it, it's just a translation thing.

Furthermore, it was Hebrew tradition to interpose the name Adonai inside of "YHWH" which is translated in the old testament as LORD. Out of reverence for God, it was tradition never to speak the name of God, so when Hebrews read this word, they would say "Adonai" - lord. This was because it was believed that to know a god's true, secret name was to be able to control this god. There was power in a name (hence Moses' question at the burning bush - "Who should I say has sent me" and God's shrewd response). Therefore, we can assume Jesus probably did this, but we have no way to know for sure because if he spoke it in Hebrew, it was recorded in Greek.

One of the oldest recorded gods is El, the mountain god. When the Hebrew language evolved, it is thought that the word translated as "lord" or "lords" (lower case) - Elohim derives from the name of the oldest recorded god, El. El was a Sumerian and Akkadian god long before he was Phoenecian. Any reference to El, should probably be read as a reference to Yahweh. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_(deity)

Answer 3

Not Elijah either This sentence of Jesus on the cross is narrated in Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34. Some mistakenly thought Jesus was calling on Elijah (who was a respected and familiar prophet in Judaism). But rather, Jesus was calling on God while in deep pain and excruciating suffering! (Note that the word "excruciating" is derived from the word for "crucifixion.")

Rather Jesus, being intimately familiar with the scriptures, was applying a verse to His situation: My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me? (Psalm 22:1) Some manuscripts simply have "Eli, Eli" but others have "Eloi, Eloi." The NIV used "Eloi" in both crucifixion passages.

Jesus was speaking in Aramaic. "El" was the generic word for a god, used for centuries in different cultures. Then with the additional word-ending in Aramaic for "my", we have "My God." This is what Jesus used: Eloi. Jesus was not referring to an ancient Phoenician god. But was speaking in a modern Aramaic vernacular, in the possessive sense.

Addendum Some commentators have suggested that Jesus had lost faith in the Father, based on this exclamation. However, a reading of the whole chapter in Psalm 22 reveals just the opposite! Verse 8 mentioned the mocking that was thrown at Jesus: He trusts in the LORD, let the LORD rescue him.. The Psalm goes on, My heart is turned to wax...my strength is dried up like a potsherd...and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth...(v. 14-15). Further: I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my garments among them, and cat lots for my clothing... (v. 16-18). Sounds pretty bad, we admit! But...read on, and meditate on the next verses:

I will declare your Name to my brothers in the congregation I will praise You...For He has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted One; He has not hidden His face from Him but has listened to His cry for help!

From You comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear You will I fulfill my vows...All the ends of the Earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before Him, for dominion belongs to the LORD and He rules the nations.

Posterity will serve Him: future generations will be told about the LORD. They will proclaim His righteousness to a people yet unborn--for he has done it!!!

Triumph in the Making Reading the "whole" Psalm provides a picture of TRIUMPH and victory, in spite of the most horrible persecution. Certainly, Jesus identified with the description of all the events at Calvary mentioned in the Psalm; but Jesus also knew how the Psalm ended! His trust in the Father...in His God...was not misplaced. The result of all this trauma would result in the ends of the earth turning to the Lord! (v. 27) "Dominion" indeed belongs to the Lord, and so does the glorious results and rewards of those who trust in Him.