“At about three o’clock” of Good News Translation translates And about the ninth hour of the Greek text. Most translations handle this similarly to the way that they express telling time in the previous verse.

Eli, Eli represents the Hebrew version of Psalm 22.1; “Eloi, Eloi” (Mark 15.34) comes from the Aramaic.

Since this cry, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, is actually translated by Matthew, translators only need write these Hebrew words in their own orthography.

Jesus’ loud shout (My God … forsaken me) is taken by some to mean that Jesus believed God had abandoned him at this moment. Others take into consideration the entire Psalm, especially verses 24 and 26, and see here the prayer of one who still trusts in God to vindicate him. Fortunately the translator is not forced to make a choice between these two interpretations. Good News Translation has rendered forsaken with the more contemporary “abandon.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .