Bill Mounce

For an Informed Love of God

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Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Now leave him alone (Matt 27:49)

This is not a big deal, but the NIV struck me as a little strange here. Jesus cries out, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani." The soldiers think he is calling for Elijah, and one of them offers Jesus some wine vinegar. The others respond, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”

Two things.

I don't think there should be a question mark after the citation from Psalm 22:1. I understand that in its immediate context it is a question, but surely Jesus is expressing more than his anquish in a way that fulfills prophecy. Psalm 22 is a Psalm of hope and faith in the midst of great suffering; surely we are to understand the words as an affirmation of the entire Psalm, especilly its ending statements of faith. The question mark shortens our vision of what Jesus is fully saying.

The other point is the use of "Now" (ἄφες). What exactly does "Now" mean? I can't think of anything. Other options are "Wait" (ESV, NRSV, NLT) and "Leave him alone!" (NET). The HCSB, NASB, and KJV simply omit the word altogether, which is the least acceptable.

WWSS? "What would a soldier say?" "Stop!" "No, wait."

Comments

Submitted by Scott D. Andersen on Wed, 2013-04-17 12:37
Is that actually correct that the KJV omits ἄφες? It appears they used "Let be". The HCSB and NASB definitely appear to have omitted any kind of translation for this word, but I'm not sure that could be said of the KJV. Love your observation about omitting the question mark in order to see more fully the connection with all of Psalm 22.

Submitted by David Gibbons on Sat, 2013-04-20 02:47
Bill, can you explain where/how people get "now" from "ἄφες"? According to my (admittedly older) copy of BDAG (actually, mine is pre-Danker: BAG), this verse comes under entry 4 meaning "let, let go, tolerate" and is further defined as "the imperative used with a subjunctive" to mean (in this case) "let us see". Nowhere in the whole entry do I see the idea of "now" or any of the other versions you mention. Am I missing something or has this entry changed significantly in the updating of BAG to BDAG?

Submitted by greekprof on Mon, 2013-04-22 19:04
I think the issue is more with the NIV than BDAG. I don't see it either.