Matthew 2:18

2:18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,

weeping and loud wailing, ¹ 

Rachel weeping for her children,

and she did not want to be comforted, because they were ²  gone.” ³ 

Matthew 27:46

27:46 At ⁴  about three o’clock Jesus shouted with a loud voice, ⁵  “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” ⁶ 

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¹ tc The LXX of Jer 38:15 (31:15 ET) has “lamentation, weeping, and loud wailing”; most later mss (C D L W 0233 ˹³ 33 Ï) have a quotation in Matthew which conforms to that of the LXX (θρῆνος καὶ κλαυθμός καὶ ὀδυρμός; qrhno" kai klauqmo" kai odurmo"). But such assimilations were routine among the scribes; as such, they typically should be discounted because they are both predictable and motivated. The shorter reading, without “lamentation and,” is thus to be preferred, especially since it cannot easily be accounted for unless it is the original wording here. Further, it is found in the better mss along with a good cross-section of other witnesses (א B Z 0250 ˹ pc lat co).

² tn Grk “are”; the Greek text uses a present tense verb.

³ sn A quotation from Jer 31:15.

⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁵ tn Grk “with a loud voice, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.

⁶ sn A quotation from Ps 22:1.