Lama

Lama is a Hebrew (or Aramaic) word meaning "why" or "for what reason," quoted in the cry of dereliction from the cross. In Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34, Jesus cries "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" — a quotation from Psalm 22:1, meaning "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" The form in Matthew is Hebrew; that in Mark is Aramaic. The cry represents the deepest moment of Christ's atoning work, in which he bore the weight of divine judgment in the place of sinners, fulfilling the pattern of the righteous sufferer whose vindication Psalm 22 ultimately celebrates.