Mark 15:34

Let the Dragon Roar

The Greek Ἐλωῒ elói used here is different from that used in Matthew 27:46 where we read the transliterated Eli אלי. This form used in Mark 15:34 is a transliteration of אלהי which is a plural construct of אל El. (See Strong's Hebrew #430 elohim "mighty ones" and the shortened plural construct elohay used nearly 400 times.) Also note #426 elah "mighty oak."

The Greek βοάω (“to shout, cry aloud”) is employed in classical texts to denote the act of issuing a loud, vigorous cry—often in a martial or communal context. For example, in Homer’s Iliad we find ὀξὺ βοήσας (“shouting sharply”; Il. 17.89), and in the Odyssey ὅσσον τε γέγωνε βοήσας (“shouting mightily”; Od. 6.294), both of which evoke the intense war cry of a warrior. This sense is further attested in passages such as πᾶσα γὰρ πόλις βοᾷ (“for the whole city shouts”; Aeschylus, lyr. 1106), ὡς δράκων βοάει (“as a dragon roars”; Idylls of Theocritus 381), and ὁ δῆμος ἐβόησεν (“the people shouted”; Polybius 41.19, cf. Charito 1.1 and IG 12(9).906). And thus these examples demonstrate that the verb can describe both the shouts of a single individual and the collective acclamations typical of battle or public assemblies.

The Greek εἰς does not mean "why." Far from it. It is the preposition for "into" but scholars sure did their best to try to make it into a "why."