Text -- Psalms 22:1-23 (NET)

Psalm 22

22:1 For the music director; according to the tune “Morning Doe;” a psalm of David. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? I groan in prayer, but help seems far away. 22:2 My God, I cry out during the day, but you do not answer, and during the night my prayers do not let up. 22:3 You are holy; you sit as king receiving the praises of Israel. 22:4 In you our ancestors trusted; they trusted in you and you rescued them. 22:5 To you they cried out, and they were saved; in you they trusted and they were not disappointed. 22:6 But I am a worm, not a man; people insult me and despise me. 22:7 All who see me taunt me; they mock me and shake their heads. 22:8 They say, “Commit yourself to the Lord! Let the Lord rescue him! Let the Lord deliver him, for he delights in him.” 22:9 Yes, you are the one who brought me out from the womb and made me feel secure on my mother’s breasts. 22:10 I have been dependent on you since birth; from the time I came out of my mother’s womb you have been my God. 22:11 Do not remain far away from me, for trouble is near and I have no one to help me. 22:12 Many bulls surround me; powerful bulls of Bashan hem me in. 22:13 They open their mouths to devour me like a roaring lion that rips its prey. 22:14 My strength drains away like water; all my bones are dislocated; my heart is like wax; it melts away inside me. 22:15 The roof of my mouth is as dry as a piece of pottery; my tongue sticks to my gums. You set me in the dust of death. 22:16 Yes, wild dogs surround me– a gang of evil men crowd around me; like a lion they pin my hands and feet. 22:17 I can count all my bones; my enemies are gloating over me in triumph. 22:18 They are dividing up my clothes among themselves; they are rolling dice for my garments. 22:19 But you, O Lord, do not remain far away! You are my source of strength! Hurry and help me! 22:20 Deliver me from the sword! Save my life from the claws of the wild dogs! 22:21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lion, and from the horns of the wild oxen! You have answered me! 22:22 I will declare your name to my countrymen! In the middle of the assembly I will praise you! 22:23 You loyal followers of the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! All you descendants of Israel, stand in awe of him!

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Psa 22:1

¹ sn Psalm 22. The psalmist cries out to the Lord for deliverance from his dangerous enemies, who have surrounded him and threaten his life. Confident that the Lord will intervene, he then vows to thank the Lord publicly for his help and anticipates a time when all people will recognize the Lord’s greatness and worship him.

² tn Heb “according to the doe of the dawn.” Apparently this refers to a particular musical tune or style.

³ sn From the psalmist’s perspective it seems that God has abandoned him, for he fails to answer his cry for help (vv. 1b-2).

⁴ tn Heb “far from my deliverance [are] the words of my groaning.” The Hebrew noun שְׁאָגָה (shÿ’agah) and its related verb שָׁאַג (sha’ag) are sometimes used of a lion’s roar, but they can also describe human groaning (see Job 3:24 and Pss 32:3 and 38:8.

NET Notes: Psa 22:2

¹ tn Heb “there is no silence to me.”

NET Notes: Psa 22:3

¹ tn Heb “[O] one who sits [on] the praises of Israel.” The verb “receiving” is supplied in the translation for clarity. The metaphorical language pictures the Lord as sitting enthroned as king in his temple, receiving the praises that his people Israel offer up to him.

NET Notes: Psa 22:4

¹ tn Heb “fathers.”

² tn The words “in you” are supplied in the translation. They are understood by ellipsis (see the preceding line).

NET Notes: Psa 22:5

¹ tn Or “were not ashamed.”

NET Notes: Psa 22:6

¹ tn The grammatical construction (conjunction + pronoun) highlights the contrast between the psalmist’s experience and that of his ancestors. When he considers God’s past reliability, it only heightens his despair and confusion, for God’s present silence stands in stark contrast to his past saving acts.

² tn The metaphor expresses the psalmist’s self-perception, which is based on how others treat him (see the following line).

³ tn Or “not a human being.” The psalmist perceives himself as less than human.

⁴ tn Heb “a reproach of man and despised by people.”

NET Notes: Psa 22:7

¹ tn Or “scoff at, deride, mock.”

² tn Heb “they separate with a lip.” Apparently this refers to their verbal taunting.

³ sn Shake their heads. Apparently this refers to a taunting gesture. See also Job 16:4; Ps 109:25; Lam 2:15.

NET Notes: Psa 22:8

¹ tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons. The psalmist here quotes the sarcastic taunts of his enemies.

² tn Heb “roll [yourself].” The Hebrew verb גלל here has the sense of “commit” (see Prov 16:3). The imperatival form in the Hebrew text indicates the enemies here address the psalmist. Since they refer to him in the third person in the rest of the verse, some prefer to emend the verb to a perfect, “he commits himself to the Lord.”

³ tn Heb “Let him”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ tn Heb “Let him”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tn That is, “for he [the Lord] delights in him [the psalmist].” For other cases where the expression “delight in” refers to God’s delight in a person, see Num 14:8; 1 Kgs 10:9; Pss 18:19; 40:8.

sn This statement does not necessarily reflect the enemies’ actual belief, but it does reflect the psalmist’s confession. The psalmist’s enemies sarcastically appeal to God to help him, because he claims to be an object of divine favor. However, they probably doubted the reality of his claim.

NET Notes: Psa 22:9

¹ tn Or “the one who pulled me.” The verb is derived from either גָחָה (gakhah; see HALOT 187 s.v. גחה) or גִּיחַ (giyakh; see BDB 161 s.v. גִּיחַ) and seems to carry the nuance “burst forth” or “pull out.”

NET Notes: Psa 22:10

¹ tn Heb “upon you I was cast from [the] womb.”

² tn Heb “from the womb of my mother you [have been] my God.”

sn Despite the enemies’ taunts, the psalmist is certain of his relationship with God, which began from the time of his birth (from the time I came out of my mother’s womb).

NET Notes: Psa 22:11

¹ tn Heb “and there is no helper.”

NET Notes: Psa 22:12

¹ sn The psalmist figuratively compares his enemies to dangerous bulls.

² sn Bashan, located east of the Jordan River, was well-known for its cattle. See Ezek 39:18; Amos 4:1.

NET Notes: Psa 22:13

¹ tn “They” refers to the psalmist’s enemies, who in the previous verse are described as “powerful bulls.”

² tn Heb “they open against me their mouth[s].” To “open the mouth against” is a Hebrew idiom associated with eating and swallowing (see Ezek 2:8; Lam 2:16).

³ tn Heb “a lion ripping and roaring.”

NET Notes: Psa 22:14

¹ tn Heb “like water I am poured out.”

² sn The heart is viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s strength and courage.

NET Notes: Psa 22:15

¹ tc Heb “my strength” (כֹּחִי, kokhiy), but many prefer to emend the text to חִכִּי (khikiy, “my palate”; cf. NEB, NRSV “my mouth”) assuming that an error of transposition has occurred in the traditional Hebrew text.

² tn Cf. NEB “my jaw”; NASB, NRSV “my jaws”; NIV “the roof of my mouth.”

³ sn Here the psalmist addresses God and suggests that God is ultimately responsible for what is happening because of his failure to intervene (see vv. 1-2, 11).

⁴ sn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to the progressive nature of the action. The psalmist is in the process of dying.

NET Notes: Psa 22:16

¹ tn Or “for.”

² tn Heb “like a lion, my hands and my feet.” This reading is often emended because it is grammatically awkward, but perhaps its awkwardness is by rhetorical design. Its broken syntax may be intended to convey the panic and terror felt by the psalmist. The psalmist may envision a lion pinning the hands and feet of its victim to the ground with its paws (a scene depicted in ancient Near Eastern art), or a lion biting the hands and feet. The line has been traditionally translated, “they pierce my hands and feet,” and then taken as foreshadowing the crucifixion of Christ. Though Jesus does appropriate the language of this psalm while on the cross (compare v. 1 with Matt 27:46 and Mark 15:34), the NT does not cite this verse in describing the death of Jesus. (It does refer to vv. 7-8 and 18, however. See Matt 27:35, 39, 43; Mark 15:24, 29; Luke 23:34; John 19:23-24.) If one were to insist on an emendation of כָּאֲרִי (ka’ariy, “like a lion”) to a verb, the most likely verbal root would be כָּרָה (karah, “dig”; see the LXX). In this context this verb could refer to the gnawing and tearing of wild dogs (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV). The ancient Greek version produced by Symmachus reads “bind” here, perhaps understanding a verbal root כרך, which is attested in later Hebrew and Aramaic and means “to encircle, entwine, embrace” (see HALOT 497-98 s.v. כרך and Jastrow 668 s.v. כָּרַךְ). Neither one of these proposed verbs can yield a meaning “bore, pierce.”

NET Notes: Psa 22:17

¹ tn The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 17-18 draw attention to the progressive nature of the action.

² tn Heb “they.” The masculine form indicates the enemies are in view. The referent (the psalmist’s enemies) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Heb “they gaze, they look upon me.”

NET Notes: Psa 22:18

¹ tn Heb “casting lots.” The precise way in which this would have been done is not certain.

NET Notes: Psa 22:19

¹ tn Heb “O my strength.”

² tn Heb “hurry to my help.”

NET Notes: Psa 22:20

¹ tn Or “my life.”

² tn The verb “save” is supplied in the translation; it is understood by ellipsis (see “deliver” in the preceding line).

³ tn Heb “my only one.” The psalmist may mean that his life is precious, or that he feels isolated and alone.

⁴ tn Heb “from the hand.” Here “hand” is understood by metonymy as a reference to the “paw” and thus the “claws” of the wild dogs.

NET Notes: Psa 22:21

¹ sn The psalmist again compares his enemies to vicious dogs and ferocious lions (see vv. 13, 16).

² tn The Hebrew term רֵמִים (remim) appears to be an alternate spelling of רְאֵמִים (rÿ’emim, “wild oxen”; see BDB 910 s.v. רְאֵם).

³ tn Heb “and from the horns of the wild oxen you answer me.” Most take the final verb with the preceding prepositional phrase. Some understand the verb form as a relatively rare precative perfect, expressing a wish or request (see IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4c, d). However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew. (See the discussion at Ps 3:7.) Others prefer to take the perfect in its usual indicative sense. The psalmist, perhaps in response to an oracle of salvation, affirms confidently that God has answered him, assuring him that deliverance is on the way. The present translation takes the prepositional phrase as parallel to the preceding “from the mouth of the lion” and as collocated with the verb “rescue” at the beginning of the verse. “You have answered me” is understood as a triumphant shout which marks a sudden shift in tone and introduces the next major section of the psalm. By isolating the statement syntactically, the psalmist highlights the declaration.

NET Notes: Psa 22:22

¹ tn Or “brothers,” but here the term does not carry a literal familial sense. It refers to the psalmist’s fellow members of the Israelite covenant community (see v. 23).

NET Notes: Psa 22:23

¹ tn Heb “[you] fearers of the Lord.” See Ps 15:4.

² tn Heb “fear him.”