Chapter Overview
Summary
Psalm 22 (MT) / Psalm 21 (LXX) is the Crucifixion-Psalm — cited more often in the Passion narratives than any other OT text. 22:2 is Jesus' cry of dereliction on the cross (Matt 27:46, Mark 15:34); 22:8–9 is paralleled in the mockers' taunts (Matt 27:39–43); 22:17 contains the famous 'they pierced my hands and feet' textual crux; 22:19 'they divide my garments … cast lots' is quoted verbatim at John 19:24 as fulfillment of Scripture; 22:23 'I will declare your name to my brothers' is cited at Hebrews 2:12 Christologically. The psalm's movement from dereliction to cosmic praise anticipates the cross-to-resurrection arc.
Notable Variants
22:2 Jesus' cry from the cross; 22:17 MT/LXX/DSS divergence on 'pierced' vs 'like a lion'; 22:19 quoted at John 19:24 verbatim in LXX form; 22:23 quoted at Heb 2:12; 22:28–30 universal-worship climax.
Structural Notes
MT Ps 22 = LXX Ps 21. 32 verses.
For the musical director, on 'The Doe of the Dawn' — a psalm of David.
Superscription 'on the Doe of the Dawn' — an obscure musical-technical term. LXX renders hyper tēs antilēmpseōs tēs heōthinēs ('concerning the help at dawn') — interpretive rather than transliteral.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
Masoretic (WLC)
אֵלִי אֵלִי לָמָה עֲזַבְתָּנִי
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Septuagint (LXX)
ὁ θεός ὁ θεός μου πρόσχες μοι ἵνα τί ἐγκατέλιπές με
O God, my God, attend to me; why have you forsaken me?
JESUS' CRY FROM THE CROSS. Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34 record Jesus' Aramaic cry ('Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani' / 'Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani') with the Greek translation: thee mou thee mou, hina ti me enkatelipes — nearly verbatim the LXX of Psalm 22:2.
The Aramaic 'sabachthani' corresponds to the Hebrew 'azavtani' — both meaning 'forsaken me.' Jesus cited the psalm in its native Semitic language rather than its Greek form, but the narrative evangelists preserve the Greek for their audiences.
Theologically: by quoting the psalm's opening, Jesus invokes the whole psalm — not just the dereliction but the eventual vindication and cosmic-praise. The early church read Psalm 22 as a Passion-prophecy fulfilled by Christ's whole experience, not only the abandonment.
My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer; by night, but I find no rest.
'By day / by night — no answer' tracks MT. The double-temporal complaint intensifies the sense of divine-silence.
Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.
'Enthroned on the praises of Israel' tracks MT. The divine-praise-as-throne image is striking: God is enthroned where his people's praise arises.
In you our ancestors trusted; they trusted, and you rescued them.
'Ancestors trusted and you rescued' tracks MT.
To you they cried out and were delivered; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
'Trusted and were not put to shame' tracks MT. Rom 10:11 ('whoever believes in him will not be put to shame') echoes the LXX's ou kataischynthēsetai vocabulary.
But I am a worm, not a man — scorned by humanity, despised by the people.
'I am a worm, not a man' tracks MT. Isaiah 41:14's 'worm Jacob' echoes. Patristic tradition read this verse Christologically as the ultimate humiliation of the Messiah.
All who see me mock me; they curl their lips, they shake their heads:
Masoretic (WLC)
כָּל־רֹאַי יַלְעִגוּ לִי יַפְטִירוּ בְשָׂפָה יָנִיעוּ רֹאשׁ
All who see me mock me; they curl their lips, they shake their heads
Septuagint (LXX)
πάντες οἱ θεωροῦντές με ἐξεμυκτήρισάν με ἐλάλησαν ἐν χείλεσιν ἐκίνησαν κεφαλήν
All who saw me sneered at me; they spoke with lips, they shook the head
PASSION-NARRATIVE ECHO. Matthew 27:39 ('those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads,' kinountes tas kephalas autōn) deliberately echoes this LXX Psalm 22:8. The crucifixion-mockers fulfill the psalm's lament-scene.
"He rolled himself onto the LORD — let the LORD rescue him! Let him deliver him, since he delights in him!"
Masoretic (WLC)
גֹּל אֶל־יְהוָה יְפַלְּטֵהוּ יַצִּילֵהוּ כִּי חָפֵץ בּוֹ
He rolled himself onto the LORD — let the LORD rescue him! Let him deliver him, since he delights in him!
Septuagint (LXX)
ἤλπισεν ἐπὶ κύριον ῥυσάσθω αὐτόν σωσάτω αὐτόν ὅτι θέλει αὐτόν
He hoped on the Lord — let him rescue him, let him save him if he delights in him
PASSION-MOCKERS' TAUNT. Matthew 27:43 ('he trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him') cites this verse at the cross. The crucifixion-mockers literally quote Psalm 22:9 — which makes the psalm's prophecy-of-taunts its own fulfillment in the Gospel narrative.
Yet it was you who drew me from the womb, who made me secure at my mother's breasts.
'You drew me from the womb' tracks MT.
Upon you I was cast from birth; from my mother's womb, you have been my God.
'From my mother's womb, you have been my God' tracks MT.
Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.
'Do not be far from me' tracks MT.
Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
'Bulls of Bashan' tracks MT. Bashan (the northern Transjordan region) was famous for its bulls — used here as predatory-enemy image.
They open their mouths wide against me — a lion tearing and roaring.
'Lion tearing and roaring' tracks MT.
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are pulled apart. My heart is like wax — it melts within me.
'I am poured out like water' tracks MT. Crucifixion-physicality: dehydration, dislocation, cardiac-exhaustion. The medical-accuracy of the psalm's description is striking.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue clings to my jaws. You lay me in the dust of death.
'Tongue clings to my jaws' tracks MT. 'You lay me in the dust of death' — the dust-of-death Genesis-3 curse-inversion.
For dogs surround me; a pack of evildoers closes in on me. Like a lion, they surround my hands and my feet.
Masoretic (WLC)
כִּי סְבָבוּנִי כְּלָבִים עֲדַת מְרֵעִים הִקִּיפוּנִי כָּאֲרִי יָדַי וְרַגְלָי
For dogs surround me … Like a lion, they surround my hands and my feet
Septuagint (LXX)
ὅτι ἐκύκλωσάν με κύνες πολλοί συναγωγὴ πονηρευομένων περιέσχον με ὤρυξαν χεῖράς μου καὶ πόδας
For many dogs surrounded me … they pierced my hands and feet
THE MOST FAMOUS TEXTUAL CRUX IN PSALM 22. MT reads ka'ari ('like a lion') — which yields the awkward 'like a lion, my hands and my feet.' LXX reads ōryxan ('they pierced / dug'), presupposing a different Hebrew root (karah / kārû — 'they dug, pierced'). A similar Qumran reading (5/6HevPs) supports a verb for 'pierce.'
The LXX's 'they pierced' is the reading that resonates with the crucifixion (the hands-and-feet nailed to the cross). Whether this was original Hebrew or an LXX interpretive move is scholarly disputed.
John 20:25 ('unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands') and Luke 24:39 ('see my hands and my feet') — the Gospel's explicit focus on the pierced hands and feet — deliberately align with the LXX's Psalm 22:17.
Zechariah 12:10 ('they will look on me, the one they have pierced,' exekentēsan in the Theodotion-revision cited at John 19:37) extends the pierced-Messiah theology. TCR follows the MT's 'like a lion' — but documents the LXX/DSS divergence.
I can count all my bones; they stare and gaze at me.
'I can count all my bones' tracks MT. The hyper-visibility of the sufferer's body — possibly crucifixion-emaciation or public-display.
They divide my garments among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots.
Masoretic (WLC)
יְחַלְּקוּ בְגָדַי לָהֶם וְעַל־לְבוּשִׁי יַפִּילוּ גוֹרָל
They divide my garments among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots
Septuagint (LXX)
διεμερίσαντο τὰ ἱμάτιά μου ἑαυτοῖς καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν ἱματισμόν μου ἔβαλον κλῆρον
They divided my garments among themselves, and for my clothing they cast a lot
JOHN 19:24 CITATION. John quotes this verse verbatim in its LXX form as the Scripture fulfilled when the soldiers divide Jesus' clothes and cast lots for the seamless tunic: 'They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.'
The fulfillment-citation is exact — diemerisanto ta himatia mou heautois kai epi ton himatismon mou ebalon klēron — identical in John's Greek and LXX-Psalms-22:19.
This is one of the clearest cases of verbatim-LXX-citation-fulfillment in the Passion narratives. Matthew 27:35 also alludes, though with less verbal-exactitude.
But you, O LORD — do not be far away! O my strength, come quickly to help me!
'Do not be far away!' repeats v. 12's plea.
Deliver my life from the sword, my only life from the power of the dog.
'Deliver my life from the sword / from the power of the dog' tracks MT.
Save me from the mouth of the lion! From the horns of the wild oxen — you have answered me!
The answer at the end of the pleading — 'you have answered me!' — marks the turning point from lament to praise.
I will declare your name to my brothers; in the midst of the assembly I will praise you.
Masoretic (WLC)
אֲסַפְּרָה שִׁמְךָ לְאֶחָי בְּתוֹךְ קָהָל אֲהַלְלֶךָּ
I will declare your name to my brothers; in the midst of the assembly I will praise you
Septuagint (LXX)
διηγήσομαι τὸ ὄνομά σου τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς μου ἐν μέσῳ ἐκκλησίας ὑμνήσω σε
I will declare your name to my brothers; in the midst of the assembly I will hymn you
HEBREWS 2:12 CITATION. Hebrews 2:12 cites this verse verbatim in its LXX form to explain why 'Jesus is not ashamed to call us brothers': 'I will proclaim your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.'
The Christological move: the risen Christ declares the Father's name to the 'brothers' — the believing community. The ekklēsia ('assembly, church') vocabulary supplies NT church-terminology.
'I will hymn you' (hymnēsō se) anticipates NT hymn-singing traditions.
You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him! Stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
The call to praise extends to all Israel.
For he has not despised or detested the suffering of the afflicted one. He has not hidden his face from him, but when he cried out, he heard.
'He has not despised the suffering of the afflicted' tracks MT. The theodicy-resolution: what appeared as abandonment was actually providential-ordering toward cosmic-praise.
From you comes my praise in the great assembly; I will fulfill my vows before those who fear him.
Public vow-fulfillment tracks MT.
The humble will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the LORD will praise him. May your hearts live forever!
'The humble will eat and be satisfied' tracks MT. The eschatological-banquet vocabulary that Jesus develops in Matt 5:6, Luke 14:15.
All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before you.
'All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD' tracks MT. The universal-conversion eschatology.
For kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.
'Kingship belongs to the LORD' tracks MT. Rev 11:15 ('the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord') is the eschatological fulfillment.
All the prosperous of the earth will eat and bow down; before him will kneel all who descend to the dust — even those who cannot keep themselves alive.
'All who descend to the dust will kneel' tracks MT. Philippians 2:10 ('every knee shall bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth') extends the universal-kneeling to include the dead as well as the living.
A generation to come will serve him; it will be told of the Lord to the next generation.
Generation-to-generation proclamation tracks MT.
They will come and declare his righteousness to a people yet unborn — that he has done it.
Masoretic (WLC)
כִּי עָשָׂה
that he has done it
Septuagint (LXX)
ὃν ἐποίησεν ὁ κύριος
which the Lord has made
The closing 'he has done it' is one of the Hebrew Bible's most weighted three-word endings. The Hebrew ki asah parallels Jesus' cross-cry 'it is finished' (tetelestai, John 19:30) — both declare the completion of divine work.
Patristic commentators (Augustine especially) read the Psalm-22 closing as prophetic of the tetelestai: 'he has done it' at the cross is the same declaration of accomplished-redemption.