The most anguished lament in the Psalter, moving from absolute abandonment to universal praise. The sufferer opens with the shattering cry 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' and descends through mockery, physical torment, encirclement by enemies compared to bulls and lions and dogs, and the piercing of hands and feet. At verse 22 (Hebrew v. 23), the psalm pivots without explanation to triumphant praise — the sufferer vows to declare God's name in the assembly, and the vision expands until all nations, all the dead, and all future generations worship the LORD.
What Makes This Chapter Remarkable
This psalm contains more specific correspondences to the crucifixion of Jesus than any other Old Testament text. The opening cry is quoted in Aramaic by Jesus on the cross (Matthew 27:46). The mockery ('He trusted in the LORD; let him deliver him,' v. 9), the thirst ('my tongue clings to my jaws,' v. 16), the pierced hands and feet (v. 17), and the division of garments by casting lots (v. 19) are all cited or echoed in the Gospel passion narratives. Yet the psalm makes no claim to be predictive prophecy — it is the raw, present-tense suffering of a real person in genuine agony. The Christian reading sees in it a pattern of innocent suffering that reaches its ultimate fulfillment in Christ, while the Jewish reading sees a paradigm of Israel's suffering and vindication. Both readings honor the text; neither exhausts it. The unexplained pivot from despair to praise remains one of the great mysteries of the Psalter — what happened between verses 22 and 23 that turned agony into worship?
Translation Friction
The Hebrew of verse 17 (WLC v. 17) is one of the most disputed readings in the entire Hebrew Bible. The Masoretic text reads kaari ('like a lion') — 'like a lion, my hands and my feet.' This is grammatically incomplete and difficult. Many manuscripts and ancient versions (including the Septuagint, composed centuries before Christ) read kaaru ('they pierced') — 'they pierced my hands and my feet.' A Dead Sea Scrolls fragment (5/6HevPs) also supports the reading 'they pierced.' The difference is a single Hebrew letter: yod versus vav. We render the line to reflect the textual difficulty honestly. The superscription 'upon Ayyelet ha-Shachar' ('the doe of the dawn') likely indicates a melody name, though some interpreters see symbolic significance — the hunted doe at dawn, vulnerable and exposed.
Connections
Jesus quotes the opening line from the cross in Aramaic: Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani (Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34). The mockery of verse 9 is echoed in Matthew 27:43. The thirst of verse 16 connects to John 19:28. The pierced hands and feet of verse 17 are central to the crucifixion narratives. The divided garments and lots of verse 19 are fulfilled in John 19:23-24. The vow to praise in the assembly (v. 23) is quoted in Hebrews 2:12. The universal scope of the ending (vv. 28-32) anticipates the Great Commission and the ingathering of the nations. Within the Psalter, this psalm stands as the darkest point before the shepherd psalm that follows — Psalm 22 is the valley of the shadow, Psalm 23 is the green pasture on the other side.
For the musical director, on 'The Doe of the Dawn' — a psalm of David.
KJV To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Ayyelet ha-Shachar ('the doe of the dawn') is most likely a melody name, though the image — a vulnerable animal at first light — resonates powerfully with the psalm's content. The doe hunted at dawn mirrors the sufferer surrounded by predators. In WLC versification, this superscription is verse 1.
Azav describes deliberate abandonment — a conscious leaving. It is used of a wife left by her husband (Isaiah 54:6), of commandments left unobeyed (1 Kings 18:18), and here of God leaving the sufferer. The word implies that God was once present but has now departed, and the sufferer cannot find him.
Translator Notes
Jesus quotes this verse from the cross in Aramaic: Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani (Matthew 27:46). The fact that Jesus chose this psalm — not a psalm of confession, but a psalm of innocent suffering — is theologically significant. He identifies with the righteous sufferer, not the guilty penitent.
Shaagah ('roaring, groaning') is used elsewhere of lions (Psalm 104:21, Amos 3:4). The sufferer's cry has the raw intensity of an animal's roar — this is not polite prayer but primal anguish.
My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer;
by night, but I find no rest.
KJV O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The merism 'by day ... by night' means the crying is continuous — there is no relief at any hour. The phrase lo dumiyyah li ('no silence/rest for me') could mean either 'I have no silence' (I never stop crying) or 'there is no stillness for me' (I find no peace). Both readings reinforce the relentless, unanswered agony.
Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
KJV But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
קָדוֹשׁqadosh
"holy"—holy, set apart, sacred, other, separate, consecrated
Qadosh means fundamentally 'separate, other, set apart.' God's holiness is his utter distinctness from creation. The sufferer affirms this even while experiencing God's apparent absence — holiness does not depend on the sufferer's experience of it.
Translator Notes
Yoshev ('sitting, dwelling, enthroned') is the same verb used for kings sitting on thrones. God is not merely present in Israel's worship — he reigns from it. The praises of the people are the location of God's kingship.
In you our ancestors trusted;
they trusted, and you rescued them.
KJV Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The threefold repetition of trust (batchu ... batchu ... tefalletemo) builds a case from history: the ancestors trusted, they kept trusting, and God delivered. The verb palat ('to escape, be delivered, be rescued') describes swift, complete rescue. The sufferer is constructing an argument — past faithfulness should guarantee present deliverance. But the argument will fail in his own case, which deepens the agony.
To you they cried out and were delivered;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
KJV They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Lo-voshu ('they were not put to shame') is the theological payoff: trusting God did not humiliate them. Shame (bosh) in Hebrew is public exposure as a fool — trusting in something that fails you. The ancestors trusted and were vindicated. The sufferer, by contrast, is being publicly shamed (vv. 7-9), which makes his situation an apparent contradiction of the historical pattern.
But I am a worm, not a man —
scorned by humanity, despised by the people.
KJV But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Tolaath specifically refers to the crimson worm (tola'at shani), the insect crushed to produce scarlet dye. The image carries overtones of being crushed, of yielding color through destruction. Later Christian readers saw in this an image of Christ's blood-stained suffering, though the psalm's original context is simply one of utter degradation.
All who see me mock me;
they curl their lips, they shake their heads:
KJV All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Yaftiru ve-safah ('they open wide with the lip') describes a sneering, contemptuous gesture — pushing out the lower lip in mockery. Yaniu rosh ('they shake the head') is a gesture of scorn and dismissal. The sufferer's pain is a public spectacle, and the audience participates with derisive body language. Matthew 27:39 records the same gestures at the crucifixion: 'And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads.'
"He rolled himself onto the LORD — let the LORD rescue him!
Let him deliver him, since he delights in him!"
KJV He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The verb gol ('roll') is imperative in form but is quoted as past action by the mockers — 'he rolled (his burden) to the LORD.' This verb choice suggests total, weight-bearing trust, like rolling a heavy stone onto someone else. The mockery targets the completeness of the sufferer's dependence on God.
Yet it was you who drew me from the womb,
who made me secure at my mother's breasts.
KJV But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The sufferer responds to the mockers not by arguing theology but by going back to his earliest experience of God. Gochi mi-baten ('the one who drew me from the belly') makes God the midwife. Mavtiachi al-shedei immi ('the one who made me trust at my mother's breasts') means that the sufferer's trust in God predates his conscious memory — God taught him trust before he could speak. This is the deepest possible foundation for faith: God was there at the beginning.
Upon you I was cast from birth;
from my mother's womb, you have been my God.
KJV I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Hoshlakhti ('I was cast, thrown') is passive — the sufferer did not choose God; he was thrown onto God at birth. The relationship is not voluntary but foundational, woven into his existence from the moment of emergence from the womb. The final phrase — Eli attah ('you are my God') — is a personal confession that echoes the opening cry of verse 2. Despite everything, the sufferer still claims God as his own.
Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.
KJV Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The spatial language is precise and devastating: God is far (rachaq), trouble is near (qerovah), and help is absent (ein ozer). The sufferer is caught between a distant God and a close enemy with no mediator, no ally, no helper. This is the setup for the violent imagery that follows.
Many bulls surround me;
strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
KJV Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Bashan (the Golan Heights region) was famous for its rich pastureland and powerful cattle (Amos 4:1, Ezekiel 39:18). The 'bulls of Bashan' (abbirei Vashan) are the largest, most dangerous cattle in the known world — they represent enemies of overwhelming physical power. The verbs sevavuni ('they surround me') and kitteruni ('they encircle me') describe a tightening ring with no escape route.
They open their mouths wide against me —
a lion tearing and roaring.
KJV They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The animal imagery shifts from bulls to a lion (aryeh) — from encirclement to attack. Toref ve-shoeg ('tearing and roaring') describes a lion in the act of killing: tearing flesh while roaring. The open mouth (patsu pihem) conveys both the literal gaping jaws of a predator and the mouths of mockers hurling insults. The enemies are simultaneously verbal and physical threats.
I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are pulled apart.
My heart is like wax —
it melts within me.
KJV I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The sequence moves inward: water (external), bones (structural), heart (innermost). Each image represents a deeper level of collapse. Namas ('it melts') is the same verb used for the melting of the Canaanites' hearts in Joshua 2:11 — it describes the loss of all capacity to resist or endure.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue clings to my jaws.
You lay me in the dust of death.
KJV My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Cheres ('potsherd') is a broken piece of pottery — not just dry but shattered and useless. The tongue clinging to the jaws (leshoni mudbaq malqochay) describes extreme dehydration. John 19:28 records Jesus saying 'I thirst' from the cross. The final line — la-afar mavet tishpeteni ('to the dust of death you lay me') — is addressed to God. The sufferer does not blame his enemies for his death; he holds God responsible. The 'dust of death' is the grave itself, the return to the earth of Genesis 3:19.
For dogs surround me;
a pack of evildoers closes in on me.
They pierce my hands and my feet.
KJV For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
כָּאֲרִי / כָּאֲרוּkaari / kaaru
"they pierce"—like a lion (MT); they pierced, they dug (LXX, DSS)
This is the most textually contested word in the psalm. The rendering follows the Septuagint and Dead Sea Scrolls evidence (kaaru, 'they pierced') rather than the Masoretic kaari ('like a lion'), because kaaru yields a grammatically complete and contextually coherent clause. The correspondence to crucifixion is unmistakable in the Christian reading, though the psalm's original context predates that practice.
Translator Notes
The textual variant between kaari (כָּאֲרִי, 'like a lion') and kaaru (כָּאֲרוּ, 'they pierced/dug') hinges on a single letter: yod vs. vav. The Masoretic kaari reading would require supplying a verb — 'like a lion [they maul?] my hands and my feet' — but no verb is present. The kaaru reading provides a complete clause: 'they pierced my hands and my feet.' The Nahal Hever scroll (5/6HevPs) reads ka'aru, supporting 'they pierced.'
Dogs in the biblical world were unclean scavengers (1 Kings 14:11, 21:23-24). To be surrounded by dogs is to be treated as carrion — already dead, already refuse.
I can count all my bones;
they stare and gaze at me.
KJV I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The sufferer is so emaciated that every bone is visible and countable (asapper kol atsmotai). This is the body of someone who has been wasting — from illness, torture, starvation, or all three. The pronoun 'they' (hemmah) shifts to the onlookers who watch the spectacle with fascinated contempt. The sufferer is both dying and being watched dying.
They divide my garments among themselves,
and for my clothing they cast lots.
KJV They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The distinction between begadai ('my garments') and levushi ('my clothing/vesture') may indicate outer garments (divided into portions) and an inner garment (awarded by lot as a single piece). John 19:23-24 makes exactly this distinction: the soldiers divided the outer garments but cast lots for the seamless tunic.
But you, O LORD — do not be far away!
O my strength, come quickly to help me!
KJV But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The sufferer turns from describing his enemies back to God. The plea al-tirchaq ('do not be far') echoes verse 12 and answers the opening complaint that God is rachoq ('far'). Eyaluti ('my strength') is a rare word — possibly from ayyal ('ram, deer'), suggesting swiftness and power. The imperative chushah ('hurry!') conveys desperation — time is running out.
Deliver my life from the sword,
my only life from the power of the dog.
KJV Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Nafshi ('my soul/life') is paralleled by yechidati ('my only one, my unique one, my darling'). Yechidah means 'only, solitary, unique' — the sufferer has only one life, and it is about to be taken. The 'sword' (cherev) represents violent death, and 'the dog' (kelev, singular) represents the most contemptible of the enemies from verse 17. The plea is not for comfort but for survival.
Save me from the mouth of the lion!
From the horns of the wild oxen — you have answered me!
KJV Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Remim ('wild oxen') were massive, now-extinct aurochs — the largest and most dangerous bovines in the ancient world. The KJV translated this as 'unicorns' following the Septuagint's monokeros, but the reference is to the wild ox (Bos primigenius). Their horns were weapons of impalement.
The shift from petition to praise at anitani ('you have answered me') is unexplained. Some scholars propose that a priestly oracle of salvation was spoken between verses 22a and 22b during liturgical performance. Others see a pure act of faith. The text itself offers no mechanism — only the result.
I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the assembly I will praise you.
KJV I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The vow to declare God's name (shimkha) to his brothers (echai) is quoted in Hebrews 2:12, where the writer applies it to Jesus declaring God's name to the church. In its psalmic context, the sufferer who was alone and surrounded by enemies now stands in the qahal ('assembly, congregation') among brothers — restored to community. The shift from isolation to assembly is itself a form of salvation.
You who fear the LORD, praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him!
Stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
KJV Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The scope begins expanding. The sufferer's individual praise broadens to include all who fear the LORD, all the seed of Jacob, all the seed of Israel. Three groups named, three commands given: halleluhu ('praise him'), kabbeduhu ('glorify/honor him'), guru mimmennu ('stand in awe of him'). The verb kavad ('glorify, honor') shares the root of kavod ('glory') — the worshippers are to add weight to God's reputation.
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.
KJV For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Shiqqets ('to detest, abhor') is the verb form of sheqets ('abomination, detestable thing') — used for unclean animals and idolatrous practices. For God not to find the sufferer's affliction sheqets means that suffering does not make a person unclean or repulsive to God. This is a radical claim in a world where affliction was commonly interpreted as divine punishment.
From you comes my praise in the great assembly;
I will fulfill my vows before those who fear him.
KJV My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Me-ittekha tehillati ('from you is my praise') means the praise itself originates in God — the sufferer does not generate worship from his own resources; God supplies both the deliverance and the praise that responds to it. The vow fulfillment (nedarai ashallam) refers to the ancient practice of making a vow during crisis and paying it publicly after deliverance, typically with a todah ('thanksgiving') sacrifice and a communal meal (see next verse).
The humble will eat and be satisfied;
those who seek the LORD will praise him.
May your hearts live forever!
KJV The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
חֶסֶדchesed
"faithful love"—faithful love, loyal kindness, covenant devotion, mercy, steadfast love
Though chesed does not appear lexically in this verse, the entire scene — the communal meal, the satisfied humble, the living hearts — is the embodiment of God's chesed in action. The sufferer's deliverance becomes the community's feast, which is how chesed works: it overflows from the individual to the collective.
Translator Notes
The todah meal — the thanksgiving feast following vow fulfillment — is now described. The anavim ('humble, afflicted, poor') eat and are satisfied (yisba'u). This is not merely physical food but the communal celebration of God's deliverance. The blessing yechi levavkhem la-ad ('may your hearts live forever') extends the 'life' that was the sufferer's most desperate request (v. 21) to the entire worshipping community.
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.
KJV All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The phrase kol mishpechot goyim ('all families of the nations') echoes the Abrahamic promise of Genesis 12:3 — 'in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.' The sufferer's story becomes the vehicle through which the nations encounter the God of Israel.
For kingship belongs to the LORD,
and he rules over the nations.
KJV For the kingdom is the LORD'S: and he is the governor among the nations.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Ha-melukhah ('the kingship, the royal sovereignty') belongs to the LORD — not to earthly kings, not to the enemies who seemed to triumph. This brief, powerful declaration provides the theological basis for the universal worship described in the surrounding verses. If YHWH is king over all nations, then all nations owe him allegiance.
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.
KJV All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The inclusion of yordei afar ('those who go down to the dust') in the worshipping community is extraordinary — it suggests worship beyond death, a communion of the living and the dead before God. This pushes against the typical Old Testament view that the dead in Sheol cannot praise God (Psalm 6:5, 88:10-12). Either this psalm envisions a resurrection hope or it uses hyperbolic language to express the totality of God's sovereignty.
A generation to come will serve him;
it will be told of the Lord to the next generation.
KJV A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Zera ('seed, offspring, generation') introduces the temporal dimension — not only all places and all peoples, but all future times will be included. The story of God's deliverance will be transmitted (yesuppar, 'it will be told, recounted') from generation to generation. The sufferer's experience becomes a permanent testimony.
Tsedaqah here is not moral quality in the abstract but God's demonstrated faithfulness — his righteousness is visible in the act of deliverance. To declare God's righteousness to a people yet unborn is to tell the story of what God did for the sufferer, so that future generations will know that God acts.
Translator Notes
The phrase ki asah ('for he has done it') echoes the declaration on the cross in John 19:30: tetelestai ('it is finished'). Whether or not the Gospel writer intended the echo, the structural parallel is striking — both are final declarations that a work of suffering and salvation is complete.
Tsidqato ('his righteousness') in this context is God's covenant faithfulness demonstrated through saving action. It is not abstract moral quality but concrete rescue — God's righteousness is what God does for the afflicted one.