Psalms 22

My God, my God, why have you left me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?

1My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?

NoteThe word behind "groaning" (KJV "roaring") is normally used of the roar of a lion or the bellow of an animal in distress. It means a loud, wordless cry of pain, not a quiet sound.

2My God, I call out to you all day long, but you do not answer. I call out at night too, and I get no rest.

2O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.

3But you are holy. You are seated as king, surrounded by the praises of Israel.

3But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

NoteThe Hebrew can be read two ways: that God is enthroned *upon* the praises of Israel, the people's praise pictured as the throne he sits on, or simply that he dwells among the people where that praise is offered. "Enthroned" language elsewhere pictures God seated above the ark in the sanctuary.

4Our ancestors trusted you. They trusted you, and you rescued them.

4Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.

5They cried out to you and were set free. They trusted you, and they were not put to shame.

5They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.

NoteShame in this culture was public rather than private: it meant losing face before the whole community, being visibly proved a fool for having trusted. It is a matter of standing, not of embarrassment.

6But I am a worm and not a man. People insult me, and the crowd looks down on me.

6But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

NoteThe Hebrew word is used of a maggot or grub, something small, soft and easily crushed underfoot. To call yourself a worm was to say you had been reduced to something less than human, beneath notice or beneath contempt.

7Everyone who sees me makes fun of me. They curl their lips at me and shake their heads, saying,

7All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,

NoteCurling or thrusting out the lip and wagging the head were recognized gestures of contempt in the ancient world, roughly what a sneer or a slow shake of the head is today. They are named because everyone watching would have read them instantly.

8"He trusted the LORD, so let the LORD get him out of this. Let the LORD rescue him, since the LORD is so pleased with him."

8He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.

Note"LORD" printed in capitals stands where the Hebrew has God's personal name, the four letters usually written YHWH. Jewish readers did not say it aloud, substituting a word meaning "the Lord," and English translations have followed that custom ever since.

9Yet you are the one who brought me out of my mother's body. You made me feel safe while I was still nursing at her breast.

9But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts.

10From the day I was born I was placed in your care. From my mother's womb you have been my God.

10I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly.

11Do not stay far away from me, because trouble is close and there is no one to help.

11Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.

12Many bulls have surrounded me. Strong bulls from Bashan have closed in on every side.

12Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.

NoteBashan was the high, well-watered grazing country east of the Sea of Galilee. It was proverbial for producing unusually large and powerful cattle, so "bulls of Bashan" meant the biggest and most dangerous animals a listener could picture.

13They open their mouths wide at me, like a lion that roars and tears its prey apart.

13They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.

14I am poured out like water, and all my bones are pulled out of place. My heart is like wax; it has melted away inside me.

14I 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.

15My strength is dried up like a piece of broken pottery. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You lay me down in the dust of death.

15My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.

NoteThe "dust" is the dirt of the grave. To be laid in the dust of death is to be buried, or as good as buried already.

16Dogs have surrounded me. A gang of evil men has closed in around me. They have pierced my hands and my feet.

16For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.

NoteTwo things need explaining here. Dogs in ancient Israel were not pets but half-wild scavengers that ran in packs at the edges of towns and fed on carcasses; the word carried the sense of filth and menace. And the last line is the most disputed sentence in the psalm: the standard Hebrew text reads something close to "like a lion, my hands and my feet," while the ancient Greek translation, and some Hebrew manuscripts including one found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, have a verb meaning "they pierced" or "they dug." Translations divide along those lines.

17I can count every one of my bones. People look at me and stare.

17I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.

18They divide my clothes among themselves, and they draw lots to see who gets my robe.

18They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

NoteCasting lots meant deciding a matter by chance, by throwing marked stones or sticks, the equivalent of drawing straws or rolling dice. Clothing was worth real money and was often the most valuable thing an ordinary person owned, which is why it is being divided up while its owner is still alive to watch.

19But you, LORD, do not stay far away. You are my strength; hurry and help me.

19But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me.

20Save my life from the sword. Save the one life I have from the power of the dogs.

20Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.

NoteThe KJV's "my darling" translates a Hebrew word meaning "my only one." It stands parallel to "my life": the single, irreplaceable life the speaker has, with no spare.

21Save me from the lion's mouth. You have answered me from the horns of the wild oxen.

21Save me from the lion’s mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.

NoteThe KJV's "unicorns" renders a Hebrew word for the wild ox, a huge, long-horned wild bovine, now extinct, that was a stock image of untameable strength. The closing words are also read two ways: "you have answered me," a sudden turn to rescue, or, in some translations, "you have rescued me" from those horns.

22I will tell my brothers who you are. I will praise you in the middle of the gathered people.

22I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.

Note"Brothers" here means fellow Israelites and kinsmen, not only blood brothers. The "gathering" (KJV "congregation") is the worshiping community assembled at the sanctuary, the normal setting in which someone who had been rescued stood up and told publicly what had happened.

23You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Stand in awe of him, all you descendants of Israel.

23Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.

NoteJacob and Israel are the same man; Jacob was given the name Israel, so "descendants of Jacob" and "descendants of Israel" are two names for one people, said twice for emphasis. "Fear" here means awe and reverence before someone immeasurably greater, not fright.

24For he has not despised or abhorred the suffering of the person in pain, and he has not turned away from him. When that person cried out to him, he listened.

24For 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.

25My praise in the great gathering comes from you. I will do what I promised in front of those who fear him.

25My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.

NoteSomeone in trouble would promise God a thank offering if rescued. Fulfilling that promise meant bringing an animal to the sanctuary, telling the assembled worshipers publicly what had happened, and then eating the meat in a shared meal, which is exactly what the next verse describes.

26The humble and poor will eat and be satisfied. Those who look for the LORD will praise him. May your hearts live forever!

26The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.

NoteThe eating is the meal from the thank offering just mentioned. The meat of such an offering had to be eaten the same day and could not be kept, so the poor were regularly invited in to help finish it.

27People everywhere, to the farthest ends of the earth, will remember and turn to the LORD. All the families of the nations will bow down before you.

27All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.

28For the kingdom belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.

28For the kingdom is the LORD’s: and he is the governor among the nations.

29All the rich of the earth will feast and worship. All who go down to the dust will kneel before him, even those who cannot keep themselves alive.

29All 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.

Note"Go down to the dust" means to die and be buried; the verse sets the well-fed living alongside the dying and says both bow. The final clause is obscure in Hebrew and is rendered variously, "even those who cannot keep themselves alive," or "he who could not keep himself alive," or, with different vowels, "and he kept my life alive."

30A future family will serve him. They will be counted to the Lord as a generation of his own.

30A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.

Note"Seed" is the Hebrew idiom for offspring or descendants: those who come after. These last two verses are difficult in Hebrew and translations differ over where one sentence ends and the next begins. Note also that "Lord" here is not printed in capitals: it renders a different Hebrew word, a title meaning "master," rather than the personal name.

31They will come and tell people not yet born that he is right and good, and that he has done this.

31They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.