Psalm 22. Issue #1: Killing & Resurrection of the narrator

[rakovsky]

Based on my research, much of which I put on my site, let me share with you why I see the narrator of Psalm 22 as describing himself as being killed and resurrecting.

The passage is headlined as "A Psalm of David". The Psalm is therefore attributed to David, and this could mean either it was composed by him or by someone in his court. It also suggests that it was sung by him, as the Tanakh elsewhere calls David "the sweet Psalmist of Israel". (2 Samuel 23:1) One may propose that the Psalm was not actually composed by a real David living c. 1000 BC, but in any case the Psalm holds itself out as written by such a person.

Since the text was written by Jews, let's use the Judaica Press Tanakh (JPT) translation, which could also help us avoid Christian bias in interpreting the passage. The Psalm begins by describing the narrator's distress, and then his killing by enemies:

1. a song of David.
2. My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? [You are] far from my salvation [and] from the words of my moaning.
3. My God, I call out by day and You do not reply, and at night I do not keep silent.
...
13. Great bulls have surrounded me; the mighty ones of Bashan encompassed me.
14 They opened their mouth against me [like] a tearing, roaring lion.
15. I was spilled like water, and all my bones were separated; my heart was like wax, melting within my innards.
16. My strength became dried out like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaves to my palate; and You set me down in the dust of death.
17. For dogs have surrounded me; a band of evildoers has encompassed me, like a lion, my hands and feet. [or “they gouged my hands and feet” in the Septuagint]
18. I tell about all my bones. They look and gloat over me.
19. They share my garments among themselves and cast lots for my raiment.

David's words that he spilled like water, his bones separated, his heart melted, and God laid him in the "dust of death" show that he is talking about his death, and his description of predators opening their mouths against him and sharing his clothes show that he was killed.

The narrator suggests to his audience that he resurrected, since he next describes his assurance of God saving him in v. 9 and then describes his salvation and praising God among his people in verses 20-26 (JPT):

9. One should cast his trust upon the Lord, and He will rescue him; He will save him because He delights in him.
...
20. But You, O Lord, do not distance Yourself; my strength, hasten to my assistance.
21. Save my soul from the sword, my only one from the grip of the dog.
22. Save me from the lion's mouth, as from the horns of the wild oxen You answered me.
23. I will tell Your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise You.
24. You who fear the Lord, praise Him; all the seed of Jacob, honor Him, and fear Him, all the seed of Israel.
25. For He has neither despised nor abhorred the cry of the poor, neither has He hidden His countenance from him; and when he cried out to Him, He hearkened.
26. Because of You is my praise in the great congregation; I pay my vows in the presence of those who fear Him.

After describing his death David says that he will praise God among his brothers and in the congregation, so he means that he would resurrect to make these praises. Since "hearts" refer to souls, as in Psalm 16:10-11, David speaks of the general resurrection when he says that their "hearts shall live forever". Since earlier in the passage he spoke of the "dust of death" and the Tanakh speaks of the dead as returning to "dust" (Gen 3:19), the narrator of Psalm 22 (JPT) is talking about the future resurrection when he adds that those in the dust shall kneel (22:27,30 JPT):

27. The humble shall eat and be sated; they shall praise the Lord, those who seek him; your hearts shall live forever.
30. They shall eat all the best of the earth and prostrate themselves; before Him shall all those who descend to the dust kneel, and He will not quicken his soul.
[or "all those at death’s door, whose spirits flag, shall bend the knee before Him." in the rabbinical Jewish Publication Society translation]

For those who read Hebrew and wish to decide which translation is best for the underlined verse 30, the Hebrew is provided below:
אכלו וישתחוו ׀ כל־דשני־ארץ לפניו יכרעו כל־יורדי עפר ונפשו לא חיה׃
(SOURCE: http://biblehub.com/text/psalms/22-29.htm )

I think the JPS is closer and that it means something like "All who are alive on earth will bow down, as will those who go down to the dust and cannot keep their/his own soul(s) alive, which none can."


David, singer of the Psalms

[rakovsky]

My main point above is that the narrator describes himself as being killed and resurrecting.
Questions or Comments?

[iskander]

My main point above is that the narrator describes himself as being killed and resurrecting.
Questions or Comments?

I don't care what the Masoteric Text says and neither should you.
The interpretation of the MT by Judaism includes considering Hashem to be a nursing mother breastfeeding the elect. And also that Israel is the mother of this [menstruating?] mother God ...
Some Christians have made a common Jewish woman the mother of God and they should be pleased with this honour bestowed on Jewish women by Christian theology.
Feel free to have the religion you wish, but do not seek agreement

[rakovsky]

I don't care what the Masoteric Text says and neither should you.

Hello, Iskander!

One of the major beliefs in Christianity is that the scriptures predicted Jesus' resurrection.
And so you are raising the question of which scriptures is meant by this, the Hebrew ones or the Greek LXX version.

In the passion narrative, when Jesus is on the Cross, he says "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?", referring to the opening lines of Psalm 22.
Here he is using the Hebrew version of Psalm 22, because the LXX says here:

O God, my God, attend to me: why hast thou forsaken me?

It's true that sometimes the NT uses the LXX for quotes, but in any case it uses both versions for scriptural authority.

[iskander]

Thank you , Just sharing some thoughts with you.
In Mark there is a man who lives in aJewish community during the first century AD ( as dated much later). This man was probably Jewish ( born of a Jewish mother). The life of this man shows him in conflict with religious leaders of the Jewish community.
There are only very few words that could be safely attributed to him, and these trusted words are the ones in which he, very likely. stated that only the ten utterances is all what Hashem gave to Moses for safe keeping at Mount Sinai. We can accept that because Rabbinic Judaism acknowledged this attitude became a serious threat which necessitated important changes in the Jewish liturgy.

Yeshu HaNotzri preached that only the Ten Commandments were given to Moshe at Sinai, The rest of the Written Torah and also the Oral Torah were not given out by God..That is said in the episode in of the Rich Man in Mark. The Torah , written and oral Torah, was an invention of men. This heresy was a mortal threat to Judaism as it then existed, and forced the ' management' to modify the existing liturgy in order to minimize the impact on the faithful.


The heresy is presented in Mark and the followers of the new teaching were mapping out a new path in the history of Man and God, The new way of pleasing God was called The Way, and it will eventually develop into Christianity.

Who are the people of "The Way"? What do they want?
The reformers loathe the sale of the mercy of God :The Cleansing of the Temple is an act of violence against the power of the temple .
In Mark 10:17-19 we find more information about the religious programme of the reformers:
Mark 10:17-19
17 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ 18Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19You know the commandments: “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honour your father and mother

The question the man had asked was: , "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus replies, to inherit eternal life you must follow the teaching of God , for He is the only good teacher. Let no man deceive you. The Decalogue is your guide.


The reformer ignores the atoning sacrifice of the temple and the commandments ordained by the priesthood of the temple ; instead, the reformer warns him against the Oral Law and he insists that only the Decalogue comes from God and hence keeping the 10 statements, utterances of God is the way to the Kingdom of Heaven.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2173&start=30#p50274

The trial , precise manner of his death, and events immediately following his execution cannot be accepted as his words . There are the words that a religious Jewish dissident may have said as the legitimate way of completing a historic account of the life of a man.
Even so, the choice of Matthew 27 are the word of a dying lonely man.
46And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’
Luke 23 shows a man who understands the human condition.
34Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.

[rakovsky]

Interesting analysis.