Psalm 22 - Learning with Jordan

(1) For the leader; on ayyeleth ha-shaḥar. A psalm of David. (2) My God, my God, why have You abandoned me; why so far from delivering me and from my anguished roaring? (3) My God, I cry by day—You answer not; by night, and have no respite. (4) But You are the Holy One, enthroned, the Praise of Israel. (5) In You our fathers trusted; they trusted, and You rescued them. (6) To You they cried out and they escaped; in You they trusted and were not disappointed. (7) But I am a worm, less than human; scorned by men, despised by people. (8) All who see me mock me; they curl their lips, they shake their heads. (9) “Let him commit himself to the LORD; let Him rescue him, let Him save him, for He is pleased with him.” (10) You drew me from the womb, made me secure at my mother’s breast. (11) I became Your charge at birth; from my mother’s womb You have been my God. (12) Do not be far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help. (13) Many bulls surround me, mighty ones of Bashan encircle me. (14) They open their mouths at me like tearing, roaring lions. (15) My life ebbs away: all my bones are disjointed; my heart is like wax, melting within me; (16) my vigor dries up like a shard; my tongue cleaves to my palate; You commit me to the dust of death. (17) Dogs surround me; a pack of evil ones closes in on me, like lions [they maul] my hands and feet. (18) I take the count of all my bones while they look on and gloat. (19) They divide my clothes among themselves, casting lots for my garments. (20) But You, O LORD, be not far off; my strength, hasten to my aid. (21) Save my life from the sword, my precious life from the clutches of a dog. (22) Deliver me from a lion’s mouth; from the horns of wild oxen rescue me. (23) Then will I proclaim Your fame to my brethren, praise You in the congregation. (24) You who fear the LORD, praise Him! All you offspring of Jacob, honor Him! Be in dread of Him, all you offspring of Israel! (25) For He did not scorn, He did not spurn the plea of the lowly; He did not hide His face from him; when he cried out to Him, He listened. (26) Because of You I offer praise in the great congregation; I pay my vows in the presence of His worshipers. (27) Let the lowly eat and be satisfied; let all who seek the LORD praise Him. Always be of good cheer! (28) Let all the ends of the earth pay heed and turn to the LORD, and the peoples of all nations prostrate themselves before You; (29) for kingship is the LORD’s and He rules the nations. (30) All those in full vigor shall eat and prostrate themselves; all those at death’s door, whose spirits flag, shall bend the knee before Him. (31) Offspring shall serve Him; the Lord’s fame shall be proclaimed to the generation (32) to come; they shall tell of His beneficence to people yet to be born, for He has acted.

For the Chief Musician. Set to "The Hind of the Morning." A Psalm of David. – There are those who say (Rashi, and others beside him) that השׁהר אילת (hind of the morning) is a kind of musical instrument. There are also interpreters (Targumist, Menahem, and others besides) who explain אילת from (אילותי in) My succour (אילותי), haste Thee to help me (infra, 20), meaning that this Psalm was uttered in the strength of the morning's dawn. And some interpret אילת as the name of the morning star. So we have in the words of our Rabbis of blessed memory (Jerushalami, Berakhoth 1:1; Yoma 3:2): "They call the morning star Ayyeleth." They say also (ibid.; Canticles Rabbah 6; Esther Rabbah 10 end; and Shoher Tob, ad loc.) that this Psalm was uttered with reference to Esther and to Israel, who were in exile at that time. Some also interpret it of David while he was still a fugitive before Saul. The correct view is that the title The Hind of the Morning is used of the congregation of Israel while in this (present) exile, and the end of the Psalm proves this. It calls her a hind, just as the comparison is applied to her in the Song of Songs (2:7; 3:5): "among the roes or among the hinds of the field" The meaning also of השחר (the morning) is beauty and brightness, as it says concerning her (ibid. 6:10): "Who is she that looketh forth as the morning ?" And now she is in darkness in this exile, as if forgotten and abandoned; and she cries out from exile:

far from my salvation and from the words of my moaning.

My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me ? – (The address) in the singular refers to the people of Israel as a whole, for they were as one man in exile and of one mind. My God, my God: the repetition is after the manner of those who call out and cry, as: "Hear me, O Lord, hear me" (1 Kings 18:37); "Abraham, Abraham" (Gen. 22:11); "Moses, Moses" (Exod. 3:4). Israel says also אלי (my God or my Strength), meaning: Thou wast my Strength and my Rock before, and now, why hast Thou forsaken me ?

but there is no rest for me: – from my crying, and Thou dost not answer, דמיה (rest) is a noun, not an adjective.

But You are holy and You wait to hear the praises of Israel from time immemorial.

And Thou continuest holy: – How, then, is it that Thou dost not answer now, seeing that Thou continuest holy and abidest for ever ? Thou hast been so often

(Thou) the praises of Israel: – for they praised Thee when Thou didst deliver them out of their troubles. For praise and thanks-giving shall be (given) for deliverance. How is it that Thou dost not save him now ? for Thou abided for ever, and as Thy power was then, so is Thy power now. (Thou) continuest, abidest that is, eternally; and so, "Thou, Lord, continuest for ever" (Lam. 5:19).

they will open Heb. יפטירו, they open, as (in Exod. 13:12, 13): “all that open (פטר) the womb,...and firstling (ופטר) of a donkey.” [Also] (in Prov. 17: 14): “like letting out (פוטר) water.”

One should cast his trust upon the Lord Heb. גֹּל like לגל, lit. to roll. A person should roll his burden and his load upon His Creator so that He rescue him.

You made me secure on my mother’s breast You prepared breasts for a person, upon which to rely for sustenance.

Thou art He that drew me forth out of the womb; Thou didst make me trust upon my mother's breasts: – גֹּחִי (that drew me forth) = מוֹצִיאִי (that caused me to issue forth), as "And thou didst burst forth (וַתָּנַח) with thy rivers" (Ezek. 32:2). He says: "How is it that Thou dost not save us while we confess Thee and know and acknowledge that strength is from Thee, and that Thou art He that helps and brings to the birth and causes the babe, whose sustenance is received only at the hands of others, to trust upon its mother's breasts ? And Thou art He who makes him trust also, so that gradually he will grow and his strength and (power of) use increase in him until he can seek his sustenance of himself, and the man is mature in marvellous wisdom – from his mother's breasts until he grows up. , And all is by the direction of a Director and the guidance of a Guide, and not as is asserted by those who say that everything is by nature and chance, without the direction of a Director and the guidance of a Guide. We also are the people who confess Thee.

encompassed me Heb. כתרוני. They encompassed me like a crown (כתר), which encompasses the head.

Ye that fear the Lord, praise Him; All ye of the seed of Jacob, glorify Him: – So shall they say in the time of their deliverance. The interpretation of ye that fear the Lord is "ye of Israel," and this division is like "Ye that fear the Lord, bless ye the Lord" (Ps. 135:20); "house of Levi" (ibid.); "house of Aaron" (ibid. 19); "house of Israel" (ibid.). The reason is that each separate one is mentioned according to its gradation and significance, and according to its relative nearness to God. Notice also that in this verse he mentions love and fear, for "glory" is equivalent to love, and those that fear the Lord from fear will attain to love.

Ye that fear the Lord, praise Him; All ye of the seed of Jacob, glorify Him: – So shall they say in the time of their deliverance. The interpretation of ye that fear the Lord is "ye of Israel," and this division is like "Ye that fear the Lord, bless ye the Lord" (Ps. 135:20); "house of Levi" (ibid.); "house of Aaron" (ibid. 19); "house of Israel" (ibid.). The reason is that each separate one is mentioned according to its gradation and significance, and according to its relative nearness to God. Notice also that in this verse he mentions love and fear, for "glory" is equivalent to love, and those that fear the Lord from fear will attain to love.

And stand in awe of Him, all ye seed of Israel: – i.e. those who have not yet attained to love. In the Haggadic interpretation (Shoher Tod, with a slight verbal alteration) (it is said): "Rabbi Joshua ben Levi says: Ye that fear the Lord – these are the fearers of Heaven; Rabbi Samuel bar Nahmani says: These are proselytes of righteousness in the age to come. Our Rabbis say: The fearers of the Lord are the priests, all the seed of Jacob are the Levites, and all the seed of Israel is to be understood literally."

Ye that fear the Lord, praise Him; All ye of the seed of Jacob, glorify Him: – So shall they say in the time of their deliverance. The interpretation of ye that fear the Lord is "ye of Israel," and this division is like "Ye that fear the Lord, bless ye the Lord" (Ps. 135:20); "house of Levi" (ibid.); "house of Aaron" (ibid. 19); "house of Israel" (ibid.). The reason is that each separate one is mentioned according to its gradation and significance, and according to its relative nearness to God. Notice also that in this verse he mentions love and fear, for "glory" is equivalent to love, and those that fear the Lord from fear will attain to love.

The meek shall eat and be satisfied: They shall praise the Lord that seek after Him: – i.e. Israel, because they are meek, for the Gentiles have been proud until the time of the redemption of Israel; so also Israel is identical with those that seek after Him, for they are seeking after Him in the exile; and when they are redeemed they shall eat and be satisfied with the spoil of their enemies, and delight themselves – the reverse of what they experienced in exile – and they shall say to them:

They shall eat all the best of the earth and prostrate themselves Lit. they shall eat and prostrate themselves all the best of the earth. This is a transposed verse. The humble shall eat all the best of the earth and prostrate themselves to the Lord with praise and thanksgiving for the good. דשני means the good, the fat of the earth. [People at] all the ends of the earth will see all this and return to the Lord.

how He hath done: – what He has done for them; for, because these will not have seen the work of the Lord that He did in the case of themselves and their fathers, they shall declare it to them. The uncircumcised have interpreted this Psalm of Jesus (in the sense that) it tells of all the evils which Israel did to him. Lo ! the Son cries to the Father out of his troubles and says: My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? and so all the Psalm. They corrupt the word כארי (as a lion) in the clause ורגלי ידי כארי (as a lion my hands and my feet), and read כארו (they pierce), giving it the meaning (of כרה in) " if a man shall dig (יכרה) a pit" (Exod. 21:33), because they drove nails through his hands and feet when they hanged him. Also the verse and his soul he hath not kept alive has led them astray, for they say that this one is God, before whom all who go down to the dust shall bow, and he did not wish to keep his soul alive, because he came down to assume (human) flesh conditionally that they might kill the flesh, and that by this those who go down to Gehenna might be saved. So, forsooth, he did not desire to keep his soul alive, but surrendered himself into the power of those who slew him. Now let them hear what is involved in their words ! They say that he did not wish to keep his soul alive nor rescue it from the power of those who slew him. If so, why did he cry: My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? ( Why art Thou so) far from helping me ? if he had no desire to be saved ? Has he not forgotten the condition (of his taking flesh)? He says also: but Thou answerest not, and perhaps does not wish to be answered? And further, if he were really God, he would be able to save himself; and further, when he says the praises of Israel, when it is they who are doing him evil ? How could he say that they are praising God? Once again he says: Our fathers trusted in Thee; and if he was what they allege, he had only one father. Again, this God says of himself that he is a worm and no man, forsooth ! Lo ! he says: One that is committed to the Lord, him He will deliver, He will rescue him. If (he spoke) of the (human) flesh. He did not deliver nor rescue him; and if of the Godhead, there was no need of rescue. He says also: But Thou art He that took me out of the womb i.e. he himself it was who brought out of the womb. And he says: I will declare Thy name to my brethren, although God has no brethren. And notice it is false, for the declaring and praising and thanksgiving are to follow the rescuing, and you know he was not rescued. He also says: All ye of the seed of Jacob, glorify Him. . . . For He hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, while Israel it was who did him evil; and his affliction the Father despised and abhorred, and hid His face from him, and on his crying unto Him did not hearken. Behold, all his words are belied. Then he says, All the kindreds of the nations, while, as you see, the Jews and the Mohammedans do not believe in him.

how He hath done: – what He has done for them; for, because these will not have seen the work of the Lord that He did in the case of themselves and their fathers, they shall declare it to them. The uncircumcised have interpreted this Psalm of Jesus (in the sense that) it tells of all the evils which Israel did to him. Lo ! the Son cries to the Father out of his troubles and says: My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? and so all the Psalm. They corrupt the word כארי (as a lion) in the clause ורגלי ידי כארי (as a lion my hands and my feet), and read כארו (they pierce), giving it the meaning (of כרה in) " if a man shall dig (יכרה) a pit" (Exod. 21:33), because they drove nails through his hands and feet when they hanged him. Also the verse and his soul he hath not kept alive has led them astray, for they say that this one is God, before whom all who go down to the dust shall bow, and he did not wish to keep his soul alive, because he came down to assume (human) flesh conditionally that they might kill the flesh, and that by this those who go down to Gehenna might be saved. So, forsooth, he did not desire to keep his soul alive, but surrendered himself into the power of those who slew him. Now let them hear what is involved in their words ! They say that he did not wish to keep his soul alive nor rescue it from the power of those who slew him. If so, why did he cry: My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? ( Why art Thou so) far from helping me ? if he had no desire to be saved ? Has he not forgotten the condition (of his taking flesh)? He says also: but Thou answerest not, and perhaps does not wish to be answered? And further, if he were really God, he would be able to save himself; and further, when he says the praises of Israel, when it is they who are doing him evil ? How could he say that they are praising God? Once again he says: Our fathers trusted in Thee; and if he was what they allege, he had only one father. Again, this God says of himself that he is a worm and no man, forsooth ! Lo ! he says: One that is committed to the Lord, him He will deliver, He will rescue him. If (he spoke) of the (human) flesh. He did not deliver nor rescue him; and if of the Godhead, there was no need of rescue. He says also: But Thou art He that took me out of the womb i.e. he himself it was who brought out of the womb. And he says: I will declare Thy name to my brethren, although God has no brethren. And notice it is false, for the declaring and praising and thanksgiving are to follow the rescuing, and you know he was not rescued. He also says: All ye of the seed of Jacob, glorify Him. . . . For He hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, while Israel it was who did him evil; and his affliction the Father despised and abhorred, and hid His face from him, and on his crying unto Him did not hearken. Behold, all his words are belied. Then he says, All the kindreds of the nations, while, as you see, the Jews and the Mohammedans do not believe in him.