Psalm 22 is one of those texts in the First Testament
that has a polemical history between Jews and Christians and is called by those
of the Second Testament a Messianic text. In this short essay I cannot cover
this topic in any detail and I will discuss some limited aspects of the text
with a focus on Psalm 22:16 (17) and Psalm 22:20 (21). While a vertical
argumentative and polemic approach to Psalm 22 may aid scholarly understanding a
more lateral sharing of wisdom approach to the Biblical text and textual
criticism may be more fruitful. This gleaning of wisdom approach is called bricolage
by Altes.[1] This is also the approach used by Rebbe
Nachman of Breslov [2]and is called Likutey in Hebrew
(gathering, gleanings). Levinas writes of “a wisdom older than the patent
presence of a meaning in the writing. A wisdom without which the message buried
deep within the enigma of the text cannot be grasped.”[3] Thus this approach allows for a broader
landscape that allows for different layers and approaches to enrich our
understanding and our encounter of the text and of our rendezvous with others
in their encounter of the text.
Psalm 22 is read by traditional Christians
and Jewish believers in Yeshua in the light of the Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) and
they read the text as a prophetic foretelling of the sufferings of the Messiah.[4] Many Christians see Jesus’ cry from the
cross,[5] of the words of the opening of Psalm 22,
as the Messiah drawing our attention to the whole of the prophetic meaning of
the Psalm in regards to the passion of the Messiah Yeshua.[6] Jewish readers see other Messianic figures
in the text such as King David[7], King Hezekiah, Queen Esther[8] and the Messiah Ephraim[9] among others. Many commentators see the
figure as a royal personage[10]. Others see the Lamenter of Psalm 22 not
as a single person but rather a personification of Israel or the Jewish people.
Esther Menn mentions the concerns of some believers that the emphasis on a
historical personage may take away its power as a prayer or cry of the ordinary
believer.[11] She also mentions Psalm 22 as being a part
of the Jewish pre-exilic Temple ritual in regards to the rituals of healing for
a person in distress[12].There is no reason that Psalm 22 can’t be
read taking all these insights and perspectives into account. However Psalm 22
and the other Davidic Psalms are set in the social context of Judaism and its
concerns, both cultural and religious. Some believe that the Psalms were
composed in the pre-exilic period, others in the post-exilic.[13] Croft mentions that some scholars such as
Birkeland and Rosenbaum consider the role of the antagonists in the Psalm to be
crucial in identifying whether the Psalms are a product of the history of the
pre or post exilic periods.[14]
Psalm 22:20 (in the Hebrew Bible it is
verse 21) reads in Hebrew as הַצִּילָה מֵחֶרֶב נַפְשִׁי מִיַּד-כֶּלֶב, יְחִידָתִי. (ha-tzilah me-cherev
nafshi; miyad kalev, y’chidti). This means “Deliver from the sword my soul[15]; from the hand of the dog my only one (yachid). Rivka Ulmer[16] discusses how Jewish sources connect this yachid (only one
or only begotten son) in Psalm 22 with the yachid of the Akedah (Binding
of Abraham and Isaac). She writes:
The
interpretation of the verse Save my soul from the sword, yehidati [my only one]
from the power of the dog (Ps.22:21) does not only focus upon the lemma “dog,”
but also upon “my only one.” Genesis Rabbah 46:7 (see Sifre Deuteronomy 313)
contains an interpretation relating this Psalm to the Aqedah, the sacrifice of
Isaac. Rabbinic hermeneutics situate Psalm 22:21 in the context of sacrificing
a son. Your only son (Gen.22:12) is implied and juxtaposed to my only one (Ps.22:21);
the text states God said to Abraham: “I give merit to you, as if I had asked
you to sacrifice yourself and you did not refuse it.” My only one in this case
would indicate that God recognized Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son.
In another midrash, Numbers Rabbah 17:2, a lemma from Genesis Your only son,
referring to Isaac, is changed to “your soul,” proof-text is Psalm 22:21. The
ram sacrificed saves not only Isaac, but also Abraham. These passages show a
nexus between Psalm 22:21 and Isaac, the “only son” of Abraham…[17]
Many writers claim that Psalm 22 is not perceived as a Messianic
text by Judaism whereas Ulmer one of the leading Jewish scholars in this field
clearly demonstrates that Jews of the past did interpret it in a Messianic light.[18] Christians saw this yachid in Psalm 22 and in the Akedah
as alluding to the ‘only begotten son’ who is the suffering Messiah Jesus the
son of Joseph and Miriam (Mary) and son of God the Father, which led to later
Jewish authorities (due to the bitter polemics) to deny a Messianic
significance to Psalm 22 in contradiction to past Jewish midrashim.[19]
This
leads us to the rather polemic discussion of ‘the pierced one’ mentioned by
Christians but is translated by Jewish scholars as ‘like a Lion’ in Psalm 22:16
(or 17). The textual evidence is complex as some Masoretic texts do have karu
(they pierce or dig) rather than ka’ari (like a lion) and one of the
Dead Sea Scrolls (Nachal Chever text) also has karu.[20] The Septuagint also has pierced (ωρυξαν). Here in Psalm 22 we seem to have
the concept of a pierced one (karu) and a uniquely begotten son (yachid)
and this is also found in Zechariah where it speaks of the people of Jerusalem
and the House of David looking upon an apparition of a pierced one who is also
a yachid[21].
However if we read the text of Psalm 22:16 (17) as “like a lion” (ka’ari)
it can also be read in a Messianic manner as the Messiah is perceived as a Lion.
The symbol of Judah is the Lion (Gen.49:9) and the Messiah Yeshua is called the
Lion of the Tribe of Judah in the Apocalypse of John.[22] While some lions are mentioned in Psalm 22 in a negative way (along
with dogs) the Hebrew for them is the aryeh form rather than ari. Thus the lion
here which reminds us moderns of a kind of Aslan figure and may allude to the
story in antiquity of Apion’s “Androcles and the Lion” and Aesop’s fable of the
“Lion and the Mouse”. Both these stories tell of a Lion with a thorn piercing
his paw (foot) and a kind one digging it out of its foot. These common tales
may have been appealing to Jews of the Roman period and the rabbis may have
used ka’ari as an alternative reading and then later, due to the
polemical debates between Jews and Christians, ka’ari (like a lion)
became the preferred reading of the Jewish community. It is common in Jewish
rabbinic discussions to read certain words in the Hebrew texts differently and
give a deeper meaning by the use of these alternative readings.[23]
If instead of reading this as referring to a male but rather as a
female, then the Lion becomes a Lioness and alludes to Queen Esther which is
another Jewish reading of Psalm 22.[24] This story of Esther also speaks of a wooden gallow that Haman
builds to hang or crucify Mordechai. Mordechai is perceived as a type of the
messianic Tzadik (the righteous one) according to the teaching of Rebbe Nachman
and the Breslov rabbis.[25] Tkacz also writes that St Jerome also knew of traditions that
ascribe the role of the lamenter of Psalm 22 to Esther and Mordechai.[26] Mordechai is perceived as a type (behinat) of the humble
Tzadik (of Zechariah 9:9) and Queen Esther is a type of the Shekhinah (feminine
Presence of God).[27] The name Gazelle of the Dawn (Ayelet haShahar) as the title of
Psalm 22 alludes to the weeping Shekhinah who unites with the Tzadik to chant
this lament.[28] Some Jewish sources see this lament of Psalm 22 as voiced by both
Esther and Mordechai together.[29]
Esther’s husband the Persian king is described by Esther as a dog
and a lion according to the Talmud. This account in the Babylonian Talmud places
the events of Esther’s story in the context of Psalm 22. In this passage
Esther’s royal pagan husband is associated, by her using the words of Psalm 22:
20-21 (21-22 in the Hebrew Bible), with both the concepts of the dog and the
lion.[30]
R. Levi said: When she reached the
chamber of the idols, the Divine Presence left her. She said, My God, My God,
why have You forsaken me. (Ps. 22:2) Is it possible that You punish the
inadvertent sin like the presumptuous one, or one done under compulsion like
one committed willingly? Or is it because I called [Ahasuerus] “dog,” as it
says Save my soul from the sword, my only one from the power of the dog?(Ps.
22:21) She immediately retracted and called him “lion,” as it says. Save me
from the lion’s mouth (Ps 22:22).[31]
The Zohar also
alludes to the apparitions of a dog and lion in regard to the Temple offerings.[32] When the offerings were accepted an image of a Lion crouching over
its prey (the symbol of Judah)[33] appears above the sacrificial altar while the dogs hide themselves
away. The dogs represent the gentiles.[34] However when the people sin the Lion is killed by the Tzadik and
an image of a demonic dog appears and consumes the sacrifices.[35] The Zohar seems to be saying that this Tzadik (righteous one)
killed the two lions of God (Ariels) which represent the two Temples due to
sin. The concept of the two lions- The Lion and the Lioness in Zohar 1:6b also
alludes to the lion and the lioness of Genesis 49:9. Thus we see that the
lamenter of Psalm 22 can refer to an individual, to Israel as a collective and
as the Temple. Whether one perceives the lamenter as a king or queen, or the
personification of Israel or the Temple, or a prophecy of the Jewish Messiah
(whether Yeshua or the future Mashiach Ephraim or Joseph or David) it can only
be understood in the context of a Hebrew perspective rooted in the rites,
customs, culture and ethics of Judaism.
Ulmer speaks of how the early Gentile Christians interpret the ‘adat
m’rei’im’ of Psalm 22:16 (17) as ‘a synagogue of evil doers’ which for them
meant the Jewish people.[36] As demonstrated by the Zohar and Rebbe Nachman the word rei’im
often means lovers or friends rather than evil doers. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov
in Likutey Moharan 36 links the concept of "devouring me" (the
Davidic King Messiah) of Psalm 27:2 with the consecrated flesh of Haggai 2:12
and the "Eat lovers" of Song of Song 5:1. He teaches:
…“to devour my flesh”-This alludes
that their eating- as it is said "Eat lovers"(Song of Songs 5:1)-
namely their strengthening is "Consecrated flesh"(Haggai 2:12). This
is to devour my flesh, the aspect of "The ascent of Yesod until Abba
and Imma" ...[37].
Strictly
speaking "Eat Lovers" should be translated as "Eat companions or
friend (rei'im or rei'in)" whereas lovers is dodim.
Rebbe Nachman of Breslov does not interpret mrei'im of Psalm 27:2 as evildoers
but in accord with Song of Songs 5:1 and other passages in Tenakh[38] as friends or lovers (rei'im). Thus Psalm 22:16 may be read
as “While dogs encompass me (a band of friends are about me) they (the dogs)
pierce my hands and feet.” Thus ‘the synagogue of evildoers’ transforms from an
anti-Jewish interpretation to a Jewish friendly ‘synagogue or band of friends’.
The original context of Psalm 22 in regards to King David may have
been when he fled from his son Absalom.[39] Absalom is described like a young lion with his beautiful mane of
hair[40] and David is the old lion who feels forsaken by God.[41] His greatly beloved son (yachid) Absalom is pierced by Joab with
three darts (parallel to the three nails on the cross) on a tree in which he is
caught by his hair. One immediately is reminded of the ram of sacrifice of the
story of the Akedah caught in the thorns. The pathos of the opening verse of
Psalm 22 “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far
from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?” match those of 2
Samuel 18:33 “…O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died
for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!”. This death of Absalom occurred in
Ephraim’s Wood thus providing another link to the Messiah Ephraim which some Jewish
writers see as the lamenter of Psalm 22.[42] Hosea 5:14 also alludes to Ephraim and two lions. Ephraim is
described as a lion cub. If this leonine messianic figure refers to King
Hezekiah then the Assyrian King Baladan refers to the dog according to the
Talmud and the Zohar.[43]
There are many deeper levels of understanding the surface text
which can enrich the spiritually of both Jew and Christians. Personally I don’t
think reading the text in regards to great personalities takes away from its
power to reflect the feelings and emotions of the ordinary believer who may be
consoled even more so, knowing that even the great saints of God went through
dark and troubled moments like we do.[44] There is no reason why the genesis of this Psalm’s composition
couldn’t have begun with David even if later hands such as Solomon, Hezekiah,
Ezra and others may have refined it and shaped it along with the other “Psalms
of David” for the purposes of the Temple liturgy and synagogal prayer. There is
also a possibility that the author of Psalm 22 drew on earlier lyrical elements
coming from the Israelite lyrical tradition and thus drew from the stories of
Moses and Abraham and incorporated them into his lyrics. This drawing on
sources does not take away from the author’s creative originality as an author
and it is the finished product which for believers is the infallible Word of
God guaranteed by our faith communities or churches.
Whatever the original form, purpose or authorship of Psalm 22 it
has been used in the Judeo-Christian traditions for a myriad of purposes. Many
of us who have suffered greatly in life or felt under severe attack can
resonant with the ever new and living words of Psalm 22 and perceive ourselves
as the lamenter of Psalm 22. Many Christians and Messianic Jews will continue
to enter into a deeper identification with the passion and death of their
crucified Messiah and Tzadik through contemplation of Psalm 22 who recited the
opening words of this Psalm on the Cross. Many Jews will also identify deeply
with the lamenter of Psalm 22 being a personification of Israel or the Jewish
people especially in the light of the passion and death of the Jewish people in
the Shoah (Holocaust) of our own times and the growing isolation of the State
of Israel. The remnant of practicing Christians in the West and the persecuted
Christians of the Middle East may also find new solace in the words of this
ancient Psalm of lament both as individuals and as messianic collective
(Church). In this new suffering will the children of the First Covenant and the
children of the Second Covenant be drawn together in messianic and
eschatological hope of an anointed one?
[1] Liesbeth Korthals Altes, “A Theory of Ethical Reading” Theology and
Literature: Rethinking Reader Responsibility (Palgrave Macmillan; Gordonsville
VA, USA, 2006), 17.
[2] Chanani Haran Smith, Tuning the Soul; Music as a Spiritual Process
in the Teachings of Rabbi Nahman of Bratzlav, 59.
[3] Emmanuel Levinas, In the Time of the Nations (London, Athlone
Press, 1994), 38.
[4] Catherine Brown Tkacz. “Esther, Jesus, and Psalm 22”. The Catholic
Biblical Quarterly, Oct 2008; 70(4), 709.
[5] Mark 15:34, Matthew 27:46,
[6] Holly J.Carey. Jesus' Cry From the Cross. (London, GB: T & T
Clark International, 2009),3-4.
[7] Esther M. Menn, “No Ordinary
Lament: Relecture and the Identity of
the Distressed in Psalm 22”
(University of Virginia in Harvard
Theological Review October 2000),302.
[8] Menn No Ordinary Lament:
Relecture and the Identity of the
Distressed in Psalm 22; 308, 310.
[9] Rivka Ulmer, "Psalm 22 in Pesiqta Rabbati: The Suffering of
the Jewish Messiah and Jesus." The Jewish Jesus: Revelation, Reflection,
Reclamation (2011), 106
[10] Menn No Ordinary Lament: Relecture and the Identity of the Distressed in Psalm 22, 309.
[11] Menn No Ordinary Lament: Relecture and the Identity of the Distressed in Psalm 22, 303.
[12] Menn No Ordinary Lament: Relecture and the Identity of the Distressed in Psalm 22, 304ff
[13] Steven J. L. Croft. Identity of the Individual in the Psalms.
London, GB: Sheffield Academic Press, 1987, 15.
[14] Croft. Identity of the Individual in the Psalms, 16ff
[15] An interesting study would
be to reflect on this in the light of the sword that pierced the soul of Our
Lady. In fact the whole Queen Esther dimension of reading this Psalm allows for
a deeper Marian reading which Catholics would find incredibly enriching of
their faith.
[16] A professor of Jewish studies, Ulmer is a world authority in
midrash, or rabbinic interpretations of the Hebrew Bible.
[17] Ulver Psalm 22 in Pesiqta Rabbati: The Suffering of the Jewish
Messiah and Jesus, 110.
[18] See Ulmer,
Rivka. "The Contours of the Messiah in Pesiqta Rabbati." Harvard
Theological Review 106, no. 02 (2013): 115-144.
[19] We see this
today when many spokesmen for the Jewish communities will deny that in Jewish
sources that it speaks of a resurrected suffering Messiah while at the same
time a leading branch of Hasidic Jews, using Jewish sources, claims that their
late Rebbe may be the Messiah son of Joseph and will rise from the dead.
[20] Ulver Psalm 22 in Pesiqta Rabbati: The Suffering of the Jewish
Messiah and Jesus, 107-108.
[21] Zechariah 12:10. “And I will pour upon the house
of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of
supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced (karu),
and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son (yachid),
and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his
firstborn.”
[22] Rev.5:5
[23] Melila Hellner-Eshed, A River Flows from Eden: The Language of
Mystical Experience in the Zohar, (California; Standford University Press;
2009).
[24]. Catherine Brown Tkacz. “Esther, Jesus, and
Psalm 22”, 709ff.
[25] Rabbi Yehoshua Starrett,, ESTHER A Breslov Commentary on the
Megillah (Jerusalem/New York; Breslov Research Institute;1992).
[26] Catherine Brown Tkacz. “Esther, Jesus, and
Psalm 22”, 719.
[27] Rabbi
Leah Novick On the
Wings of Shekhinah: Rediscovering Judaism's Divine Feminine (Wheaton; Quest Books; 2008),64-65.
[28] The Shekhinah is also called the Gazelle (Hind/Deer/Doe), the
Matronita and Kneset Yisrael in the Jewish mystical tradition found in the
Zohar and Kabbalah. As the weeping mother and sorrowful soul of all Israel she
is also known as the Supernal Rachel and Miriam. See Song of Songs 6:10 “Who is
she that sees forth like the dawn…? And psalm 110:3 “…the womb before the
dawn…”.
[29] Catherine Brown Tkacz. “Esther, Jesus, and Psalm 22”, 721-22.
[30] Psalm 22:20-21a: “Deliver, O God, my soul from the sword: my only one
from the hand of the dog.
Save me from the lion's mouth;…”
[31] Babylonian Tamud, Megillah 15b
[32] Zohar 1:6b
[33] Genesis 49:9
[34] Ulmer Psalm 22 in Pesiqta Rabbati: The Suffering of the Jewish
Messiah and Jesus, 109-110
[35] Zohar 1:6b
[36] Ulmer Psalm 22 in Pesiqta Rabbati: The Suffering of the Jewish
Messiah and Jesus, 109
[37] Likutey Moharan 36
[38]such as
Job 17:5; Proverbs 18:24 and 19:4; Jeremiah 3:1
[39] 2 Sam.15.
[40] 2
Sam.14. The Douay Rheims says in Isaiah 51:38 : “They shall roar together like
lions, they shall shake their manes like young lions.”
[41]
That the Lamenter of Psalm 22 is seen under the metaphor of a Lion is found in
the use of the word roaring in Psalm 22:1.
[42] 2 Sam.18.
[43] Babylonian Talmud:Sanhedrin 96a and Zohar 16b
[44] Menn No Ordinary Lament: Relecture and the Identity of the Distressed in Psalm 22, 303.
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Gordonsville VA, USA, 2006.
Carey, Holly J. Jesus' Cry From the
Cross. London, GB: T & T Clark International, 2009.
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Reflection, Reclamation (2011): 106-128.
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Pesiqta Rabbati." Harvard Theological Review 106, no. 02 (2013): 115-144.
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