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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0;"/><title>Psalm 22 Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</title><link rel="canonical" href="https://biblehub.com/commentaries/expositors/psalms/22.htm" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001com.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/psalms/22.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="//biblehu.com/bmcom/psalms/22-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="/commentaries/">Commentary</a> > <a href="../">Ellicott</a> > <a href="../psalms/">Psalm</a></div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../psalms/21.htm" title="Psalm 21">◄</a> Psalm 22 <a href="../psalms/23.htm" title="Psalm 23">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</div><div class="chap"><span class= "bld">XXII.</span><p>The fact that Jesus uttered from His cross the words of bitter woe that begin this poem, have given and must ever give it a special interest and importance. It was natural that Christian sentiment should fasten lovingly on it, and almost claim it, not only as a record of suffering typical of our Lord’s suffering, but as actually in every detail prophetic of Him. But the signs of a true Messianic character of prophecy are to be looked for in moral likeness, not in accidental resemblances of situation, or coincidences of language, and in this sense Psalms 22 must ever be considered Messianic.<p>Nothing in David’s recorded life bears out the title. The identification of the sufferer with Jeremiah, though much more probable, is excluded by the joyous and hopeful tone of the conclusion of the poem. But is it an individual sufferer at all, and not rather suffering Israel whose profound misery in the first part, and whose happy restoration in the second, the poet depicts?<p>If such an interpretation suits the description of the suffering servant of Jehovah in Isa. Iii., 53, as many critics think (comp. <a href="/isaiah/49-3.htm" title="And said to me, You are my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.">Isaiah 49:3</a>), it suggests itself for this psalm which has so many points of analogy with that passage (see Notes). The herds of wild beasts that surround the sufferer are more appropriate as a figure of hostile tribes than of personal enemies, and the vivid picture of suffering in <a href="/context/psalms/22-14.htm" title="I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the middle of my bowels.">Psalm 22:14-15</a> are not less applicable to the material condition of an oppressed nation than the description in <a href="/context/isaiah/1-5.htm" title="Why should you be stricken any more? you will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.">Isaiah 1:5-6</a> is to the moral condition. (Comp. <a href="/isaiah/52-14.htm" title="As many were astonished at you; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:">Isaiah 52:14</a>.) Such a view certainly suits the conclusion of the psalm better than any other. The individual sufferer at all events there disappears, and his fortunes merge in those of the nation (notice the change to the plural in <a href="/psalms/22-26.htm" title="The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.">Psalm 22:26</a>; <a href="/psalms/22-29.htm" title="All they that be fat on 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.">Psalm 22:29</a>), and the brilliant prospect of a time when the tale of God’s righteousness shall be handed down from generation to generation is that of the prophet who has mourned his country’s woes rather than his own, and has seen in faith the prayers of Israel heard, and the promises made to her amply performed.<p>Still, the strong personal tone in the opening of the poem suggests that this prophet was himself closely identified with the sufferings he depicts, and shared them not only in sympathy but in reality, and the great consensus of opinion looks for the author among the sufferers in the exile, and probably among the Levites. (See Note, <a href="/psalms/22-26.htm" title="The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.">Psalm 22:26</a>.) The rhythm is irregular, suited to such a dirge.<p><span class= "bld">Upon Aijeleth</span> <span class= "bld">Shahar.</span>—More correctly, <span class= "ital">upon Ayyeleth ha-shachar, i.e., </span>upon the hind of the morning, a phrase which at once suggests either an instrument so named, or a particular tune to which the psalm was to be sung, as we might say, “to the tune of ‘As pants the hart.’ ” The latter is the view to which all the best commentators have now unanimously come. It is not worth while even to notice other conjectures.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/22-1.htm">Psalm 22:1</a></div><div class="verse">To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? <i>why art thou so</i> far from helping me, <i>and from</i> the words of my roaring?</div>(1) <span class= "bld">My God, my God.</span>—Heb., <span class= "ital">Eli, Eli, lama azavtanî, </span>where the Targum paraphrases <span class= "ital">sabbacthani, </span>the form used by our Saviour on the cross. (See Notes, <span class= "ital">N. T. Comm., </span><a href="/matthew/27-46.htm" title="And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?">Matthew 27:46</a>; <a href="/mark/15-34.htm" title="And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?">Mark 15:34</a>.) The LXX. and Vulgate insert “look upon me.” (Comp. English Prayer Book version.) For the despairing tone comp. <a href="/psalms/80-14.htm" title="Return, we beseech you, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine;">Psalm 80:14</a>. It suits the whole of pious Israel in her times of trouble even better than any individual.<p>The second part of the verse is obscure from its lyric conciseness, but the Authorised Version has given the meaning, though sacrificing the rhythm—<p>“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me,<p>Far from my aid, from the words of my groaning?”<p><span class= "ital">i.e., </span>far from listening to the words that escape me only in groans.<p><span class= "bld">Roaring.</span>—A word used generally of a lion (<a href="/isaiah/5-29.htm" title="Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yes, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it.">Isaiah 5:29</a>; comp. <a href="/judges/14-5.htm" title="Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him.">Judges 14:5</a>); but also of a man (<a href="/psalms/38-9.htm" title="Lord, all my desire is before you; and my groaning is not hid from you.">Psalm 38:9</a>). Hitzig’s conjecture, “from my cry,” instead of “from my help,” is very plausible, since it makes the parallelism complete and involves a very slight change. The LXX. and Vulg. have “the words of my offences.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/22-2.htm">Psalm 22:2</a></div><div class="verse">O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.</div>(2) <span class= "bld">And am not silent.</span>—This misses the parallelism, which evidently requires “O my God, I cry in the daytime, and thou answerest not; in the night, and find no repose.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/22-3.htm">Psalm 22:3</a></div><div class="verse">But thou <i>art</i> holy, <i>O thou</i> that inhabitest the praises of Israel.</div>(3) <span class= "bld">But.</span>—In spite of his seeming desertion the poet still believes Jehovah is the God of the covenant—still the Holy One in whom His people could trust.<p>The phrase “inhabiting the praises of Israel,” recalls the more usual “thou that dwellest between the cherubims” (<a href="/1_samuel/4-4.htm" title="So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from there the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, which dwells between the cherubim: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.">1Samuel 4:4</a>; <a href="/2_samuel/6-2.htm" title="And David arose, and went with all the people that were with him from Baale of Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, whose name is called by the name of the LORD of hosts that dwells between the cherubim.">2Samuel 6:2</a>; <a href="/psalms/80-1.htm" title="Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you that lead Joseph like a flock; you that dwell between the cherubim, shine forth.">Psalm 80:1</a>; <a href="/psalms/99-1.htm" title="The LORD reigns; let the people tremble: he sits between the cherubim; let the earth be moved.">Psalm 99:1</a>, where see Note). But the idea here is more spiritual. The ever-ascending praises of His people become a throne for the Divine King, and take the place of the outstretched wings of the cherubim. Perhaps there is a reminiscence of <a href="/context/exodus/15-11.htm" title="Who is like to you, O LORD, among the gods? who is like you, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?">Exodus 15:11-12</a>. This explanation is at once more literal and better than the Rabbinical, “enthroned <span class= "ital">as </span>the praises.” (Comp. Aquila: “as the hymns.”)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/22-5.htm">Psalm 22:5</a></div><div class="verse">They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.</div>(5) <span class= "bld">Confounded</span>—<span class= "ital">i.e.</span>, ashamed.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/22-6.htm">Psalm 22:6</a></div><div class="verse">But I <i>am</i> a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.</div>(6) <span class= "bld">Worm.</span>—An indication of extreme degradation and helplessness. (Comp. <a href="/isaiah/41-14.htm" title="Fear not, you worm Jacob, and you men of Israel; I will help you, said the LORD, and your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.">Isaiah 41:14</a>.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/22-7.htm">Psalm 22:7</a></div><div class="verse">All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, <i>saying</i>,</div>(7) <span class= "bld">Laugh me to scorn.</span>—<span class= "bld">LXX.</span>, <span class= "greekheb">ἐξεμυκτήρισάν</span><span class= "ital">, </span>the verb used by St. Luke in his description of the crucifixion (<a href="/luke/23-35.htm" title="And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.">Luke 23:35</a>).<p><span class= "bld">Shoot out the lip.</span>—Literally, <span class= "ital">open with the lip </span>(<a href="/psalms/35-21.htm" title="Yes, they opened their mouth wide against me, and said, Aha, aha, our eye has seen it.">Psalm 35:21</a>; <a href="/job/16-10.htm" title="They have gaped on me with their mouth; they have smitten me on the cheek reproachfully; they have gathered themselves together against me.">Job 16:10</a>). We use the expression, “curl the lip.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/22-8.htm">Psalm 22:8</a></div><div class="verse">He trusted on the LORD <i>that</i> he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.</div>(8) <span class= "bld">He trusted.</span>—So the LXX. (Comp. <a href="/matthew/27-43.htm" title="He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.">Matthew 27:43</a>.) So, too, Ewald among moderns. But generally the form <span class= "ital">gol </span>(short for <span class= "ital">gôl</span>) is taken as an imperative. Literally, <span class= "ital">roll thyself on God. </span>(Comp. <a href="/psalms/37-5.htm" title="Commit your way to the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.">Psalm 37:5</a>; <a href="/proverbs/16-3.htm" title="Commit your works to the LORD, and your thoughts shall be established.">Proverbs 16:3</a>, margin.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/22-9.htm">Psalm 22:9</a></div><div class="verse">But thou <i>art</i> he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope <i>when I was</i> upon my mother's breasts.</div>(9) <span class= "bld">But.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">For. </span>Faith that turns to God in spite of derision is the best answer to derision.<p><span class= "bld">Thou didst make me hope.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">thou didst make me repose on my mother’s breast.</span><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/22-12.htm">Psalm 22:12</a></div><div class="verse">Many bulls have compassed me: strong <i>bulls</i> of Bashan have beset me round.</div>(12) <span class= "bld">Bulls of Bashan.</span>—For “Bashan” see <a href="/numbers/21-33.htm" title="And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he, and all his people, to the battle at Edrei.">Numbers 21:33</a>; for its pastures and cattle, comp. <a href="/deuteronomy/32-14.htm" title="Butter of cows, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and you did drink the pure blood of the grape.">Deuteronomy 32:14</a>, and for the figures, <a href="/amos/4-1.htm" title="Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink.">Amos 4:1</a>. Instead of “fat bulls,” the LXX. and Vulgate paraphrase “strong ones of Bashan.” The point of the comparison lies in the wantonness and insolence of pampered pride, displayed by the minions of fortune.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/22-13.htm">Psalm 22:13</a></div><div class="verse">They gaped upon me <i>with</i> their mouths, <i>as</i> a ravening and a roaring lion.</div>(13) <span class= "bld">Ravening.</span>—Literally, <span class= "ital">tearing in pieces. </span>(Comp. <a href="/context/lamentations/2-15.htm" title="All that pass by clap their hands at you; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men call The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?">Lamentations 2:15-16</a>; <a href="/lamentations/3-10.htm" title="He was to me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places.">Lamentations 3:10</a>.)<p><span class= "bld">Roaring.</span>—Comp. <a href="/amos/3-4.htm" title="Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey? will a young lion cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing?">Amos 3:4</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/22-14.htm">Psalm 22:14</a></div><div class="verse">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.</div>(14) The state of hopeless prostration into which the victim of these terrible foes is brought could not be more powerfully described. It is a state of entire dissolution. Again <a href="/lamentations/2-2.htm" title="The LORD has swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and has not pitied: he has thrown down in his wrath the strong holds of the daughter of Judah; he has brought them down to the ground: he has polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof.">Lamentations 2:2</a> offers a close parallel.<p><span class= "bld">Out of joint.</span>—Perhaps, better, <span class= "ital">stand out as in a state of emaciation. </span>(Comp. <a href="/psalms/22-17.htm" title="I may tell all my bones: they look and stare on me.">Psalm 22:17</a>.) Literally, <span class= "ital">separate themselves. </span>In other places, however, “bones” is used in the sense in which we use “fibres,” in such a phrase as “all the fibres of his frame.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/22-15.htm">Psalm 22:15</a></div><div class="verse">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.</div>(15) <span class= "bld">My strength.</span>—The conjecture, “my palate,” instead of “my strength,” improves the parallelism. Others, but not so happily, “my moisture.”<p><span class= "bld">The dust of</span> <span class= "bld">death.</span>—Comp. Shakespeare’s “Macbeth:”<p>“The way to dusty death.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/22-16.htm">Psalm 22:16</a></div><div class="verse">For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.</div>(16) <span class= "bld">Dogs.</span>—Literally, <span class= "ital">barkers. </span>(For the wild scavenger dogs of the East, comp. <a href="/1_kings/12-19.htm" title="So Israel rebelled against the house of David to this day.">1Kings 12:19</a>, &c) Symmachus and Theodotion render, “hunting dogs.”<p><span class= "bld">The assembly of the wicked </span>denotes the factious nature of the attacks on the sufferer. His enemies have combined, as savage animals, to hunt in packs. Comp. Virgil, <span class= "ital">Æn. </span>ii. 351:—<p>——“lupi ceu<p>Raptores atra in nebula.”<p><span class= "bld">They pierced.</span>—The word thus rendered has formed a battle-ground for controversy. As the Hebrew text at present stands the word reads <span class= "ital">kāarî </span>(like a lion). (Comp. <a href="/isaiah/38-13.htm" title="I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night will you make an end of me.">Isaiah 38:13</a>.) But no intelligible meaning can be got out of “like a lion my hands and my feet.” Nor does the plan commend itself of dividing the verses differently, and reading, “The congregation of wicked men have gathered round me like a lion. On my hands and my feet I can tell all my bones.” The punctuation of the text must therefore be given up, and a meaning sought by changing the reading. The necessity of a change is supported both by the ancient versions and by some MSS., and also by the Masora; though considerable difference exists as to what the word should be read. If the authority of the ancient versions alone were to decide, some verb in the past tense must be read, but the most reasonable course is to accept the present text, but with a different vowel, treating it as a participle, with suffix, of <span class= "ital">kûr, </span>whose root-idea, according to Ewald, is “to bind;” but according to most other scholars is “to dig.” It is, however, so doubtful whether it can mean <span class= "ital">to dig through</span>—<span class= "ital">i.e.</span>, to pierce—that it is better to understand here a binding of the limbs so tightly as to <span class= "ital">dig into </span>them, and wound them. Render: “The band of villains [literally, <span class= "ital">breakers</span>] surrounded me, binding my hands and feet so as to cut them.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/22-18.htm">Psalm 22:18</a></div><div class="verse">They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.</div>(18) <span class= "bld">They part my garments . . .</span><span class= "ital">—i.e., </span>as of one already dead. The word “garment” (<span class= "ital">beged</span>) and “vesture” (<span class= "ital">lebûsh</span>) are synonymous terms for the same article of dress—the modern <span class= "ital">abba, </span>or <span class= "ital">plaid, </span>the usual outer garment of the Bedouin. The latter is a more poetic term. (See <span class= "ital">Bib. Diet, </span>art. “Dress.”) The application of the verse in <a href="/john/19-24.htm" title="They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which said, They parted my raiment among them, and for my clothing they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.">John 19:24</a>, &c, adds a refinement not present in the psalm.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/22-19.htm">Psalm 22:19</a></div><div class="verse">But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me.</div>(19) <span class= "bld">Darling.</span>—See margin. The Hebrew word is used of an only child, <a href="/genesis/22-2.htm" title="And he said, Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and get you into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of.">Genesis 22:2</a>; <a href="/genesis/22-12.htm" title="And he said, Lay not your hand on the lad, neither do you any thing to him: for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son from me.">Genesis 22:12</a>, <a href="/judges/11-34.htm" title="And Jephthah came to Mizpeh to his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.">Judges 11:34</a>; of a person left desolate, <a href="/psalms/25-16.htm" title="Turn you to me, and have mercy on me; for I am desolate and afflicted.">Psalm 25:16</a>; <a href="/psalms/68-6.htm" title="God sets the solitary in families: he brings out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.">Psalm 68:6</a>; here as a synonym for “soul” or “life.” We may compare the common Homeric expression, <span class= "greekheb">ϕίλον κῆρ</span><span class= "ital">.</span><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/22-21.htm">Psalm 22:21</a></div><div class="verse">Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.</div>(21) <span class= "bld">Unicorns.</span>—See <a href="/numbers/23-22.htm" title="God brought them out of Egypt; he has as it were the strength of an unicorn.">Numbers 23:22</a>; either “buffaloes” or “antelopes.” There is some uncertainty about the translation of the second clause of this verse. It may be (1) “And from the horns of buffaloes hear me,” <span class= "ital">i.e., </span>hear me calling for help from the horns, &c<span class= "ital">; </span>or (2) “Save me from the lion’s mouth, and from the horns of buffaloes Thou hast heard me”—a sudden transition from plaintive prayer to exultant faith; or (3), following the LXX. and Vulg., “And from the horns of buffaloes save me, poor and humble as I am.” The first is, on the whole, preferable, as preserving the parallelism better.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/22-22.htm">Psalm 22:22</a></div><div class="verse">I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.</div>(22) <span class= "bld">I will declare.</span>—For the application of this verse in <a href="/hebrews/2-12.htm" title="Saying, I will declare your name to my brothers, in the middle of the church will I sing praise to you.">Hebrews 2:12</a>, see <span class= "ital">New Testament Commentary.</span><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/22-23.htm">Psalm 22:23</a></div><div class="verse">Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.</div>(23, 24) These verses contain the substance of the poet’s joyful announcement.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/22-26.htm">Psalm 22:26</a></div><div class="verse">The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.</div>(26) <span class= "bld">The meek.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">The afflicted. </span>This term, combined here with so many expressions for the worship of Jehovah, points to the Levites.<p><span class= "bld">Your heart.</span>—LXX. and Vulg., “their,” which carries on the construction better. But such sudden changes of person are common in Hebrew; see even next verse. The feast that was made after a great sacrifice, such as <a href="/2_chronicles/7-5.htm" title="And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty and two thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep: so the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.">2Chronicles 7:5</a>, not improbably suggested the figure of the banquet at which all the restored of Israel should meet; afterwards elaborated in the prophets (comp. <a href="/isaiah/25-6.htm" title="And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make to all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.">Isaiah 25:6</a>), and adopted in its refined spiritual sense by our Lord (<a href="/luke/14-16.htm" title="Then said he to him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:">Luke 14:16</a>).<p>The prophetic glance reaches further than the immediate occasion, and in the sufferer’s triumphant sense of vindication and restoration he embraces the whole world. (Comp. <a href="/jeremiah/16-19.htm" title="O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come to you from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit.">Jeremiah 16:19</a>.) The interposition of Divine judgment in favour of Israel will warn the nations into sudden recollection of Him, and bring them submissive to His throne.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/22-29.htm">Psalm 22:29</a></div><div class="verse">All <i>they that be</i> 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.</div>(29) <span class= "bld">Shall eat.</span>—The figure of the banquet is resumed from <a href="/psalms/22-26.htm" title="The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.">Psalm 22:26</a>, and extended. The mention of the “fat upon earth,” as included in this feast, seems certainly out of place, and injures the parallelism. We must change the text to either (1) “Shall eat and do homage all earth’s mourners,” or (2) “Ah! to him shall be bowed all the fat ones of earth.”<p><span class= "bld">They that go down to the <span class= "ital">dust</span></span><span class= "ital">—i.e., </span>those on the point to die through their sufferings.<p><span class= "bld">And none can keep.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">And he who cannot keep his soul alive. </span>Literally, <span class= "ital">has not kept. </span>But the parallelism shows that this is not spoken of those actually dead, but of those not able from poverty to keep body and soul together.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/22-30.htm">Psalm 22:30</a></div><div class="verse">A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.</div>(30) <span class= "bld">A seed . . .</span>—<span class= "ital">Better, Posterity shall serve Him. About Jehovah it shall be told to the </span>(coming) <span class= "ital">generation. </span>The article makes for this interpretation. Others, as in <a href="/psalms/87-6.htm" title="The LORD shall count, when he writes up the people, that this man was born there. Selah.">Psalm 87:6</a>, understand a reference to the census; but the parallelism is against this reference. The next verse repeats the same thought in another form.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/22-31.htm">Psalm 22:31</a></div><div class="verse">They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done <i>this</i>.</div>(31) <span class= "bld">They shall come</span>—<span class= "ital">i.e.</span>, the generation just foretold: it shall announce His righteousness to a still younger generation (literally, <span class= "ital">to a people born</span>) that He wrought. The tale of Jehovah’s goodness to Israel would be handed on from age to age,<p>“His triumphs would be sung<p>By some yet unmoulded tongue.”<p><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers<br /><br />Text Courtesy of <a href="//biblesupport.com" target="_top">BibleSupport.com</a>. 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