Epilogue Seem ingly forsaken by God Yet in the past God never forsook his people Despised by the people Let their portion be during life, and fill them with what thou hast stored up for them, a May their sons be sated, and may they leave the residue to their offspring. 15But I, in my righteousness, shall behold thy face, I shall be satisfied when I awake beholding thy form. § 126. The Cry of the Supreme Sufferer, Ps. 221-26 Ps. 22 'My God, why hast thou forsaken me? 2By day I call, but thou answerest not, "Yet thou, O my God, art the Holy One, They trusted, and thou didst deliver them; "But I indeed am a worm and no man, f Reproached by mens and despised by the people. 1714 Lit., their belly. 1714 I. e., of judgment. b1715 With RV supplying the verb beholding. Possibly this last vs. is a later addition. § 126 Ps. 22 is one of the most quoted pss. of the Psalter. It also quotes largely from earlier O.T. writings. Cobb, in Bk. of Pss., pp. 59-61, has indicated in parallel columns this close relationship. The majority of the quotations in the ps. are from Jer., Ezek., Lam., Job, and especially II Is. Here the servant of Jehovah speaks, as in Is. 42-53. He is, however, not the idealized servant but the exiled race, the worm, reproached by men and despised by the people, ", of Is. 414, 497, and 533. Here the feelings of the Jewish race are laid bare in its hour of mortal anguish. Its memories, its doubts, its pains, and its hopes are set forth with a frankness and dramatic power that have arrested the attention of generations of readers. As in Is. 53, the portrait is individual and the woes of the sufferer are portrayed in superlative colors. Cf. 12-18 But the experiences here reflected are too varied to fit any one individual. Rather they picture collectively the woes that came to the community and especially to the faithful. The date and background of the ps. are clearly the same as in Is. 40-55 and the poem of Job. It is the period of bitter persecution that followed the rebuilding of the second temple (516 B.C.) and the disappointment of the popular hopes of attaining independence under Zerubbabel. Heathen neighbors attacked the helpless Judean community, while within the cruel, rapacious leaders preyed upon those who remained faithful to Jehovah, seizing their lands, forcing their children into slavery, cf. Neh. 5, and taunting them because of their piety. The original prayer apparently ended with the petition in 20, 21 for divine deliverance. To this is appended a doxology, 22-28, in which the sufferer declares that his prayer has been answered. This appendix was evidently written in the light of the deliverance wrought by Nehemiah in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and in correcting the social evils. A second appendix, in the five-beat measure, 27-31, proclaims Jehovah's universal rule and voices the hope that the time was coming when all nations would worship him. This was probably suggested by Is. 5213-5312 and added in the Gk, period. These appendices indicate how deep was the impression that the original ps. made upon later readers. It is not strange that the early Christian writers, searching the Scriptures for references to the work of Jesus, regarded this ps. as a detailed prediction of his shame and sufferings on the cross. 221 This line is quoted in Mt. 274, Mk. 1534. The repetition of my God in the Heb. is probably due to a later scribe. d221 Heb., words of my roaring (in anguish). The metre, the context, and the allusion in 24 favor the shorter text followed above. The meaning appears to be that there is no sign of approaching deliverance in response to his cries of pain. Duhm (Psalmen, 48), by a radical revision of the text, secures a more harmonious reading: Thou remainest afar, O my help, the object of my cry, my God. e 223 Transposing my God from the beginning of 2 to 3 where the metre and context require it. 1226 Cf. Is. 4114, 533, 497. 8228 Lit., a reproach of mankind. CRY OF THE SUPREME SUFFERER "Whoever seeth me derideth me, They sneerh as they toss the head: "Yet it was thou who took me from the womb, Thou art my God from my mother's womb. 12 Many bulls encircle me about, Yea, all of my bones are out of joint, 15c In the dust of death thou dost lay me. A gang of evil-doers enclose me; 17bThey stare, they gloat over me; 18 They divide my garments among them, And for my clothing they cast lots among themselves. 19But thou, O Jehovah, be not far off; O my strength, haste to my help; 20 Deliver my life from the sword, My one possession' from the power of the dogs. 21 Save me from the mouth of the lion, In my afflictions from the horns of the wild ox. h227 Lit., separate with the lip. If the text is correct it refers to the curling lip of scorn. 1228 Lit., he rolled, i. e., his cares. So Gk, and Lat. and a different vocalization of the Heb. This is strongly supported by the context. 12210 Lit., womb. The reference in 9. 10 is probably to the Semitic custom by which at birth the father acknowledged and preserved the life of the child by taking it on his knee. 2211 Dividing this vs. as the balanced parallelism and the regular metre demand. 1221 The Heb. verb conveys the idea of waiting expectantly. m 2214 Lit., inwards. n2215 Correcting a scribal error in the Heb. as the context demands. 2217 Transferring this line as the context and poetic structure of the passage demand. P2216 Cf. Is. 5610 for the same contemptuous designation of the vicious Jewish rulers. 42216 Or mar. Gk. and current translation, dig through, pierce. The meaning of the Heb. verb is doubtful. Aquila and Sym. favor the reading bind or fetter, which better suits the context. 2220 Lit., my only one. Cf. 21 and 3516. I. e., my life. 22 The present Heb. text reads thou hast answered me; but the Gk., Sym., and Lat. suggest that this is a scribal error for the very similar Heb., my affliction. A later doxology Save, Reasons why God should intercede The injustice done to his faithful servant 22I will declare thy name to my countrymen, And praise thee in the midst of the congregation. 23Oh, ye who fear Jehovah, praise him, All the seed of Jacob, honor him, All the offspring of Israel stand in awe of him; 24 For he hath not abhorred the affliction" of the afflicted, When I cried unto him he heard. 25 Of thee is my praise in the congregation, In the presence of those who fear him I will pay my vows. Those who seek him shall give him praise, § 127. A Cry for Deliverance from Impious Persecutors, Ps. 69 Ps. 69 'Save me, O Jehovah, for the waters are come to me; I am come into deep waters, and a flood floweth over me. "I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched; Mine eyes fail while I wait for my God. "Those hating me without cause are more than the hairs of my head;" My false enemies, who would cut me off, are mighty; That which I took not away I must restore. O Jehovah, thou, indeed, knowest my foolishness; And my faults are not hid from thee. "Let not those who wait for thee, O Jehovah' of hosts, be put to shame through me, Let not those that seek thee, O God of Israel, be dishonored through me; "Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; Insult hath covered my face. "I am become a stranger to my brethren, And an alien to my mother's children. 224 Heb. adds not despised. This may be the original and abhorred due to a later scribe. It is improbable that both words are original. 224 Many scholars would revise so as to read to answer the afflicted, in order to make the parallelism with the next line complete. 22 So Gk. supported by the next vs. Heb., from him. 127 This ps. is the work of an early reformer in spirit akin to the author of 22 and Mal. He voices his own painful experiences and that of the pious class who found in Nehemiah their champion against the indifferent, high-priestly party. Cf. Neh. 13. The unity of the ps. has been questioned but on insufficient grounds. The metre is not as regular as in certain pss. Apparently the psalmist voiced his impassioned cry for help first in the four-beat measure, 1-8. Then he concluded with the three-beat measure. It is possible that 2-6 were added to adapt the ps. to liturgical use. The orignal ps. probably comes from the days of Nehemiah and therefore from the middle of the Persian period. 694 Syr., More numerous than my bones are those who hate me without cause. This may be original, for it preserves the perfect parallelism with the first member of the couplet. 69 Lit., spoiled not, i. e., took by violence. 695 It is not clear what was the nature of the psalmist's folly and sin. The vagueness suggests that this is but a general confession of sin that he may be assured of Jehovah's full favor. 2696 With Gk., omitting Lord. DELIVERANCE FROM IMPIOUS PERSECUTORS "For the zeal for thy house hath consumed me, And the reproaches of those who reproach thee have fallen on me. Even that was a reproach against me. And I am the songe of the drunkards. 13But as for me, my prayer is to thee,d O God, in the abundance of thy lovingkindness, 14Deliver me out of the mire, that I sink not, Let me be delivered from mine enemies and from the deep waters. 15 Let not the flood of waters overwhelm me, Let not the deep swallow me up, Let God in his good ness deliver And let not the pit shut its mouth upon me. 16 Answer me, O Jehovah, according to thy lovingkindness,' As thy compassion is great, turn to me. 17 And hide not thy face from thy servant, 18 Draw nigh to my life, and redeem it; 19It is thou who knowest my reproach; My shame and my dishonor are before thee. 20 Reproach hath broken my heart, And I am sick because of all mine adversaries; 21They also gave me gall for my food, And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. 22Let their table before them become a snare, 23 Let their eyes be darkened, that they cannot see, 24 Pour out thine indignation upon them, 69 I. e., devotion to the temple and resentment at its pollution. b6910 Lit., wept. 6912 The Heb. word describes a song sung to the accompaniment of stringed instruments. d6913 This vs. contains an interesting example of the enveloping or introverted parallelism in which the first and fourth and the second and third lines are parallel to each other. 6915 I. e., the grave and Sheol. 16918 Heb., for thy lovingkindness is good, but this is probably due to scribal expansion, for it destroys the metre and perfect parallelism of the vs. 6920 In the Heb. the metre and parallelism have been destroyed through a scribal error. Transferring the clause all mine adversaries to the end of the line, where it probably stood originally, restores the balance and meaning of the vs. 69 So Syr. The Heb. as it stands is unintelligible. Let thy servant again praise thee Let the afflicted who trust Jeho vah care Save thy servant And let the fierceness of thine anger overtake them. 25 Let their habitationi become utterly desolate; Let none be dwelling in their tents. 26 For they pursue him whom thou hast smitten, And they tell of the sorrow of him whom thou hast wounded. 27Add iniquity to their iniquity, And let them not come into thy righteousness;k 28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living,' And let them not be inscribed with the righteous. 29 But I indeed am poor and sorrowful; Let thy salvation, O God, set me on high. 30I will praise God's name with a song, And will magnify it with a hymn of thanksgiving; 32See it, ye afflicted, and be glad;" Ye who seek after God, let your heart live. 33 For Jehovah heareth the needy, And despiseth not prisoners who suffer for him. 34Let heaven and earth praise him, The seas, and everything that glideth therein. 35 For God will deliver Zion, And rebuild the cities of Judah; And they shall abide there, and possess it. 36The seed also of his servants shall inherit it, And they who love his name shall dwell in it. § 128. A Cry for Speedy Deliverance, Ps. 311-8 Ps. 31 'In thee, O Jehovah, I seek refuge; In thy righteousness deliver and save me. Save me quickly, O Jehovah, Be thou to me a strong rock, 169 Lit., encampment. 1696 So one Heb. MS. and Targ. Heb., those. k6927 I. e., may they bear the consequences of their guilt and not enjoy Jehovah's pardon and purification. 16928 Cf. Mal. 316. m691 Here song service and the individual feeling that it expressed is placed above sacrificial offerings. 69 Slightly revising the Heb. as the context demands. 069 Lit., his prisoners. § 128 Cobb finds in Ps. 31 three distinct units, 1-8. 9-13, and 14-24. In 1-8 the note is calmer and the three-beat measure prevails; in - the five-beat measure. Vss. 9-24 appear to be a unit, the second half introducing the note of trust and hope that characterizes the majority of the pss. of this group. Both pss. contain many quotations from the earlier prophets, and they probably come from the first half or middle of the Persian period. P311 So Gk. supported by the metre. Heb. has lost the second verb. |