Nazarene Commentary 2000©

21^st Century Paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures© –
21^st Century Version of the Christian Scriptures© [NCMM]

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PSALMS (1-24, 26)

PSALMS 22:
MESSIAH’S SUFFERING AND DEATH

[A hymn of David]

Psalm 22:1, 2 – Messiah’s Call

PS22:1 144 My God! My God! Why have You forsaken me? [Matthew 27:46] [Why] so distant from saving me and my screaming lament?
144 Psalm 22:1: Jesus utters these same words at his execution. [Matthew 27:46] Almost two dozen times in the Christian Bible it is evident that Jesus has a God, his Father. [For details see notes in Nazarene Commentary 2000 on Ephesians 1:3 and Revelation 3:12.] Here this God is Yehowah and therefore Jesus could never be Yehowah himself. Many understand Psalm 22 to describe the suffering of Jesus on the execution stake [cross]. See also Isaiah 53.
PS22:2 My God! I keep crying! I continue to call throughout the day but You do not answer! Throughout the night 145 there is no rest for me!
145 Night: Compare Luke 22:39-46.

Psalm 22:3-5 – Our Forefathers Trusted You

PS22:3 But You are Holy and inhabit the praise of Israel. PS22:4 Our forefathers 146 trusted in You. They trusted and You delivered them.
146 Our forefathers: This man is a Hebrew, a Jew.
PS22:5 They cried out to You and You delivered them. They trusted in You and never had a reason to be embarrassed. 147
147 Embarrassed: Or, disappointed, pale, shame.

Psalm 22:6-10 – Messiah’s Reproach

PS22:6 I am but a worm! I am a nobody 148 – a reproach 149 to men and despised 150 by the people.
148 I am a nobody: Or, no man, not a human being, no manhood. This statement is in parallel to the previous phrase and indicates the view of the Jews. Compare Isaiah 53.
149 Reproach: Or, scorn, revile, shame, insulted.
150 Despised: Or, outcast, laughing-stock, jest. Compare Isaiah 53 and the rejection of Messiah by the Jews.
PS22:7 Everyone who looks upon me 151 laughs at me! They make faces at me! 152 They shake their head [and say],
151 Everyone who looks upon me: Those before the stake or cross of Jesus.
152 They make faces at me: Or, KJV: shoot out the lip; RHM: open wide the mouth; HAR: gape; NAB: mock me with parted lips; NEB: make mouths. These are Jewish faces mocking the condemned man.
PS22:8 “He trusted in Yehowah. Let Him rescue him! 153 [Matthew 27:43] Since he took so much delight in [Yehowah], let Him deliver him!”
153 Psalm 22:8: The words of those Jews mocking Jesus. [Matthew 27:43]
PS22:9 But You separated 154 me from my mother’s womb. 155 You caused me to trust on my mother’s bosom.
154 Separated: Or, took me out, bring me forth, drew me out, take me from, severed.
155 My mother’s womb: Compare Isaiah 7:14 and Luke 1:26-56. This condemned man’s mother is mentioned twice.
PS22:10 From the moment of my birth I was cast upon You. 156 You have been my God 157 from the womb of my mother.
156 I was cast upon You: Or, KNX: from the hour of my birth, thou art my guardian; NJB: placed on your lap from my birth; HAR: I was thrown on Your care from birth. As though God’s hands were the first to receive the birthing child from his mother’s womb.
157 My God: The fourth time Messiah acknowledges that Yehowah is his God.

Psalm 22:11-13 – Messiah Surrounded

PS22:11 Since my distress is near do not remain distant! For there is no one else to help me. PS22:12 Many bulls have surrounded me! 158 Powerful bulls from Bashan have encircled me!
158 Surrounded me: Jesus is surrounded by the bulls and lions of Judaism in the Jewish hierarchy as well as the Romans.
PS22:13 Like a roaring lion about to shred into pieces they open wide their mouth.

Psalm 22:14-18 – Messiah Pierced

PS22:14 I am being poured out like water! 159 All of my bones are dislocated! 160 My heart 161 has become like wax! It is melting within my body!
159 I am being poured out like water: Or, SPR: I am weak like water; HAR: my energy drains away. This is a slow, agonizing death, not a quick execution.
160 All of my bones are dislocated: Or, KJV: my bones are out of joint; LXX: torn asunder; ABS: parted; MOF: all my limbs give way. Any one hanging from a stake would slowly, as muscles weakened, experience joint dislocation and contortion.
161 Heart: Death on the executioner’s Tree was finally by cardiac arrest or rupture.
PS22:15 My mouth 162 is as dry as a broken clay pot! My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth! You are laying me in the dust of death! 163
162 My mouth: Or, KJV: my strength; MOF: my throat is as dry; KNX: parched is my throat. Thirst is one of the great tortures of death on the Roman stake. This thirst is recorded in the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ death.
163 Death: Messiah must die to become that sacrificial offering of Isaiah 53.
PS22:16 For dogs surround me! The synagogue 164 of wicked men surrounds me! They have pierced 165 my hands and feet! [John 20:25, 27]
164 Synagogue: As the LXX has it, likely predicting the actions of the Jewish Sanhedrin.
165 They have pierced: This phrase is referenced in John 19:37; 20, 27. Something similar is stated in Isaiah 53:7 and Zechariah 12:10. The Jews never executed like this. They stoned and then in some cases put the corpses of the dead on a tree or stake.
PS22:17 I can count every one of my bones! 166 They all stare at me! They just watch!
166 My bones: As suggested above. Compare also Psalm 34:20 and John 19:36.
PS22:18 167 They divide my clothing among themselves, and they cast lots for my garment. [John 19:24]
167 Psalm 22:18: This verse is quoted at John 19:24.

Psalm 22:19-21 – Save Me!

PS22:19 But You, O Yehowah, do not remain distant! O my Help, hurry and save me! 168
168 Save me: Compare Hebrews 5:7 which must surely echo this.
PS22:20 Rescue my life from the sword 169 – my precious life 170 from the powerful dogs! 171
169 Sword: That is, an execution.
170 My precious life: Or, KJV: my darling; RHM: my solitary self; ABP: my life; NJB: my dear life; DEW: my only life; TAY: spare my precious life; HAR: my solitary soul. The life of Jesus is most precious or valuable as the sacrificial offering of Isaiah 53. This life value Christ takes to heaven to present before God as a ransom for humanity. [Hebrews 9]
171 Dogs: Members of the Jewish hierarchy are called bulls, lions, dogs, and wild beasts.
PS22:21 Save me from the mouth of the lion! Yes, deliver me from the horns of wild beasts!

Psalm 22:22-26 – Messiah’s Vows

PS22:22 172 I will declare Your Name to my brothers! In the middle of the Church 173 I will praise You! [Hebrews 2:12]
172 Psalm 22:22: The verse is quoted by Paul at Hebrews 2:12 where he argues that both Jesus and the members of the Church stem from One – God – and are therefore “brothers.”
173 Church: Or, congregation, convocation, assembly, gathering. The Greek is EKKLESIA.
PS22:23 Praise Him, all you who revere Yehowah! Glorify Him, all you offspring of Jacob! Stand in awe of Him, all you offspring of Israel! PS22:24 For He never despises or abhors the humiliation of the patient. 174 Nor has He ever hidden His face from such, but He listened when they cried to Him for help.
174 The humiliation of the patient: Or, KJV: affliction o the afflicted; DEW: sufferer’s pain; HAR: afflictions of the oppressed; NJB: the poor man in his poverty; KNX: friendless; BAS: pain of him who is troubled. The circumstances of Jesus on the Tree.
PS22:25 I will praise You in the great assembly. I will fulfill my vows before them who revere You. 175
175 Before them who revere You: Or, MOF: I pay my vows before His worshippers; HAR: in the presence of His worshippers. At some future triumphant moment when the glorious Church is all gathered in the Celestialum, Christ will have fulfilled his place in God’s purpose. Likely the Son of God made such a vow to reconcile heaven and earth before becoming a human being.
PS22:26 All those who were patient during oppression will eat and be satisfied. All those who have searched for Him will praise Yehowah. May your hearts live 176 throughout the unknown ages!
176 May your hearts live: Or, KJV: your heart shall live forever; DEW: may your heart find life for ever; NAB: may your hearts be ever merry; NEB: be in good heart for ever. Messiah refers to those above.

Psalm 22:27-31 – All Will Remember

PS22:27 All 177 the earthly globe will remember 178 and turn to Yehowah. Yes, all the families of the nations will prostrate themselves to the ground before You.
177 All: Compare Romans 14:10, 11; Philippians 2:10, 11; Revelation 5:13.
178 Remember: A possible prediction of the Lord’s Supper, also called the Memorial. [For details see notes in Nazarene Commentary 2000 on 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.]
PS22:28 For the Kingdom 179 belongs to Yehowah, the One who rules over all the nations.
179 Kingdom: On the Father’s Kingdom compare notes on Matthew 13:40-42 and 1 Corinthians 15:24-28.
PS22:29 All the great and powerful will prostrate themselves to the ground. Before Him everyone turning to dust will kneel – every single person who could not keep alive their own soul. 180
180 Soul: Soul mortality occurs over 120 times in the Bible. For details see notes in Nazarene Commentary 2000 in the work Where Are the Dead?
PS22:30 My offspring 181 will serve Him. Regarding Yehowah It will be retold to a future generation –
181 My offspring: Or, a seed, my descendants, posterity, our children.
PS22:31 so that His justice may be proclaimed to people yet unborn – that Yehowah has worked with purpose. 182
182 Has worked with purpose: Or, KJV: he hath done this; LXX: whom the Lord made; AAT: that he has wrought it; NAB: the justice he has shown; TAY: all the miracles he did for us

Mark Heber Miller