I. "The author of the psalm." This psalm is said to have been composed by David: "A Psalm of David;" compare the notes at the title of Psalm 3:1-8. It cannot be absolutely demonstrated that these titles to the psalms are all of them correct, as it cannot be supposed that they were affixed to them by the authors of the psalms themselves; and it is not absolutely known by whom they were prefixed. Of course there is no certain evidence that they were attached to the psalms by an inspired writer. Still they are to be presumed to be correct unless there is some clear evidence to the contrary. In this case there seems to be none. There is nothing in the psalm itself that is inconsistent with the supposition, and there are no historical evidences in the case which would make it necessary for us to set the title aside. The affixing of this title to the psalm undoubtedly implies that it wits the prevailing opinion, at the time when the collection of Psalm was made, that this was a psalm of David. Rosenmuller indeed doubts this; but he assigns no historical reasons for the doubt. Hitzig supposes that the author was Jeremiah, on the ground, as he says, that it is "in the broad and flowing style" of Jeremiah, but this is mere conjecture.
It is not necessary, however, to suppose that David, though he was the author of the psalm, refers to himself. If it be admitted that he was inspired, or even if "this" should be doubted, it would still be an open question to whom the psalm refers - whether to himself as an individual; - whether to an "imaginary" sufferer, designing to illustrate the feelings of piety in a time of sorrow; whether to the people of God, considered collectively; or whether to the Messiah. The mere fact of the "authorship" of the psalm determines none of these questions.
It is not known, and it cannot now be determined, on what occasion the psalm was written. It is expressive of the feelings of a pious sufferer, - of one who appears to be forsaken by God and by man. Perhaps there may have been occasions in the life of David to which the expressions in the psalm may have been applicable; but if so, it is impossible now to determine on which "one" of these trials of his life the psalm was composed. There is no one period in which, from the historical records of his life, we could be able to make out all the circumstances which are mentioned in the psalm. There are, however, expressions in it which in their intensity, as expressing wretchedness and woe, seem to go beyond anything that occurred in his experience, and which lead naturally to the question whether he did not refer to some other than himself.
II. "The contents of the psalm." Various divisions of the psalm have been proposed, but there are no "marked" and "prominent" divisions in the psalm itself. Hengstenberg, and after him Prof. Alexander, divide it into three parts, or strophes,
(1) Psalm 22:1-10;
(2) Psalm 22:12-21;
(3) Psalm 22:22-31.
According to this, each strophe, as Hengstenberg remarks, would consist of ten verses - with an intermediate verse between the 10th and the 12th Psalm 22:11 connecting the first and second parts. Prof. Alexander supposes that Psalm 22:21 is a connecting link also between the second and third parts.
This division, however, seems fanciful and arbitrary; and it will present a more simple and clear view of the psalm to regard it as embracing two main things: I. The condition of the sufferer; and II. His consolations or supports in his travels.
I. The condition of the sufferer. This consists of two parts:
(1) His sufferings as derived from God, or as they spring from God;
(2) as they are derived from men, or as they spring from the treatment which he receives from men.
(1) As they are derived from God, Psalm 22:1-2.
(a) He is forsaken of God, Psalm 22:1.
(b) He cries to him day and night (or continually), and receives no answer, Psalm 22:2.
His prayer seems not to be heard, and he is left to suffer apparently unpitied and alone.
(2) his sufferings as derived front men, as produced by the treatment which he received from men.
Here there are "five" specifications; "five" sources of his affliction and sorrow.
"First." He was despised, reproached, derided by them in the midst of his other sufferings, Psalm 22:6-8; especially his piety, or confidence in God was ridiculed, for it now seemed as if God had abandoned him.
"Second." His enemies were fierce and ravenous as strong bulls of Bashan, or as a ravening and roaring lion, Psalm 22:12-13.
"Third." His sufferings were intense, so that his whole frame was relaxed and prostrated and crushed; he seemed to be poured out like water, and all his bones were out of joint; his heart was melted like wax; his strength was dried up like a potsherd; his tongue clave to his jaws, and he was brought into the dust of death, Psalm 22:14-15.
"Fourth." His enemies pierced his hands and his feet, Psalm 22:16.
"Fifth." They stripped him of his raiment, and parted his garments among themselves, Psalm 22:18.
II. His consolations or supports in his trials. These are scattered through the psalm, and consist of the following things:
(l) His unshaken confidence in God as holy, Psalm 22:3.
(2) his faith in God as the hearer of prayer, and especially on the ground that he "had" heard prayer in times past, Psalm 22:4-5.
(3) The fact that he had been himself early devoted to God, and cast upon him as his Protector from very childhood, and trained up for him, Psalm 22:9-11.
(4) The anticipated cricket or result of what he was then suffering, or the things to be accomplished "by" his sufferings, Psalm 22:19-31. There are mainly "two" things implied here as to the anticipated result of his sufferings:
(a) The establishment of a great principle that would "encourage" the friends of God, or those whom the sufferer calls his "brethren," Psalm 22:22-26.
(b) The world would be converted as the result of his sufferings, and the kingdom of God would be set up everywhere among men, Psalm 22:27-31,
These views of the psalm are apparent on its time, or are such as are suggested by the analysis without reference to the inquiry who was the author, or to whom it refers. The analysis of the psalm, however, necessarily leads:
III. To the inquiry "to whom the psalm refers:"
(1) It refers to a sufferer, and it is designed to describe his condition and his feelings, when apparently forsaken by God and man. At the same time, he is a "pious" sufferer, or one who has real trust in God, though God "appears" to have forsaken him.
(2) There seems to be no reason to suppose that the psalm refers to David himself, or that he means to describe his own feelings and condition. He was indeed a sufferer; and he often refers to his own sufferings in the Psalm. It is true, also, that there are expressions in this psalm which would be applicable to him, or which might refer to his condition. But there are none which can be regarded as "exclusively" applicable to him, and there are some which could "not" be applied to him. Of the latter class are the expressions, "They pierced my hands and my feet," Psalm 22:16; "They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture," Psalm 22:18. We know of no circumstances in the life of David to which these expressions would be applicable; we have no reason to suppose that there were any in which what is here said would have been literally true of him. On the other hand, this language cannot with propriety be regarded as "figurative," for we cannot conceive of any circumstances which would be described by such figures of speech. The whole east of the psalm, moreover, is different from those in which David refers to his own sufferings.
(3) The psalm refers to a case not then actually before the psalmist, but to some case that might or would occur, as an individual or as a representative case. So far as the mere "language" of the psalm is concerned, this might have been a case purely imaginary, and the design might have been to describe a pious sufferer who seemed to be forsaken both by God and man, or to illustrate the nature of true submission to God "in" such trials. In other words, it might have been a "supposed" case intended to show the nature of real religion under the severest forms of suffering; and, as a poet, the author of the psalm may have pictured to himself such an instance in order to show what the feelings of true piety would suggest in such circumstances, or what would be the effect of true religion then. It is true that this interpretation would not be quite obvious and natural, for we usually find such descriptions connected with real cases; but I am merely saying that "so far as the language of the psalm is concerned," if we had no other way to ascertain its meaning, this interpretation would be allowable - and if we could not attach the psalm properly to any real person, this explanation would be admissible. But in this case such an interpretation is unnecessary, for there "is" a real person to whom the language is applicable, and one to whom we may properly suppose an inspired writer would refer in the language which is used here.
(4) The psalm refers, therefore, I apprehend, originally and exclusively, to the Messiah. The proof of this is to be found in such circumstances as the following:
(a) Portions of it are expressly applied to him in the New Testament. The cry in Psalm 22:1, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" is the very one used by the Redeemer when on the cross, Matthew 27:46. The language Psalm 22:8, "He trusted in the Lord that he would deliver him; let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him," is the taunt which his enemies used as they passed by the cross, Matthew 27:43. The language Psalm 22:18, "They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture," is more than once expressly applied to him; and, in one instance, with the unequivocal statement that it was done "that the Scripture might be fulfilled," John 19:24. Compare Luke 23:34.
(b) We have evidence derived from the early Jewish interpreters. The modern Jews, indeed, affirm that it has no reference to the Messiah, for they reject the idea of a suffering Messiah altogether. Some of them suppose that it refers to David, and endeavor to find a fulfillment of it in his persecutions and trials. Others, as Kimchi and Jarchi, suppose that the psalm is applicable to the suffering Jewish people, and apply it to them in their trials and dispersions, as if "they" were forsaken of God. Some have supposed that it refers to the condition of the Jews in Babylon. But this was not the prevailing interpretation among the ancient Jewish interpreters. See Jo. H. Michaelis, Com. in Ps., p. 138; and Schottgen de Messia, pp. 232ff. It is true that the opinion of the ancient Jews does not "demonstrate" that the psalm refers to the Messiah; but the fact that they "held" that opinion is an important circumstance in showing what is its fair and obvious interpretation, for there was everything to induce "them" to reject this explanation. In general, the Jews who lived in the times referred to here were opposed to the idea of a suffering Messiah; and the fact that they admitted the applicability of the psalm to the Messiah must have embarrassed them not a little in their early controversies with Christians, for the carly Christians with one voice maintained that it referred to the Messiah, and that it was fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. The correspondence between the psalm and his sufferings was one of the arguments on which they relied in proving that he was the Christ; and if the Jews admitted that the psalm had reference to the Messiah, they would find it hard to meet the force of this argument. Their admission, therefore, under these circumstances, that it referred to the Messiah, could have arisen only from the fair and obvious interpretation of the psalm which it was not easy to set aside.
(c) The internal character of the psalm shows that it refers to the Messiah. This will appear more conclusively in the course of the exposition, in the entire correspondence as will be seen there between the psalm and the sufferings of the Redeemer. It will be found that really of the expressions in the psalm are as applicable to him as they would be if they were "history" instead of "prophecy;" if they had been penned "after," instead of having been penned "before" his sufferings occurred. It is sufficient here to refer to the expressions in Psalm 22:1, note; Psalm 22:7-8, note; Psalm 22:16, note; and Psalm 22:18, note.
(d) There is no improbability in supposing that David here refers to the Messiah. It cannot be denied that there is, in the Old Testament, from some cause, a frequent reference to a personage who was expected to appear in future time, and who was called "the Messiah." And it cannot be denied that he is often represented as a sufferer, and that his humiliation and sufferings are often described. "Somehow," beyond all question, the Jewish writers had formed the conception of such a personage, and they exhaust the powers of their native tongue in their description of his person and his work. He was, in fact, their "hero;" he to whom they always looked, and on whom their descriptions usually terminated, wherever they began. Compare Isaiah 53:1-12, notes; and Daniel. 9, notes. Now, if it be admitted that the Jewish writers were "inspired," and that this view of the Messiah had been furnished by the Spirit of inspiration, nothing is more natural than to expect to find such descriptions of the Messiah as occur in this psalm; and if it should be said that they were "not" inspired, and that this anticipation was wholly a poetic fiction - a matter of national vanity, - a mere favorite "idea" of the nation - nothing would even then be more natural than that there should be a frequent reference to this imaginary person in their writings; and nothing would be more probable than that we should find frequent reference to him in the writings of one who was so deeply imbued with the national spirit, and who occupied so high a position among the poets of the nation, as David. Inspired or uninspired, then, there is the strongest probability that there would be in their poetic writings such allusions to the Messiah as we have in this psalm.
An examination of the objections to the interpretation which refers the psalm to the Messiah, may be found in Hengstenberg's Christology, vol. i, pp. 145-147.
The title of the psalm is, "To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar." On the meaning of the expression "chief Musician," see the notes at the title to Psalm 4:1-8. The expression "Aijeleth Shahar" is rendered in the margin, "the hind of the morning." The word "Aijeleth" - אילת 'ayĕlĕth - means a "hind," and is used as a term of endearment toward a female, Proverbs 5:19. It is found in Genesis 49:21, "Naphtali is a "hind" let loose." Also in 2-Samuel 22:34; Job 39:1; Psalm 18:33; Song 2:7; Song 3:5; Habakkuk 3:19; in each of which places it is rendered in the singular "hind," and in the plural "hinds." The word "Shahar" - שׁחר shachar - means "the aurora, the dawn, the morning." "The phrase 'hind of the dawn' probably stands for the morning sun scattering his first rays upon the earth, as the Arabian poets call the rising sun "the gazelle," comparing his rays with the horns of that animal."
Gesenius, Lexicon - The image is one of gladness, "as if" the rays of the sun leaped and bounded over the hills with joyousness as the hart or hind does. But why such a title is given to this psalm can be only a matter of conjecture. It would seem most probable that these words were the beginning of some other psalm or hymn that was sung to a set piece of music, and that the design was, as indicated by this title, that this psalm was to be sung to the same tune. A tune might not improbably be known then, as it is in fact sometimes now, by the first or opening words of the piece which was commonly sung in that measure. Thus we have hynms so constantly sung to certain tunes that the mention of the first line would be a sufficient suggestion of the strain of music in which it was to be sung. It would be, for example, sufficient to say that it was to be sung to the same tune as "From Greenland's icy mountains;" or, "All hail the power of Jesus' name;" or, "I would not live alway." Other views of the meaning of the phrase may be seen in Rosenmuller, "Com. in loc." Rosenmuller himself adopts the views here expressed, and sustains his opinion by the authority of Bochart.

Under great affliction and distress, the psalmist prays unto God, Psalm 22:1-3; appeals to God's wonted kinkiness in behalf of his people, Psalm 22:4, Psalm 22:5; relates the insults that he received, Psalm 22:6-8; mentions the goodness of God to him in his youth, as a reason why he should expect help now, Psalm 22:9-11; details his sufferings, and the indignities offered to him, Psalm 22:12-18, prays with the confidence of being heard and delivered, Psalm 22:19-24; praises God. and foretells the conversion of the nations to the true religion, Psalm 22:25-31.
The title of this Psalm, To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David, has given rise to many conjectures. The words אילת השחר aiyeleth hashshachar are translated in the margin, "the hind of the morning;" but what was this? Was it the name of a musical instrument? or of a tune? or of a band of music? Calmet argues for the last, and translates "A Psalm of David, addressed to the Musicmaster who presides over the Band called the Morning Hind." This is more likely than any of the other conjectures I have seen. But aiyeleth hashshachar may be the name of the Psalm itself, for it was customary among the Asiatics to give names to their poetic compositions which often bore no relation to the subject itself. Mr. Harmer and others have collected a few instances from D'Herbelot's Bibliotheque Orientale. I could add many more from MSS. in my own collection: - thus Saady calls a famous miscellaneous work of his Gulisstan, "The Country of Roses," or, "Tbe Rose Garden:" and yet there is nothing relative to such a country, nor concerning roses nor rose gardens, in the book. Another is called Negeristan, "The Gallery of Pietures;" yet no picture gallery is mentioned. Another Beharistan, "The Spring Season;" Bostan, "The Garden;" Anvar Soheely, "The Light of Canopus;" Bahar Danush, "The Garden of Knowledge;" Tuhfit Almumeneen, "The Gift of the Faithful," a treatise on medicine; Kemeea lsadut, "The Alchymy of Life;" Mukhzeen al Asrar, "The Magazine of Secrets;" Sulselet al Zahab, "The Golden Chain;" Zuhfit al Abrar, "The Rosary of the Pious:" Merat al Asrar, "The Mirror of Secrets;" Durj al Durar, "The most precious Jewels" Deru Majlis, "The Jewel of the Assembly;" Al Bordah, "The Variegated Garment;" a poem written by Al Basiree, in praise of the Mohammedan religion, in gratitude for a cure which he believed he received from the prophet who appeared to him in a dream. The poem is written in one hundred and sixty-two couplets, each of which ends with mim, the first letter in the name of Mohammed.
Scarcely one of the above titles, and their number might be easily trebled, bears any relation to the subject of the work to which it is prefixed, no more than Aijeleth Shahar bears to the matter contained in the twenty-second Psalm. Such titles are of very little importance in themselves; and of no farther use to us than as they serve to distinguish the different books, poems, or Psalm, to which they are prefixed. To me, many seem to have spent their time uselessly in the investigation of such subjects. See my note on 2-Samuel 1:18 (note).
On the subject of the Psalm itself, there is considerable diversity of opinion:
1. Some referring it all to David;
2. Others referring it all to Christ; and,
3. Some, because of the application of several verses of it to our Lord in his sufferings, take a middle way, and apply it primarily to David, and in a secondary or accommodated sense, to Christ.
Of this opinion was Theodore of Mopsuestia. who gave a very rational account of his own plan of interpretation; for which he was condemned by the second council of Constantinople or fifth Ecumenic council. Grotius and others have nearly copied his plan; and I think, with a little correction, it is the only safe one. That several parts of it relate to David, primarily, there is very little reason to doubt; that several passages may be applied by way of accommodation to our Lord, though originally belonging to and expressing the state of David, may be piously believed; and that it contains portions which are direct prophecies of our Lord's passion, death, and victory, appears too evident to be safely denied. On this plan I propose to treat it in the following paraphrase; keeping it as near to the Gospel standard as I can. Dr. Delaney supposes the Psalm to have been written by David when he was at Mahaniam, the very place where God appeared to Jacob in his distress. See Genesis 22: And on this supposition the third, fourth, and fifth verses may be easily and strikingly illustrated: Our fathers trusted in thee; why may not I? Thou didst deliver Them; why may not I expect deliverance also? They cried unto thee, trusted in thee, and were not confounded; I cry until thee, trust in thee; and why should I be confounded? For thou art the same God, thou changest not; and with thee there is no respect of persons. Thus David encouraged himself in the Lord; and these considerations helped to sustain him in his painful exercises and heavy distresses.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 22
To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, a Psalm of David. The only thing observable in the title of this psalm is the sense of the words "Aijeleth Shahar", left untranslated; which, according to some of the Jewish (g) interpreters, is the name of a musical instrument; to which our version inclines; and a learned Jew (h) says, it is the instrument which the mourning women used on account of distress which was sudden, not known till it came, as a man does not think of the morning till he sees it. "Aijeleth" with him has the signification of mourning, as "Eli" in Joel 1:8; and "Shahar", as in Isaiah 47:11; so and are used in the Misnah (i) for a mourning woman; and with others it is the beginning of a song to the tune of which the psalm was set (k) but I rather think the words express the subject matter of the psalm, and that they may be rendered, concerning "Aijeleth Shahar"; which signify, either according to the Chaldee paraphrase, "the daily morning sacrifice"; or, as some Jewish writers (l) observe, the "morning star"; or, according to the Septuagint, "the morning help" (m); or rather "the morning hind"; or "hind of the morning": but who should be designed hereby is the question. The Jews would have any rather than the Messiah; some say Esther (n), who so seasonably and readily appeared for the Jews in distress, and was the means of their deliverance; but there is not one word in the psalm that agrees with her; and there are some things which were manifestly spoken of a man, and not a woman, Psalm 22:8; others say David (o), when he fled from Saul, or, as others, from Absalom: but the disjointing the bones of this person, the piercing his hands and feet, parting his garments, and casting lots on his vesture, mentioned in Psalm 22:14; were never fulfilled in him. Others (p) would have the congregation of Israel in captivity intended; but it is plain that a single person is spoken of throughout; and he is manifestly distinguished from others, from his brethren, from the congregation, from the seed of Jacob and Israel, Psalm 22:22; and, indeed, no other than the Messiah can be meant: and of this there ought to be no doubt with Christians, when Psalm 22:1 is compared with Matthew 27:46; Psalm 22:8 with Matthew 27:43; Psalm 22:18 with Matthew 27:35; Psalm 22:22 with Hebrews 2:12; and the Jews themselves sometimes say, that by "Aijeleth Shahar" is meant the Shechinah (q), or the divine Majesty; and in what way soever these words are rendered, they agree with Christ: he is the antitype of "the daily morning sacrifice", the Lamb of God, who continually takes away the sin of the world; and very fitly is he so called in the title of a psalm which speaks so much of his sufferings and death, which are a propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of his people; he is "the bright and morning star", Revelation 22:16; the dayspring from on high, the sun of righteousness, and light of the world: he had "morning help" in his very infancy, when his life was sought for by Herod; and had early and seasonable help and assistance in the acceptable time, and in the day of salvation, and early in the morning was he raised from the dead, and had glory given him: but as the words are better rendered "the morning hind", this suits with Christ, who is frequently compared to a roe or a young hart, Song 2:9; and he may be compared to a "hind" for its lovingness to its mate and young, Proverbs 5:19; the love of Christ to his church and people being very strong and affectionate, and passing knowledge; and also for its loveliness and goodliness, Genesis 49:21; Christ being exceeding amiable and lovely, and fairer than the children of men; likewise for its gentleness and harmlessness, Christ being meek and lowly, holy and harmless; and for its antipathy to serpents, there being an enmity between Christ, the seed of the woman, and the serpent and his seed; for its being hunted by dogs, as Christ was by Herod, by the Scribes and Pharisees, by Judas, and the band of soldiers; see Psalm 22:16; for its being fit for food, Deuteronomy 14:5; and as it is said to be the fitter for being hunted, Christ's flesh being meat indeed, and the more suitable to faith, as being sacrificed for us; and for its long life it is said to have, Christ, though once dead, being alive again, and living for evermore; to which may be added its great swiftness, expressive of the readiness of Christ to comply with his Father's proposals and do his will; to come into this world in the fulness of time, and set about the work he came to do; to deliver up himself into the hands of his enemies, and lay down his life for his people; and of his haste to help them in distress, and visit them with his gracious presence, and to appear a second time to them unto salvation. He may be called the hind of "the morning", looking lovely and beautiful as the morning, and swift and cheerful as the hind when it rises from its rest, and runs its course; or because of his being hunted in the morning of his infancy by Herod; or because it was early in the morning the chief priests consulted to take away his life; and as early also he rose from the dead, when God made his feet like hinds feet, and set him on his high places, Psalm 18:33. The ancient Christian writers generally understood it of Christ wholly. Justin Martyr (r) says, the whole psalm is spoken of Christ; and Tertullian observes (s), that it contains the whole passion, or all the sufferings of Christ. The late Mons. Fourmont (t), the elder, professor of the Oriental languages in the university of Paris, has a very singular notion, that this psalm was written by Jeremiah, when he was drawn up from the dungeon, and is a history of his life and sufferings, in which he was a type of Christ.
(g) Jarchi, Kimchi, & Abendana in loc. (h) Leo Mutinens. Shilte Hagibborim, fol. 5. 1. (i) Misn. Celim, c. 15. 6. & 16. 7. & Maimon. & Bartenora in ib. (k) Aben Ezra in loc. (l) Vide Kimchium & Abendauam in loc. (m) So Menachem in Jarchi, and others in Kimchi & Abendana in loc. (n) R. R. in Jarchi in loc. (o) In Kimchi in loc. (p) Kimchi & Ben Melech in loc. (q) Zohar in Leviticus. fol. 5. 4. & Imre Binah in ib. (r) Dialog cum Tryphone, p. 325. (s) Adv. Judaeos, c. 10. (t) In hunc Psalm. M. S. penes me, fol. 8. 9.

(Psalm 22:1-10) Complaints of discouragement.
(Psalm 22:11-21) With prayer for deliverance.
(Psalm 22:22-31) Praises for mercies and redemption.

Eli Eli Lama Asabtani
We have here a plaintive Psalm, whose deep complaints, out of the midst of the most humiliating degradation and most fearful peril, stand in striking contrast to the cheerful tone of Psalm 21:1-13 - starting with a disconsolate cry of anguish, it passes on to a trustful cry for help, and ends in vows of thanksgiving and a vision of world-wide results, which spring from the deliverance of the sufferer. In no Psalm do we trace such an accumulation of the most excruciating outward and inward suffering pressing upon the complainant, in connection the most perfect innocence. In this respect Ps 69 is its counterpart; but it differs from it in this particular, that there is not a single sound of imprecation mingled with its complaints.
It is David, who here struggles upward out of the gloomiest depth to such a bright height. It is a Davidic Psalm belonging to the time of the persecution by Saul. Ewald brings it down to the time preceding the destruction of Jerusalem, and Bauer to the time of the Exile. Ewald says it is not now possible to trace the poet more exactly. And Maurer closes by saying: illue unum equidem pro certo habeo, fuisse vatem hominem opibus praeditum atque illustrem, qui magna auctoritate valeret non solum apud suos, verum etiam apud barbaros. Hitzig persists in his view, that Jeremiah composed the first portion when cast into prison as an apostate, and the second portion in the court of the prison, when placed under this milder restraint. And according to Olshausen, even here again, the whole is appropriate to the time of the Maccabees. But it seems to us to be confirmed at every point, that David, who was so persecuted by Saul, is the author. The cry of prayer אל־תרחק (Psalm 22:12, Psalm 22:20; Psalm 35:22; Psalm 38:22, borrowed in Psalm 71:12); the name given to the soul, יחידה (Psalm 22:21; Psalm 35:17); the designation of quiet and resignation by דומיה (Psalm 22:3; Psalm 39:3; Psalm 62:2, cf. Psalm 65:2), are all regarded by us, since we do not limit the genuine Davidic Psalm to Psalm 3:1 as Hitzig does, as Davidic idioms. Moreover, there is no lack of points of contact in other respects with genuine old Davidic hymns (cf. Psalm 22:30 with Psalm 28:1, those that go down to the dust, to the grave; then in later Psalm as in Psalm 143:7, in Isaiah and Ezekiel), and more especially those belonging to the time of Saul, as Ps 69 (cf. Psalm 22:27 with Psalm 69:33) and Ps 59 (cf. Psalm 22:17 with Psalm 59:15). To the peculiar characteristics of the Psalm of this period belong the figures taken from animals, which are heaped up in the Psalm before us. The fact that Ps 22 is an ancient Davidic original is also confirmed by the parallel passages in the later literature of the Shı̂r (Psalm 71:5. taken from Psalm 22:10.; Psalm 102:18. in imitation Psalm 22:25, Psalm 22:31.), of the Chokma (Proverbs 16:3, גּל אל־ה taken from Psalm 22:9; Psalm 37:5), and of prophecy (Isaiah, Isaiah 49:1, Isaiah 53:1; Jeremiah, in Lamentations 4:4; cf. Psalm 22:15, and many other similar instances). In spite of these echoes in the later literature there are still some expressions that remain unique in the Psalm and are not found elsewhere, as the hapaxlegomena אילוּת and ענוּת. Thus, then, we entertain no doubts respecting the truth of the לדוד. David speaks in this Psalm, - he and not any other, and that out of his own inmost being. In accordance with the nature of lyric poetry, the Psalm has grown up on the soil of his individual life and his individual sensibilities.
There is also in reality in the history of David, when persecuted by Saul, a situation which may have given occasion to the lifelike picture drawn in this Psalm, viz., 1-Samuel 23:25. The detailed circumstances of the distress at that time are not known to us, but they certainly did not coincide with the rare and terrible sufferings depicted in this Psalm in such a manner that these can be regarded as an historically faithful and literally exact copy of those circumstances; cf. on the other hand Psalm 17:1-15 which was composed at the same period. To just as slight a degree have the prospects, which he connects in this Psalm with his deliverance, been realised in David's own life. On the other hand, the first portion exactly coincides with the sufferings of Jesus Christ, and the second with the results that have sprung from His resurrection. It is the agonising situation of the Crucified One which is presented before our eyes in Psalm 22:15 with such artistic faithfulness: the spreading out of the limbs of the naked body, the torturing pain in hands and feet, and the burning thirst which the Redeemer, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, announced in the cry διψῶ, John 19:28. Those who blaspheme and those who shake their head at Him passed by His cross, Matthew 27:39, just as Psalm 22:8 says; scoffers cried out to Him: let the God in whom He trusts help Him, Matthew 27:43, just as Psalm 22:9 says; His garments were divided and lots were cast for His coat, John 19:23., in order that Psalm 22:19 of our Psalm might be fulfilled. The fourth of the seven sayings of the dying One, Ἠελί, Ἠελί κ. τ. λ., Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34, is the first word of our Psalm and the appropriation of the whole. And the Epistle to the Hebrews, Hebrews 2:11., cites Psalm 22:23 as the words of Christ, to show that He is not ashamed to call them brethren, whose sanctifier God has appointed Him to be, just as the risen Redeemer actually has done, Matthew 28:10; John 20:17. This has by no means exhausted the list of mutual relationships. The Psalm so vividly sets before us not merely the sufferings of the Crucified One, but also the salvation of the world arising out of His resurrection and its sacramental efficacy, that it seems more like history than prophecy, ut non tam prophetia, quam historia videatur (Cassiodorus). Accordingly the ancient Church regarded Christ, not David, as the speaker in this Psalm; and condemned Theodore of Mopsuestia who expounded it as contemporary history. Bakius expresses the meaning of the older Lutheran expositors when he says: asserimus, hunc Psalmum ad literam primo, proprie et absque ulla allegoria, tropologia et ἀναγωῇ integrum et per omnia de solo Christo exponendum esse. Even the synagogue, so far as it recognises a suffering Messiah, hears Him speak here; and takes the "hind of the morning" as a name of the Shechı̂na and as a symbol of the dawning redemption.
To ourselves, who regard the whole Psalm as the words of David, it does not thereby lose anything whatever of its prophetic character. It is a typical Psalm. The same God who communicates His thoughts of redemption to the mind of men, and there causes them to develop into the word of prophetic announcement, has also moulded the history itself into a prefiguring representation of the future deliverance; and the evidence for the truth of Christianity which is derived from this factual prophecy (Thatweissagung) is as grand as that derived from the verbal prediction (Wortweissagung). That David, the anointed of Samuel, before he ascended the throne, had to traverse a path of suffering which resembles the suffering path of Jesus, the Son of David, baptized of John, and that this typical suffering of David is embodied for us in the Psalm as in the images reflected from a mirror, is an arrangement of divine power, mercy, and wisdom. But Ps 22 is not merely a typical Psalm. For in the very nature of the type is involved the distance between it and the antitype. In Ps 22, however, David descends, with his complaint, into a depth that lies beyond the depth of his affliction, and rises, with his hopes, to a height that lies far beyond the height of the reward of his affliction. In other words: the rhetorical figure hyperbole (Arab. mubâlgt, i.e., depiction, with colours thickly laid on), without which, in the eyes of the Semite, poetic diction would be flat and faded, is here made use of by the Spirit of God. By this Spirit the hyperbolic element is changed into the prophetic. This elevation of the typical into the prophetic is also capable of explanation on psychological grounds. Since David has been anointed with the oil of royal consecration, and at the same time with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the kingship of promise, he regards himself also as the messiah of God, towards whom the promises point; and by virtue of this view of himself, in the light of the highest calling in connection with the redemptive history, the historical reality of his own experiences becomes idealised to him, and thereby both what he experiences and what he hopes for acquire a depth and height of background which stretches out into the history of the final and true Christ of God. We do not by this maintain any overflowing of his own consciousness to that of the future Christ, an opinion which has been shown by Hengstenberg, Tholuck and Kurtz to be psychologically impossible. But what we say is, that looking upon himself as the Christ of God, - to express it in the light of the historical fulfilment, - he looks upon himself in Jesus Christ. He does not distinguish himself from the Future One, but in himself he sees the Future One, whose image does not free itself from him till afterwards, and whose history will coincide with all that is excessive in his own utterances. For as God the Father moulds the history of Jesus Christ in accordance with His own counsel, so His Spirit moulds even the utterances of David concerning himself the type of the Future One, with a view to that history. Through this Spirit, who is the Spirit of God and of the future Christ at the same time, David's typical history, as he describes it in the Psalm and more especially in this Psalm, acquires that ideal depth of tone, brilliancy, and power, by virtue of which it (the history) reaches far beyond its typical facts, penetrates to its very root in the divine counsels, and grows to be the word of prophecy: so that, to a certain extent, it may rightly be said that Christ here speaks through David, insofar as the Spirit of Christ speaks through him, and makes the typical suffering of His ancestor the medium for the representation of His own future sufferings. Without recognising this incontestable relation of the matter Ps 22 cannot be understood nor can we fully enter into its sentiments.
The inscription runs: To the precentor, upon (after) the hind of the morning's dawn, a Psalm of David. Luther, with reference to the fact that Jesus was taken in the night and brought before the Sanhedrim, renders it "of the hind, that is early chased," for
Patris Sapientia, Veritas divina,
Deus homo captus est hor matutin.
This interpretation is certainly a well-devised improvement of the ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀντιλήπσεως τῆς ἑωθινῆς of the lxx (Vulg. pro susceptione matutina), which is based upon a confounding of אילת with אילות (Psalm 22:20), and is thus explained by Theodoret: ἀντίληψις ἑωθινὴ ἡ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἐπιφάνεια. Even the Midrash recalls Song 2:8, and the Targum the lamb of the morning sacrifice, which was offered as soon as the watchman on the pinnacle of the Temple cried: ברק ברקאי (the first rays of the morning burst forth). איּלת השּׁחר is in fact, according to traditional definition, the early light preceding the dawn of the morning, whose first rays are likened to the horns of a hind.
(Note: There is a determination of the time to this effect, which is found both in the Jerusalem and in the Babylonian Talmud "from the hind of the morning's dawn till the east is lighted up." In Jeremiah. Berachoth, ad init., it is explained: ומנהרין לעלמא אילת השחר כמין תרתי קרני דנהורא סלקין ממדינחא, "like two horns of light, rising from the east and filling the world with light.")
But natural as it may be to assign to the inscription a symbolical meaning in the case of this Psalm, it certainly forms no exception to the technical meaning, in connection with the music, of the other inscriptions. And Melissus (1572) has explained it correctly "concerning the melody of a common song, whose commencement was Ajleth Hashhar, that is, The hind of the morning's dawn." And it may be that the choice of the melody bearing this name was designed to have reference to the glory which bursts forth in the night of affliction.
According to the course of the thoughts the Psalm falls into three divisions, Psalm 22:2, Psalm 22:13, Psalm 22:23, which are of symmetrical compass, consisting of 21, 24, and 21 lines. Whether the poet has laid out a more complete strophic arrangement within these three groups or not, must remain undecided. But the seven long closing lines are detached from the third group and stand to the column of the whole, in the relation of its base.