PSALM 22 - Part One

Psalm 22:1-7 (Lectionary Version)

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
and are so far from my cry
and from the words of my distress?

2 O my God, I cry in the daytime, but you do not answer; *
by night as well, but I find no rest.

3 Yet you are the Holy One, *
enthroned upon the praises of Israel.

4 Our forefathers put their trust in you; *
they trusted, and you delivered them.

5 They cried out to you and were delivered; *
they trusted in you and were not put to shame.

6 But as for me, I am a worm and no man, *
scorned by all and despised by the people.

7 All who see me laugh me to scorn; *
they curl their lips and wag their heads…

PSALM 22: 1-7
“Earthling on the Edge”

A Rendering from the Hebrew by Henry Ralph Carse
(More of Psalm 22 will be posted in coming weeks)

The whole of Psalm 22 is a complex discourse between despair and joy, in three distinct “movements.” It offers a counterpoint between—on one hand—the disappointment of a suffering human being who finds no response in the God/Almighty of the clan (‘el / ‘elohim), and on the other hand - the answering deep compassion of a womb-enfolded, mother-wise, vulnerable and Ever-Indwelling divine presence (YHWH), encountered in the intimacy of a child-like awareness. In a final “movement” of the psalm, the message of deliverance from illusory strength, and of redemption through mortal vulnerability, is shared with the psalmist’s “people” - and with the cosmos.

My rendering here is of the first “movement” only (Psalm 22:1-7). Further renderings of the psalm will be posted in coming weeks.

PSALM 22: 1-7

1 From the Director’s Collection:
To the Tune of The Gazelle;
A Song for the Beloved.

2 Mighty Power, answer me!
My Strength, why have you abandoned me?
You, all my mooted unmoved certainties -
so deaf to my shouts, so far from saving me!

3 I cry all day – no answer;
no echo, all night long.
Utter silence is all that’s left for me.

4 But, aren’t you called the Holy One?
Don’t you sit surrounded
by high compliments, admired
by those who should really wrestle with their God?

5 Didn’t they turn to you, back then—
my kin, my people, all my clan—
assuming you would deliver them from shame,
every time they trusted you?

6 So what of me?
Am I then a worm to you?
A nothing, hardly human?
An earthling on the edge?
A piece of worthless trash?

7 So it seems, to judge
from my harumphing kin:
they eye me as I stammer along,
sticking out their tongues
and shrugging me away.

NOTES TO THE RENDERING OF PSALM 22: 1-8

Vs. 1: “A Song for the Beloved…” – The superscription signals that this is a mizmor le-david or mizmor la-dod. This suggests a recurring theme: the human and the divine are mutually “beloved,” and reach out to each other in times of trouble. For Christian readers, Psalm 22 is redolent with Christological resonances. The Gospel of Mark puts the opening words of verse 2 on the lips of Jesus on the cross, and it echoes in theology as a cry of mortal despair and vulnerability.

Vs. 2: “Mighty Power, answer me…” – The Hebrew repeats ‘el (Might/Power/Strength) with possessive suffixes (“My Power, my Power”). The connection between the assumed powerfulness of ‘el and the real helplessness of the psalmist is far from clear when ‘el is translated “God.” I have glossed “answer me” since the context makes it clear that the question is not rhetorical, and the psalmist expects a response.

“… my mooted unmoved certainties…” – I render the first word of vs. 3 in the Masoretic Text (‘elohim) as belonging to verse 2. This word (the plural form of ‘el ) serves to emphasize the despair of the psalmist in finding that the “Almighty Powers” s/he always adored are unresponsive. The phrase “mooted unmoved certainties” is my own theological remark on assumptions surrounding “God” (‘elohim). “Mooted” is perhaps too strong a word. However, there is certainly a doubt lurking here in these “certainties.”

“…deaf to my shouts… far from saving… ” – The Hebrew for “save” and “cry” are similar, and many translations offer “far from my cry.” However, “saving” is clearly what the psalmist hopes for. “Deaf” is a gloss arising from the context: the Mighty One does not or will not hear the helpless one.

Vs. 3: “Utter silence…” The Hebrew word dumiyah (deep silence) has a complex linguistic field, which includes “silence” and “stillness,” as well as “whisper.” What is certain is that here the stillness is the condition of the psalmist in the absence of an answer from ‘el. “Silence” here is an opportunity for reflection, but also a painful perceived divine absence.

Vs. 4: “But, aren’t you?… Don’t you?… (vs. 5): Didn’t they?…” – I render these phrases as questions (ancient Hebrew orthography does not include question marks). The questioning tone emphasizes the disappointment of the psalmist: history tells a story of divine response, but personal experience in this lonely moment tells a different tale.

Vs. 5: “…those who should really wrestle with their God.” – The literal meaning of the name “Israel” is “Wrestles-with-God.” The etiological tale in Genesis 32 makes it clear that this struggle is not construed as rebellion, but rather as blessing. In our psalm, there is an ironic twist: those who should wrestle with the divine are instead (as it were) fawning on God. Have they abandoned the original blessing of their name?

“…assuming you would deliver them…” – The impression is, that the speaker, in the present moment of “divine absence,” is feeling all the shame that the ancestors were assumedly spared.

Vs. 6: “So what of me?” – The Hebrew pronoun ‘anochi (“I myself”) is emphatic. It stands in sharp contrast to ‘avotai (“my ancestors”). The psalm questions the place of one individual in the assumed sacred myth of the collective group. They could have unquestioning faith, but the psalmist cannot. The radical nature of the doubt expressed here is downplayed in translations.

“Earthling on the edge…” – The word ‘adam (Adam/human) is related to‘adamah (“Earth”). The Hebrew root h.r.ph (herpah) means “sharp, keen, acute.” There is an “edginess” to the human condition that evolves into “reproach” or “taunt.”

“… worthless trash…” – This entire phrase renders one word, b’zui – “despised.” I seek an English idiom strong enough to express the utter despondency of being so shamed and nullified. I read the last word in this verse (‘am – “my kin” or “my people”) as belonging to verse 8.

Vs. 7: “…my harumphing kin…” – Various Hebrew idioms for derision in this verse can be well summed up with the onomatopoeic “harumphing.” The speaker experiences utter scorn from her/his own clan (‘am kol ro’ai - “all my people looking at me”). These are worshippers of the same ‘el (Almighty) who answers the psalmist’s cry only with scornful silence. There is a link in the psalmist’s mind between the ‘Ignoring God’ and the ‘Harumphing Kin.’ Psalm 22, then, speaks to an absolute sense of total abandonment.

“…as I stammer along…” – The Hebrew seems to mean “[my kin] cause me to stammer.” Those who are the closest in terms of family connections, are making the psalmist the most uncomfortable.

“…shrugging me away…” – The verb n.w.’ (nu’a), when in the hiph’al form, can mean “shake” (hence “wag their heads” – for which the English idiom would be “shrugged their shoulders”). However, in Numbers 32:13 and 2 Samuel 15:20, the same verb means “cause to wander.” Whatever the gesture here, it is profoundly dismissive. The psalmist feels “shrugged off” – i.e. driven away, even exiled to a state of wandering, far from the clan.

Rendering from the Hebrew and Notes by Henry Ralph Carse