PSALM 22: PART 3 (a)

“Snuffed out by the Darkness”

PSALM 22: 12-18 (English Standard Version)

12 Many bulls encompass me;
strong bulls of Bashan surround me;

13 they open wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring lion.

14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast;

15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.

16 For dogs encompass me;
a company of evildoers encircles me;
they have pierced my hands and feet—

17 I can count all my bones—
they stare and gloat over me;

18 they divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.

PSALM 22:13-19

“Snuffed out by the Darkness”

My rendering follows the Hebrew Masoretic Text (MT) - where the verse numbers differ from the lectionary translation above.

Psalm 22 in its “third movement” is a protracted meditation on pain, an inner battle of thoughts on mortality, with the supportive presence of YHWH (Ever-Becoming) offering the only true respite. This section portrays death’s apparent victory, with terrifying, bestial metaphors. The contrast with the tender birthing and mothering images of the previous verses is stark and abrupt. Readers of these verses, together with the psalmist, struggle with their own deepest fears of mortality. Through it all, like the thread of Ariadne, is the steady hope, that the embracing presence of YHWH is never far away.

In coming weeks, we will post the remaining renderings of Psalm 22, with notes.

PSALM 22:13-19 (MT) – “Snuffed Out by the Darkness”

13 Finally I face my inner Minotaurs:
the fierce and high almighties that hem me in,
14 slobbering and growling around my soul,
like lions stalking their prey.

15 Now my bones crack open like a shattered jug,
and my life pours out of me like water,
as my heart like a beeswax candle melts,
snuffed out by the darkness within.

16 Dry and spent is my might of mind,
and my language withers on my tongue.
Myself dies here, like dusty ash
in a firepit growing cold.

17 Finally I face the howling dogs within:
my darkest fears a snarling pack -
while I, on my hands and knees,
dig myself a grave.

18 Only my bones are left to tell my life’s whole tale,
as anyone who cares to look can plainly see.

19 And you who pass this way can see
just how I’ve been betrayed -
stripped of my strength and bare.
So it’s safe for you to bet your pride
On my rags of naked shame.

NOTES TO THE RENDERING OF PSALM 22:13-19 (MT)

Vs. 13: “…Finally I face…” – The Hebrew parim kitruni means “bulls surround me;” these threatening forces all around are thus “faced down” by the psalmist.

“… my inner Minotaurs.” - The “bulls” of Hebrew scripture (parim / ‘abirim) are cultural idioms for which we lack direct equivalents. I render them with a familiar Western cultural idiom – the Minotaur – to describe the threat in similar terms. The word ‘abir (“mighty” or “violent one”) gives the “bull” symbol a god-like force. In fact, the Bible uses ‘abir for ‘elohim (“God”) in Isa 1:24 -“the ‘abir of Israel.” The Minotaur of legend is part beast and part human; so too, the “bulls of Bashan” are more (and other) than they seem.

“…fierce and high almighties…” – Bashan is a high plateau with fertile volcanic soil (the Golan Heights of today). The metaphorical image is highlighted in the related phrase, “fat cows of Bashan,” in Amos 4:1. I render ‘abirim as “almighties” here, paralleled with ‘elohim (“gods).

Vs. 14: “…slobbering and growling…” – The mixed metaphor (bull=lion) is best left uncorrected. There is an amorphous beastliness crouching around (and within) the psalmist.

Vs. 15: “…my heart like a beeswax candle…” – The Hebrew original seems to describe intense pain as melting wax within the body. I keep the beeswax simile and “upgrade” it to signify a lighted candle, flickering out in the dark. The pain here is more of mind than of body.

Vs. 16: “…might of mind…” – This idiom from Job 36:5 - kabir ko’ah lev - seems appropriate here. Notice that in Hebrew, the heart (not the head) is the locus of the mind.

“…in a firepit…” – The Hebrew word is difficult; translators offer “to put.” However, the root meaning of shahah is “a stone supporting a pot over a fire” – hence “firepit.”

Vs. 17: “… I, on my hands and knees, dig myself a grave…” – Here, Christian readers of the Psalms adamantly expect “they have pierced my hands and feet.” This translation has echoed down the centuries (based on the Septuagint’s ‘oruksan cheiras mou kai podas) - as a “proof text” for the Crucifixion of Jesus. However, the MT’s three words: k’ari yadai veraglai (literally “like a lion my hands and my feet”) – are cryptic at best. Much ink has been spilled on this verse. I think it makes most sense if k’ari is a verb (not the noun “lion”). But if a verb, the root (kur) does not mean “pierced,” but rather “hewn” or “hollowed” (like a basin, see 1 Sam 2:14; Exod 30:18). Accordingly, I render k’ari in the context of this psalm’s theme of dying. The self’s grave - a cold firepit in verse 16 - is here a scratched-out trench.

Vs. 18: “…my life’s whole tale…” – The Hebrew words for “count” and “tell a story” are the same.

Vss. 18-19: Translators of these verses are deeply influenced by the “Crucifixion syndrome” I have mentioned. The focus in this case is the Gospel account (Mark 15:24, et al.) of the executioners of Jesus “casting lots” for his garments. The Hebrew text of Psalm 22, however, has a more subtle double entendre. The word beged means both “garment” and “betrayal,” while levushi/(le)voshi means both “my clothing” and “to my shame.” I have opted to retain all these senses in my rendering. Nakedness is loss of self-respect (see Micah 1:11), and the paradoxical phrase “clothed in shame” (lavash boshet) is a common idiom in Scripture (Job 8:22; Ps 35:26; 132:18). All these themes are relevant in the context of Psalm 22. Throughout, the psalmist expresses feelings of betrayal and worthlessness. There is, certainly, more torment in this inner emotional state of vulnerability and abandonment, than in any external nakedness.

Rendering from the Hebrew and Notes