Psalm 22

Psalm 22
Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domain · source
Name	Psalm 22
Scripture	Hebrew Bible; Book of Psalms
Language	Hebrew language
Genre	Lament / Royal psalm
Verses	31 (Hebrew numbering 21)
Placement	Ketuvim; third section of the Tanakh

Psalm 22 Psalm 22 is a prominent lament from the Book of Psalms in the Hebrew Bible that begins with a cry of abandonment and progresses to a communal note of praise. The psalm has played a central role in Judaism and Christianity, appearing in Second Temple Judaism contexts, New Testament citation, Reformation debates, and in artistic responses from the Medieval through the Modernism periods. Its language and imagery have influenced theology, liturgy, music, and visual arts across traditions centered in Jerusalem, Rome, Constantinople, and Canterbury.

Text and structure

The psalm divides into an initial individual lament (verses 1–21) and a concluding communal thanksgiving (verses 22–31), reflecting patterns found in other psalms within the Psalter such as Psalm 69, Psalm 88, and Psalm 118. The opening line uses the divine name in the Masoretic Text tradition, with variant readings in the Septuagint, Vulgate, and Dead Sea Scrolls. The Hebrew poem employs parallelism analogous to passages in Isaiah, Job, and Jeremiah, and uses vivid metaphors—mouth like a lion, hands and feet pierced—that resonate with imagery in Ezekiel and Daniel. Manuscript witnesses include Codex Leningradensis, Aleppo Codex, Codex Vaticanus, and fragments from Qumran that help establish its versification and cantillation marks found in Masoretic practice.

Authorship and dating

Traditional attribution names David as the psalmist, a claim found in the superscription paralleled in 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, and 1 Chronicles. Modern critical scholarship situates composition across a range of periods, with proposals linking the psalm to the monarchic era of Iron Age II, the exile community in Babylon, or the postexilic restoration in Persian Empire Yehud. Philological parallels with Ugaritic texts and form-critical analogies to liturgical laments in Ancient Near Eastern archives prompt comparisons with compositions from Assyria, Babylon, and Hittite repertoires. The psalm's reception history in Second Temple literature, including echoes in Psalms of Solomon and 1 Maccabees, complicates definitive dating.

Literary themes and motifs

Major themes include divine abandonment, suffering, vindication, and universal praise. Motifs of being "poured out" and "counted among the transgressors" invoke legal and sacrificial categories familiar from Leviticus and Deuteronomy, while images of "dogs," "lions," and "bulls" connect with iconography in Near Eastern royal inscriptions and Ugarit. The movement from individual distress to national or international praise parallels literary arcs in Hymn traditions found in Exodus and Deuteronomy compositions. Intertextual echoes appear in Isaiah 53 and passages of the Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Matthew, and Gospel of John, where language from the psalm is cited or alluded to, influencing theological motifs in Patristic writings by figures such as Augustine of Hippo, Origen, and John Chrysostom.

Use in Jewish and Christian liturgy

In Jewish practice the psalm appears in liturgical cycles such as Tikkun recitations, rites of Tachanun, and medieval piyutim performed in Sephardi and Ashkenazi synagogues; references occur in the Siddur and liturgical calendars of communities in Babylonian Talmudic tradition. Christian usage is extensive: the psalm is read in the Holy Week liturgies of Rome, chanted in the Byzantine Rite at Matins, and integrated into the Liturgy of the Hours established by Pope Pius V and revised by Second Vatican Council. Its verses are prominent in Good Friday devotion, reflected in Anglican Book of Common Prayer rites and Protestant hymnody influenced by the Geneva Bible and King James Version translations.

Reception and interpretation

Interpretations diverge between traditions that read the psalm as messianic prophecy and those that see it as historical or communal lament. Early Christian exegetes such as Paul the Apostle and Justin Martyr applied lines to the passion narratives in Jerusalem and Antioch, while medieval commentators like Rashi and Maimonides offered Jewish exegetical readings focusing on national suffering and divine deliverance. Modern scholarship includes redaction-critical, form-critical, and reception-historical approaches developed at institutions like The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, University of Oxford, and Harvard Divinity School. Debates about typology versus direct fulfillment involve figures such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, and contemporary scholars in biblical studies at Yale and Princeton Theological Seminary.

Musical and artistic settings

Psalm 22 inspired numerous musical settings from the Plainchant tradition through Renaissance motets and Baroque passions by composers in Venice, Leipzig, Paris, and Vienna—including music associated with Palestrina, Heinrich Schütz, Johann Sebastian Bach, and George Frideric Handel. In visual arts the psalm's motifs influenced medieval illuminated manuscripts, Gothic stained glass in Chartres Cathedral, Renaissance depictions in Florence workshops, and modern interpretations by artists in Berlin, New York, and London. The psalm appears in film scores, choral works commissioned by institutions such as Notre-Dame de Paris and Westminster Abbey, and contemporary compositions performed at festivals like the Edinburgh Festival and Bachfest Leipzig.

Category:Psalms