Introduction to Psalm 22
Eli eli lama sabactani in Psalm 22: the cry of abandonment
Psalm 22 opens with the most dramatic cry in the entire Psalter: Eli Eli lama azavtani — "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?" (Ps 22:2). The invocation is repeated twice (Eli Eli) as a sign of extreme urgency, and the verb azav indicates a concrete, not metaphorical, abandonment — the same root used for the husband who repudiates his wife or the father who forsakes his son. The Aramaized form eli eli lama sabactani (a variant reflecting first-century Palestinian pronunciation) is what Jesus pronounces on the cross according to Matt 27:46 and, in the variant eloi eloi lema sabachthani, according to Mark 15:34. This connection makes Psalm 22 the preeminent christological psalm together with Psalm 110.
The structure of Psalm 22 is bipartite with a clarity that literary criticism has unanimously recognized: verses 1-21 constitute an individual lament of increasing intensity, while verses 22-31 turn suddenly into todah — thanksgiving and proclamation of salvation. This turn is not a psychological resolution of the lament but a theological event: the righteous sufferer, having invoked God from the depths of abandonment, receives an answer and proclaims divine faithfulness before the assembly (qahal).
| Verse (MT) | Key Hebrew term | Theological meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Ps 22:2 | azavtani (עֲזַבְתָּנִי) | Abandoned — a concrete verb, not metaphorical |
| Ps 22:7 | tola'at lo ish (תוֹלַעַת וְלֹא אִישׁ) | A worm and not a man — the dehumanization of the righteous |
| Ps 22:17 | karu yadai ve-raglai (כָּארִי יָדַי וְרַגְלָי) | They have pierced my hands and my feet |
| Ps 22:19 | yechalleku (יְחַלְּקוּ) | They divide the garments — cited in John 19:24 |
| Ps 22:23 | asapprah shimkha (אֲסַפְּרָה שִׁמְךָ) | I will declare your name — cited in Heb 2:12 |
Psalm 22 commentary: the christological diptych Ps 22–Ps 18
The meaning of Psalm 22 is fully illuminated in its relationship with Psalm 18. The two psalms form a complementary christological diptych: Psalm 22 is the cry from the cross — the lament that culminates in the apparent silence of God — while Psalm 18 is the Father's response through the cosmic theophany. In Psalm 22 the psalmist cries "by day I call and you do not answer, by night and there is no silence for me" (Ps 22:3); in Psalm 18 "from his temple he heard my voice" (Ps 18:7) — the answer has come. Three elements confirm this reading: the cry heard (Ps 22:3 → Ps 18:7), the cosmic deployment (Ps 22 silence → Ps 18 theophany), the universal doxology (Ps 22:28 promise → Ps 18:50 fulfillment, cited by Paul in Rom 15:9).
The New Testament multiplies the points of contact with Psalm 22 in the Passion narrative: the soldiers divide the garments casting lots (John 19:23-24 explicitly cites Ps 22:19); bystanders shake their heads and mock (Matt 27:39, echoing Ps 22:8); the "I am full of reproach" (Ps 22:7-9) finds fulfillment in the derisions of Calvary. The ancient exegetical tradition sees in the precision of these correspondences a proof of the christological prophecy of the psalm.
Psalm 22 commentary: from lamentation to universal doxology
The turn at verse 22 transforms Psalm 22 into an eschatological hymn. The psalmist, hitherto isolated in his suffering, now announces: asapprah shimkha le-echai be-tokh qahal ahalleleka — "I will declare your name to my brothers, in the midst of the assembly I will praise you" (Ps 22:23). The Letter to the Hebrews (Heb 2:11-12) cites this verse as the word of the glorified Christ who, after the passion, presents the faithful to the Father as "brothers" — an explicit connection that makes Psalm 22 the text of solidarity between the incarnate Word and redeemed humanity.
Three characteristics make Psalm 22 unique in the Psalter:
- The arc from the individual I to the universal we: the psalm opens with the extreme singular ("my God") and closes with the declaration that "all the families of the nations shall bow before you" (Ps 22:28) — the movement is from Israel to the nations
- The centrality of the divine Name: verse 23 makes the name of YHWH (proclaimed to the assembly) the central object of the post-resurrection doxology, in continuity with the theology of the Name of Exod 3:14-15
- The inversion of the literary genre: the psalm begins as an individual lament and ends as a universal hymn — this metamorphosis has no close parallels in the Psalter and has fed the Christian reading as a prefiguration of the passage from the cross to the resurrection
The final verse (Ps 22:32) closes with a formula the tradition has read as eschatological fulfillment: ki asah — "for he has acted". The verbal form in the perfect tense announces a divine action already accomplished, of which the future generation ("a people yet to be born", v.32) will be witness. In the christological reading, ki asah is the word of Christ from the cross that John renders as tetelestai — "it is finished" (John 19:30).
Q: What does eli eli lama sabactani mean in Psalm 22 and why does Jesus cite it on the cross? A: The expression Eli Eli lama azavtani — "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?" (Ps 22:2) — opens the psalm with a cry of concrete abandonment. The Hebrew verb azav indicates a real abandonment, the same root used for the husband who repudiates his wife. The Aramaized form eli eli lama sabactani reflects first-century Palestinian pronunciation: it is what Jesus pronounces on the cross according to Matt 27:46 (and in the variant eloi eloi lema sabachthani according to Mark 15:34). By citing the first verse of the psalm, Jesus activates the entire textual arc, from lamentation to the final doxology.
Q: What is the structure of Psalm 22 and how do lamentation and thanksgiving relate? A: Psalm 22 has a sharply defined bipartite structure: verses 2-22 constitute an individual lament of increasing intensity, while verses 23-32 turn suddenly into todah (thanksgiving). Verse 23 — asapprah shimkha le-echai be-tokh qahal ahalleleka ("I will declare your name to my brothers, in the midst of the assembly I will praise you") — marks the turning point. This metamorphosis of the literary genre, from individual lamentation to universal hymn, has no close parallels in the Psalter.
Q: How does the New Testament connect Psalm 22 to the Passion of Christ? A: The NT multiplies the points of contact of Psalm 22 with the Passion: John 19:23-24 explicitly cites Ps 22:19 ("they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots") in the account of the soldiers at the foot of the cross; Matt 27:39 echoes Ps 22:8 in describing bystanders shaking their heads; Heb 2:11-12 cites Ps 22:23 as the word of the glorified Christ who presents the faithful to the Father as "brothers". The precision of these correspondences has made Psalm 22 the preeminent christological text alongside Psalm 110.
Q: What is the diptych Ps 22–Ps 18 and why does Psalm 22 commentary require both? A: Psalm 22 and Psalm 18 form a complementary christological diptych: Psalm 22 is the cry from the cross — the lament that culminates in the apparent silence of God — while Psalm 18 is the Father's response through the cosmic theophany. In Ps 22:3 the psalmist cries "by day I call and you do not answer"; in Ps 18:7 "from his temple he heard my voice". The promise of universal doxology in Ps 22:28 finds fulfillment in Ps 18:50, cited explicitly by Paul in Rom 15:9 as the foundation of the praise of the nations.
Q: What does the phrase 'they have pierced my hands and my feet' mean in Psalm 22? A: Verse 17 of Psalm 22 contains the expression karu yadai ve-raglai — literally "they have pierced my hands and my feet" (Ps 22:17). The Masoretic tradition transmitted a textual variant (ka'ari, "like a lion") while the LXX and the Dead Sea Scrolls attest the reading karu. In the Christian reading the verse is central as a prophecy of the crucifixion: it describes with precision a suffering the psalmist could not have known except through prophetic inspiration. The verse is the fulcrum of the typological dimension of Psalm 22.
Q: What does the final verse Ps 22:32 'ki asah' mean and how does it connect to the Johannine tetelestai? A: The final verse of Psalm 22 closes with the formula ki asah — "for he has acted" (Ps 22:32). The verbal form in the perfect tense announces a divine action already accomplished, of which "a people yet to be born" will be witness. In the christological reading, ki asah is the word of Christ from the cross that John renders as tetelestai — "it is finished" (John 19:30). Psalm 22 thus closes not as an unresolved lamentation but as a declaration of the completion of the divine work, in perfect correspondence with the last word of the crucified Christ according to the fourth Gospel.