Tanak Foundations-Concepts in Psalms 21-22

Psa 21.1-13 is not only about David, but it is also messianic, as are many of the psalms. Remember, we must look at these psalms from the Peshat (literal, simple), Remez (alluded to, hint), Drash (explore, ask) and Sowd (secret, hidden) level. We also need to keep in mind that these psalms can be seen from six different reference points at times. They are the Historical, Messiah’s first coming, Messiah’s second coming, The Birth-pains, the Day of the Lord and the Olam Haba.

We know that the future redeemer of Israel (Yeshua the Messiah) is also called “David” in Ezek 37.25, and both David and Messiah both suffer at the hands of their enemies, who refuse to accept his kingship. Both overcome their enemies and are accepted ultimately. Again, this psalm begins with “For the Conductor; a Psalm of David.” This is verse 1 in a Jewish published Bible, so keep that in mind also.

David (and Messiah) rejoice in the strength of Yehovah. The word “glad” (NASB) is the word “yismach” in Hebrew and it has the same consonants in Hebrew as “Mashiach” and it alludes to the fact that there will be joy at the coming of the Messiah. David may have written this psalm at the beginning of his reign in Hebron. He prayed that his shaky beginning would finally be established (v 1).

In Psa 21.2 it says, “Thou hast given him his heart’s desire, and thou hast not withheld the request of his lips.” In Berakot 5.5 of the Mishnah it says if the words of a prayer flow smoothly from the mouth with no hesitation, it is a sign that his request has been accepted by Yehovah. Selah (pause/prostrate) is used again for the reader to reflect on what has just been said.

In Psa 21.3-7 there are reasons for the king’s happiness and rejoicing. He has blessings of good things and placed the crown of pure gold on his head. He asked “life of thee” and this alludes to Yeshua in the garden (Matt 26.42, Luke 22.42), as well as David asking for physical life when he fled from Saul, Absalom and others. He also asked for “length of days” and it was given to him forever and ever. This refers to David’s royal line and that it will live forever as promised through Yeshua (2 Sam 7.13; Rev 5.13). Majesty and slendor was given to him and God has made him a blessing forever. He is joyful with the gladness of his presence, literally “face.”

The Targums (Aramaic paraphrase) and the Talmud render the word “king” as “Melek Mashiach” in verse 7 and this shows that the Jewish belief was these words speak of the Messiah. However, a change to this interpretation happened in the Middle Ages because Christianity interpreted it that way, too. The Jewish teachers said it was better to interpret this as just referring to David than to agree that Yeshua was the Messiah.

Psa 21.8-10 talks about how Yehovah will defend his people. He says”your right hand (a term for the Messiah) will find out those who hate you.” It also says that he will make them “as a fiery oven” at the time of God’s anger. He will devour them with fire and swallow them up.

The Roman General Titus destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 A.D. with fire. In another example of “Midah Kneged Midah” (measure for measure) Titus requested that when he died they were to burn his body by fire and scatter his ashes in the sea. He said this so that the God of the Jews couldn’t find him and bring him before a tribunal of justice.

Psa 21.11-12 give the reasons why judgment came upon the enemies of God. They intended evil and devised a plot, but they didn’t win. We know they did this to David and Yeshua (Matt 26.1-5). They will be scattered and the Lord will take aim with his arrows at their faces. God’s judgment is seen as arrows. David ends this psalm with praise for Yehovah “in strength.” This takes us right back to Psa 21.1 where David started by saying “Yehovah, in thy strength the king (David, Messiah) will be glad.”

This brings us to Psa 22.1-31 which in the Peshat (literal, simple) refers to times in the life of David where he felt forsaken. But this also refers to Yeshua, especially at the crucifixion in some verses. It can also be read by anyone who is being persecuted. The meek and the innocent suffer also and their feelings are expressed in this psalm.

We are going to look at this psalm in a little more detail than some others because it is so important, looking at David without ignoring the allusions to Yeshua. Of course, the first verse in a Jewish published Bible says, “For the Conductor; on the Aiyelet Ha Shachar. A Psalm of David.”

In this verse we have some important concepts. So, let’s start with “Aiyelet Ha Shachar.” It can mean “the deer of the dawn.” The “deer” aspect alludes to the “meek and innocent” as mentioned before, and is a type of the believer in Psa 42.1-5. Ha Shachar refers to the “dawn” or the “morning star.” The “morning star” is the sun and we have already said this is a type of the Messiah (Mal 4.2; Psa 19.4-5; Rev 22.16). So, this can be understood as “the Deer (believer) of the Sun (Messiah).”

Immediately in verse 1 we have an issue we need to deal with. It starts out by saying, “My God, my God (answer me), why hast thou forsaken me?” In Hebrew it says, “Eli, Eli, lama azavtani.” Azavtani means “forsaken” in Hebrew and these are the words of unbelief and Yeshua would have never said this, and that’s because he didn’t. Yeshua said “sabachtani” and we want to quote from the book “Idioms in the Bible Explained and a Key to the Original Gospels” By George Lamsa, p. 102-104. It gives us an explanation of this verse and shows us the meaning of the word “sabachtani” and why Yeshua was not exactly quoting Psa 22.1. We want to quote it to give you a proper dissection of this phrase.

Lamsa begins by taking “Eli, Eli, lama sabachtani” and says, “All the versions of the Gospels have retained these words in the original tongue and given them a different meaning. Matthew, according to the Eastern version, does not translate them, because he wrote to the people who had seen Jesus and heard him preaching. It also seems probable that the later writers did not agree on its exact meaning when they translated them into Greek. This term even at present is only used by the Aramaic speaking people in Assyria, the same language the Galileans spoke at the time of our Lord. This phrase in Aramaic means. “My God, my God, for this I was kept (this was my destiny, I was born for this).”

“Jesus did not quote the Psalms. If he had he would have said these words in Hebrew instead of Aramaic, and if he had translated them from Hebrew he would have used the Aramaic “nashatani” which means “forsaken me” instead of the word “sabachtani” which in this case means “kept me.” Even the soldiers who stood by the cross did not understand what Jesus said in that hour of agony and suffering. They thought that he was calling on Elijah because the word Elijah in Aramaic is “Elia” which is similar to that for God, “Eli.”

“In those last minutes of suffering Jesus watched the crowd, which was composed of Rabbis, Priests, men and women of Jerusalem, who had come up to watch him dying. Some insulted him. Others spitting in his face, and others calling him names and challenging his claim that he is a man of God but instead that he was a malefactor and a sinner. Jesus only made a statement to himself and to the friends who were standing and hiding in the crowds near the cross. That he was born for that hour that he may bear witness to the truth and open the way for the others who were to be crucified-that that was his destiny. That there was nothing else that could have given such a glorious victory as the cross.”

“The disciples and women who were from Galilee never for a moment could have thought that Jesus said that God had forsaken him. How could he say that when he had told his disciples that the whole world would forsake him, even they, but that the Father would be with him. When he told Peter that if he wished he could bring angels to fight for him, and when he said, “Father, let it be thy wish if I should drink this cup.” These words, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachtani” even today are used by Assyrians when they suffer and die unjustly. Instead of complaint and dissatisfaction, they leave everything to God. They believe that it is God’s desire that they should pass through such experiences. This is the reason why in the east people do not commit suicide.”

Yeshua was not quoting this psalm on the cross, he was saying that this was his destiny, why he came into the world (Eph 1.4; John 12.27). There was no spiritual separation between the Father and Yeshua as some teach (Col 1.19-20; 2 Cor 5.19). David is expressing a sense of puzzlement here. He is asking, “Why would you forsake me?” David wonders why God is so far from helping him. This is a cry of one who feels abandoned. David knew what it was like to experience God’s deliverance, so he is asking “Why?” This has nothing to do with Yeshua. on the cross.

Psalm 22.2-3 says that David made many prayers to God and feels God has not heard him, something Yeshua never believed or said. This is exactly the situation that Job was in but David does not charge God (like Job). He appeals to him on confidence by saying, “Yet you are holy (has a kedusha), O thou who art enthroned upon the praises of Israel.” So he remembers who God is and all the times he has helped the Fathers in the past. They trusted in him, they cried out and were delivered.

But in Psa 22.6-8 David feels very insignificant. He says, “But I am a worm, and not a man.” The word for “worm” there is the word “tola” in Hebrew and it is where the scarlet color comes from that was used in the Temple and the Mishkan. It is called “tolat shanni.” So, let’s look at this worm and the concept behind it.

The “tola” worm can be found in the Middle East and used to make a scarlet (crimson) dye. When the female has “babies” she finds a tree (anything wooden) and attaches herself to it. Her hard shell cannot be detached without killing her. She lays her eggs and when the young are old enough to take care of themselves, the mother dies. As she dies, she oozes a scarlet liquid that stains the wood, and the young. They are scarlet for the rest of their lives. After three days, the dead mother’s crimson body loses its color and turns into a white wax, which falls to the ground like snow.

When David said this, it is a clear allusion to Yeshua who gave up his life on a tree so that those who believe can be “washed” in his blood and their sins can be “as white as snow ” (Isa 1.18; Rev 1.5).

David goes on to say he is reproached by men and despised by the people. Yeshua was a Nazarene and so he was despised (Matt 2.23; Isa 49.7, 53.3). Nazareth was an idiom for “despised” in the Talmud. Even the Gospels say, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth (John 1.46)?”

Everyone who looks at David “sneers” and they “separate the lip” and “wag their head.” These are mocking gestures and this can certainly be applied to Yeshua also (Matt 27.41). Psa 22.8 is quoted by those around the cross in Matt 27.43.

But Psa 22.9-13 tells us that instead of shaking the confidence of David (and Yeshua) he still appealed to God, and even though he felt abandoned, he did not abandon the Lord. David says that God has been near to him, even in his mother’s womb, and has taken care of him, but now trouble is near and there is none to help, so David has to rely on Yehovah. He says, “strong bulls” have encircled him, speaking of strength and vigor. This also speaks of those who stood around the cross (Matt 27.41). They opened their mouth “on” David to tear him to pieces, as a “ripping” lion.

In Psa 22.14 it says David was “poured out like water” meaning he had a loss or diminishing strength, the opposite of having his cup “overflowing” as in Psa 23.5 which means an abundant blessing and strong. All his bones are “out of joint” and this shows how extreme David’s suffering was, but it is also prophetic of Yeshua on the cross.

Psa 22.15 says, “my spittle is dry like baked clay” meaning his strength is diminished. Liquids in the body lubricates the body’s various systems. That is why Yeshua “spat on the ground, and made clay and applied it to the man’s eyes who was born blind (John 9.6).” It speaks of “strength” and it alludes to what the Lord did with Adam when he was created by the power of God. Clay denotes a man being “formed” in the hands of the master potter (Jer 18.1-6; Isa 29.15-16, 45.9; Job 10.9, 33.6). His tongue cleaves to his palate and “thou dost lay me in the dust of the earth” (grave). This also alludes to Yeshua (John 19.28-30).

Psa 22.16-18 says that “dogs (vicious men) have surrounded me, a band of evildoers has encompassed me.” From the Hebrew letter “ayin” in “evildoers” going every 26 letters is spells, “a sign for (of) Yeshua.” It goes on to say, “they pierced my hands and my feet.” This verse in the Septuagint (LXX) says this, and it alludes to the crucifixion (Matt 27.38). In the Masoretic text it says, “as a lion” and it may be a way to avoid a clear interpretation about Yeshua being crucified by later Hebrew teachers. David then says, “I can count all my bones.” David examines his wounds and knows he has nothing broken, but when a victim is scourged (like Yeshua was), his bones can be exposed. Josephus says, “Hereupon our rulers supposing, as the case proved to be, that this was a sort of divine fury in the man, brought him to the Roman procurator; where he was whipped, till his bones were laid bare” (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, Book 6, Chapter 5, Verse 3).

David’s enemies rejoice over him and “look, they stare at me.” He goes on to say, “They divide my garments among them and for my clothing they cast lots.” He was so powerless, they even took his clothes. This may refer to his royal garments and speaks of what Absalom did trying to usurp the throne. However, this is also a clear allusion to what happened to Yeshua in John 19.23-24 and Matt 27.35. In Psa 22.19-22 we have David appealing to the Lord for help. He doesn’t want the Lord to be too far away from him and wants him to hurry to assist him. He wants the Lord to “deliver my soul from the sword.” The first letters of the three words in Hebrew here (“hatzilah maherev nafshi”) spells the name “Haman.”. Then he says, “my only one (soul) from the grip of the dog.” He wants to be saved “from the lion’s mouth (v 13) and from the horns (power) of the wild oxen.”

Psa 22.22-23 tells us that David (and Yeshua) was not forsaken. He says, “I will tell of they name to my brethren; in the midst of the assembly (kahal) I will praise thee.” He then says, “you who fear the Lord (the Godfearers who were non-Jewish) praise him (Est 8.17 is an example, also Acts 10.1-48); all you descendants of Jacob (Jewish people), glorify him, and stand in awe of him all you descendants of Israel.” This alludes to the three groups that make up “the Kahal” or assembly. When Israel came out of Egypt there were three groups called Israel, Judah and the mixed multitude of non-Jews. When Yeshua returns, there will be the same three groups because Isa 11.12 says, “And he (Messiah) will lift up a standard (a term for Messiah) for the nations (the non-Jews), and will assemble the banished ones of Israel (northern tribes), and will gather the dispersed of Judah (two southern tribes).”

Then we have an important verse (v 23) that shows David (and Yeshua) were not forsaken. It says, “For he (God) has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted (David/Yeshua), neither has he hidden his face from him, but when he cried to him for help, he heard him.”

Yehovah let Yeshua be taken, and any “abandonment” was physical, not spiritual. Yeshua did not “spiritually die” and become forsaken by God as some still teach today in the Faith Movement (John 16.32). Was the Ruach Ha Kodesh withdrawn? No, according to Heb 9.14. God did not accept the judgment of men of the world concerning any guilt concerning Yeshua. He was always the perfect Korban Ha Chataat (sin offering-2 Cor 5.21).

In Isa 22.25-31 David tells us that his praise will be of God and he will fulfill his vows in the great “assembly” (kahal) because God has been faithful to him, and there is hope for the poor. They shall eat and be satisfied, all those who seek him will praise the Lord. All people will remember and turn (repent) to Yehovah, including the non-Jews. For the kingdom is Yehovah’s, and he rules the nations. All the prosperous of the earth will eat a consecrated meal to God, or a Lord’s Supper, as seen in Isa 25.6 and Matt 8.11. Even those who have died will bow before him (Isa 26.19; Phil 2.10), even those who “cannot keep his soul alive (second death of the unbelievers). Posterity will serve him (the seed of Isa 53.10), and all will come and declare his righteousness to a people who will be born (Isa 66.7-9; Isa 53.1) that he has performed.”

As we can see, this psalm teaches that even though David was undergoing a tremendous trial, he was not forsaken. How much more should we realize that Yeshua was not forsaken at the cross either. This goes back to where we started in Psa 22.1. Yeshua did not quote that verse on the cross, but said “to this end I was born, this is my destiny (the meaning of sabachtani, not azavtani). It was his destiny to be born and die for the sins of many (Matt 26.28; Heb 9.28) and he was not forsaken.

Posted in All Teachings, Articles, Idioms, Phrases and Concepts, Prophecy/Eschatology, The Festivals of the Lord, The Tanak, Tying into the New Testament

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