1974 - John H. Reumann - Psalm 22 at the Cross. Lament and Thanksgiving for Jesus Christ

7/27/2019 1974 - John H. Reumann - Psalm 22 at the Cross. Lament and Thanksgiving for Jesus Christ

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Psalm 22 at the CrossLament and Thanksgiving for Jesus Christ

JOHN H. REUMANN

Professor of New Testament

Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia

Use of Psalm 22 through the pre-Christian centuries and critical analysis

of our Gospels working back from them to Jesus meet in a picture

of the cross as lament in suffering and thanksgiving for what God then did.

To that extent, the intent of the psalm came to supreme expression in Jesus.

A S A "lament and thanksgiving of the individual,55 Psalm 22 had aJCX. distinct form and history of usage in Israelite cult and "lateJudaism.55 It was also influential in the recounting of Jesus5 death in theGospels. In light of these two facts, we seek here to examine how thispsalm functions in the passion and resurrection of God's "righteous sufferer,55 Jesus. Can one build a bridge from the more solid piers of earlierform and Jewish use to those of later gospel application, meeting atJesus5 crucifixion and the earliest Christian views of Golgotha, a traditio-historical trajectory of Psalm 22, shedding light on method in historical-Jesus research?

I. U S E OF THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES IN THE PASSION

References to the Old Testament are widespread in New Testamentpassion accounts. In Mark, for the crucifixion scene alone, the follow-

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ing can be listed1 (verse numbers as in RSV; boldface type denotespsalm of lament) :

Mark Quotation Allusion Influence

15:23 (myrrhe d wine) Ps. 69:21 Prov. 31:6-7

15:24 (garments divided) Ps. 22:18 Ps. 22:16

15:27 ( dies wi th tw o robbers ) Isa. 53:12

( 15:28 , numb ered with (Isa. 53:12)transgressors) *

15:29 (wagging heads) Pss. 22:7, 109:25,Lam. 2:15

15:31 (ca nno t save himself) Ps. 22:29c2

15:32 (reproach) Ps. 69:9b Wisd. of Sol.(LXX 68:10) 2: i8f. Jer . 15:6-9

15:33 (darkness) Amos 8:9 Isa. 1 3 : 9 ^ Amos 5:18 , 2050:21. Exod. io:2if .

15:34 (Eloi,Eloi) Ps. 22:115:36 (vinegar to drink) Ps. 69:21

15:3 7 (loud cry) Ps. 31:22

15:38 (temple veil) Exod. 26:31-35,36:35-38; Lev.

2 1 : 2 3 ;

Amos 9:1

* From Luke 22:37, omitted in best MSS of Mark.

The other evangelists often expand these references. For example,Matthew enhances the meaning of Jesus's death with stock Old Testament eschatological signs (27:52f.) : tombs are opened and "the saints"raised up (cf. Ezek. 37:12; Dan. 12:2; Isa. 26:19) . Luke chooses adifferent psalm-of-lament verse for Jesus to utter with a "loud cry" ashis last word (23:46), "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit"(Ps. 31:5, instead of 22 :1). Compared with these psalms of lament,influence from Isaiah 53 on the crucifixion scene is minor. Psalms of

lament may also color and shape other parts of the passion, like the hear-1. Cf. Howard C. Kee, "Scripture Quotations and Allusions in Mark 11-16," The Society

of Biblical Literature, One Hundred Seventh Annual Meeting, Seminar Papers (1971), Vol. 2,pp. 475-502, rev. forthcoming in the festschrift for W. G. Kmmel. Alfred Suhl, Die Funktionder Alttestamentlichen Zitate und Anspielungen im Markusevangelium (Gtersloh, GtersloherVerlagshaus Gerd Mohn, 1965), pp. 45-64, treats a more minimal list of references.

2. So. R. A. Aytoun, " 'Himself He Cannot Save.' (Ps. xxii 29 and Mark xv 31. )," JThSt,21:245-48 (1919-20).

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Psalm 22 at the Cross

Interpretation

ing before the Sanhdrin (i4:53ff.).3 Blocks of the Old Testament,especially such psalms, seem to have been increasingly applied in a "pattern of apologetic55 vis--vis Jewish religious authorities.4

The pervasiveness of Psalm 22 throughout the New Testament can beseen by study of the following references :

Psalm 22

As a whole

vs. 1-18 (suffer, contempt)

(rejection)

v. 1 (Eli, Eli)

v. 5 (hope . . . not ashamed)

v. 7 (mock, wag heads)

v. 8 (let Yahweh deliver)

v. 136 (roaring lion)

v. 15 (tongue cleaves to jaws)

vs. 6, 20 (enemies as dogs)

v. 18 (divide garments)

v. 21 (lion's mouth)

Quotation

Mark 15:34/

Matt. 27:46

Romans 5:5

Mark 15:29/

Matt. 27:39

Matthew 27:43

and

Luke 23:35

(rulers scoff)

Mark 15:24/

Matt. 27:35;

Luke 23:34;

John 19:24

v. 22 ("I will tell thy name") Hebrews 2:12

Allusion

I Peter 1:11

(sufferings,

glory)

Mark 9:12;

Acts 13:29;

Luke 24:27

(cf.44f.)

Mark 14:21

(goes as is

written)

I P e t e r 5 : 8

John 19:28

II Timothy

4:17

Influence

Philippians 3:2

3. Joachim Gnilka, "Die Verhandlungen vor dem Synhedrion und vor Pilatus nach Markusx4

:53

15

:5?"

mEvangelisch-katholischer Kommentar zum Neuen Testament Vorarbeiten,

Heft 2 (Neukirchen-Vluyn, Neukirchener Verlag, 1970), pp. ioff.4. Barnabas Lindars, New Testament Apologetic: The Doctrinal Significance of the Old

Testament Quotations (Philadelphia, The Westminster Press, 1961), pp. 75-137

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v. 23 (praise Yahweh)

v. 24 (God heard lament) * Hebrews 5 :7 s

v. 28 (kingship to Yahweh) Revelation11:15,19:16

v. 29c (cannot save self) Mark 15:31/Matt. 27:42

*LXX 21:25.

Surprisingly, 22:16b (MT "like a lion my hands and my feet"; versions,"they pierce" my limbs) is not reflected in the passion account, thoughlater writers see it fulfilled in the nailing to the cross.6

Martin Dibelius7 rightly reminds us of the variety of formulations inMark for employing scripture: reference to it without giving specific

content (14:21, 49) ; quotation but no introductory phrase ( 15:34, "Eloi,Eloi . . ." is thus a "formula-less quotation") ; and scriptural languagewoven into narrative like the crucifixion scene (15:24, 29)priests,passers-by, and Jesus talk and act "biblically."

Where and when this Old Testament material in Mark arose variesfrom case to caseand scholar to scholar. A few lay the scriptural colorings chiefly to the Evangelist.8 A far greater number trace it to a pre-Marcan source or to a community activity.9 The cry "My God, my

God, why hast thou forsaken me?" is attributed by a majority of commentators to Jesus as bed-rock historicity.10

The function of Old Testament citations and allusions in Mark, Suhl

5. Ibid., p. 92 : " . . . a phrase from this psalm can suggest the whole Passion story."

6. Nails in Jesus' hands (and feet) are only hinted at by references to wounds at John20:27 and Luke 24:39, but at least by the time of Cyprian, Ps. 22:16 was being interpreted asliterally fulfilled, according to J. W. Hewitt, "The Use of Nails in the Crucifixion," HarvThR,25:29-46 (1932).

7. From Tradition to Gospel, trans., Bertram Lee Woolf (London, Ivor Nicholson & Watson,1934; reprinted, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1965), pp. i86f.

8. Cf. Johannes Schreiber, Theologie des Vertrauens. Eine redaktionsgeschichtliche Untersuchung des Markusevangeliums (Hamburg, Fruche-Verlag, 1967). Critique in Eta Linne-mann, Studien zur Passionsgeschichte (FRLANT, 102; Gttingen, Vandenboeck & Ruprecht,1970), PP. 139-46.

9. Thus, e.g., Bultmann and Suhl, op. cit.

io . E. g., Lindars, New Testament Apologetic, . 89; John Bowman, The Gospelof Mark:The New Christian Jewish PassoverHag g ad ah (Studia Post-Biblica, 8; Leiden, E. J. Brill,1965) > PP 8

319, 217, and passim.

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Psalm 22 at the CrossInterpretation

has argued, is not"fulfillment ofprophecy" but "agreement with scripture," against Maurer who spoke of"scriptural proofde facto" in Mark.11

SuhPs emphasis on Mark as "sc hrift gemss" rather than providingSchriftbeweiss ("conformity with scripture," rather than "proof"), seemspreferable. Dispute remains over whether the creative power of OldTestament prophecy was responsible for inventing incidents12 or whetherthere was a core (historical) narrative which was expanded and en

riched in light of the Old Testament (so Bultmann, Suhl). But theintent of any "core account" ofJesus5 passion is debated, to what extent"historical" or "proclamation," catechetical instruction, apologetics, orliturgical use (at Easter celebration) ,13

Mark uses the Old Testament at crucial points to provide a "divineexplanation" for what happened. In this way a Marcan view ofhistoryshines through: history is "determined by God," the "blueprint . . .recorded in scripture."14 Kee sees Mark redefining redemptive hope as

to its route (via Jesus' suffering and death God's rule will be accomplished) and enemies (a war with demonic powers, to be defeatedbefore the kingdom comes). This apocalyptic emphasis will crop up insome interpretations of the cry from Psalm 22:1 at the cross. Equallysignificant for other interpretations is Kee's observation that in the passion it is precisely those psalms in which the "righteous sufferer" speakswhich receive the most frequent emphasis.

II . PSALM 22 : ANALYSIS AND US E

In this psalm15 we hear the poignant voice of a man who suffers allsorts ofmisfortunes yet holds fast to the God of Israel (22:1-21, RSVnumberings) and who then breaks forth in a flood ofpraise for Yahweh'sdeliverance (vs. 22-31). Most commentators now see Psalm 22 as a

11. Christian Maurer, "Knecht Gottes and Sohn Gottes im Passionsbericht des Markusevangeliums," ZThKirche, 50:1-18 ( 1953 ) .

12. So already Friedrich Karl Feigel, Der Einfluss des Weissagungsbeweises undandererMotive auf die Leidensgeschichte (Tbingen, 191 o), and Karl Weidel, "Studien ber den

Einfluss der Weissagungsbeweises auf die evangelische Geschichte," ThStKirche 83:83-109,163-95 (19 1 0); 85:167-286 (1912).13. Cf. Gottfried Schille, "Das Leiden des Herrn. Die evangelische Passionstradition auf ihr

'Sitz im Leben,' " ZThKirche, 52:161-205 0955)14. Kee, "Scripture Quotations in Mark," pp. 485, 494, 496.15. In addition to commentaries, often mentioned above by series and author, cf. Claus

Westermann, Gewendete Klage. Eine Auslegung des 22. Psalms (Biblische Studien, 8;Neukirchen, Verlag der Buchhandlung des Erziehungsvereins, 1957). Hartmut Gese, "Psalm

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unity, form critically as an individual lament (vs. 1-21 ), followed by anindividual song of thanksgiving (22-31), an intermingling often found.16

Textually there is a crux for interpretation at verse 21. The MassoreticText reads (Hebrew, v. 22), "and from the horns of the wild oxen thouhast answered me (

canthan)" (KJV, RSV note). Moderns have usually

emended to "nyath "and from the horns of the wild oxen (save) myafflicted (soul)" (RSV text, NEB, NAB). However, the traditional

Masoretic Text reading can stand if we assume 22:216 refers to a divineresponse to the man who prays, most likely in the form of a "salvationoracle" (cf. Isa. 41:10-13) delivered by a priest at the temple. Hence,the pray-er can break forth in praise (vs. 22ff., v. 25 tehillh), in the"great congregation" (v. 25) of those who fear, praise, and glorify Yah-weh. This setting for the Danklied assumes a meal, to which "the poor"(vs. 26, Canwtm) have been invited, and thus a cultic situation, following a sacrifice. The key to the text problem is thus assumption of a todh

or "thanksgiving" offering and ceremony. Such an explanation, well setforth by Beglich in 1934, though challenged recently by R. Kilian, seems"so clear and convincing" as to "have won general acceptance."17

Structurally verses 1-21 fall into three specific laments (1-2, 6-8, 12-18) rising in intensity, accompanied in the fyrst two instances by assertionsof trust and confidence (3-5, 9-10) and in the last two by petitions (11,19-21). Though beginning with its sharpest outcry of despair and forsakenness, "My God, my God, why . . .?" the lament not only questions

God's goodness in current experience but also lays claim to him, thussetting up a tension which persists throughout. But the sequence is notsimply alternation between doubt and trust; there is a progression inthought.

The first lament (22:1-5) goes to the heart of the matter: Why hasGod left the pray-er without help? Verse lb puts it spatially (God is

22 und das Neue Testament. Der lteste Bericht vom Tode Jesus und die Entstehung desHerrenmahles,,, ZThKirche 65:1-22 (1968). Eng. summaries in ThD 18:237-43 (1970), andNew Testament Abstracts 13 (1968-69), No. 506. Professor Gese informs me that he plans a

future monograph on "Herrenmahl und Toda." Hans Heinrich Schmid, " 'Mein Gott, meinGott, warum hast du mich verlassen?' Psalm 22 als Beispiel alttestamentlicher Rede vonKrankheit und Tod," Wort und Dienst: Jahrbuch der kirchlichen Hochschule Bethel, NF 11,Band 1971 (Bethel, 1972), pp. 119-38, with an appendix on Gese's article, pp. i39f.

16. Glaus Westermann, The Praise of God in the Psalms, trans., Keith R. Grim (Richmond,Va., John Knox Press, 1965), pp. 64-81.

17. Evaluation from Westermann, ibid., p. 65. Joachim Begrich, "Das priesterliche Heilsorakel," ZAW, 52:81-92 (1934). Gf. Rudolf Kilian, "Ps 22 und das priesterliche Heilsorakel,"BibZ 12:172-85 (1968).

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"far off"), verse 2 in temporal categories ("day . . . night"), stressingthe first person {my [cry for] help, . . . my groaning").

But there follows a confident confession about God, drawn from pastcorporate experience of the forefathers with Yahweh. Two predicationsabout him are set forth in verse 5, which Gese finds reflected throughoutthe entire psalm: (1) God as king"yet thou art enthroned as Holyone" (taking, as Kraus does, qdos with ysb)compare verse 28,

"dominion (hammHkh, lit., the kingdom) belongs to Yahweh," whichGese sees shaping verses 27-31, the climax of the psalm, and indeed thetheologoumenon which marks the entire composition; (2) praise: "Thou(art) the Fraise (Fhillh, read as a singular) of Israel, "a theme dominant in verses 22ff. He is the God known in Israel for the deliverancewrought in past Heilsgeschichte. That experience of "our fathers" istraced out in verses 4-5 (note the emphasis on trust, bth). Comfortcomes from cultic recollection of Yahweh's saving deeds.

The second stage of the lament (22:6-11) deals with man himself(6a) and his relation to his fellowmen (66ff.), specifically enemieswho mock and scorn (7-8). His adversaries are described in terms oftheir malicious gestures (v. 7) and cruel taunts (8), "He counted onYahwehlet God rescue him" thus raising again the theme of verses1-2, relation to God. The psalmist trusts, nonetheless, saying in effect(vs. 9-10), from my birth on, "My God hast thou been," a sort of obverse of verse 1, forming the basis for the petition of verse 11, "Be notfar from me (cf. "far" in 16), for Trouble (almost personified) is near."

In the third stage (22:12-21) the lament is longer (vs. 12-18) andmore vivid in describing the enemies (in animal terms, 12-13, 16) andthe plight of the sufferer (14-15, 17-18), right down to his death. Thereis no expressing confidence and trust but only a petition (19-21) forGod's nearness and deliverance. It uses the address "Yahweh" for thefirst time (apart from the taunting scorn of the enemies, v. 8) . Evenin this hour of extremity he can still call God his "help." Thus a lamentwhich began "Why hast thou forsaken me?" can conclude "Hasten to myaid" ( 19) ; the question, "Why art thou so far from helping me?" ( lb)can become the plea, "Be not far off." A man remembers how God is,in the experiences of the forefathers (vs. 4-5) and his own (9-10).

At this point (22:216) is to be understood the salvation oracle discussed above. Assured by Yahweh's promises or now actually secure

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from his threatening peril, the pray-er gathers with friends to praiseGod and celebrate deliverance. What he had vowed in crisis (cf. Ps.116:17; Jonah 2 :9), he will now perform. The thanksgiving (todh)includes an offering (cf. Lev. 7: I2ff., zebah). The man delivered provides the bread and a sacrificial animal, of which the group partakes.He recounts what he personally has experienced, though in the stylizedwords of verses 1-21; then comes rejoicing, praise, and confession that

is to be "remembered" as future testimony for such situations.In the thanksgiving (22:22-31) the pray-er himself begins the praise

(v. 22 ), but since he is "in the midst of the congregation," he exhorts the"brethern" who celebrate todh with him to join in (v. 23, cf. 4-5). Butpraise cannot stop even with "all Israel." In verses 27-28 the circle isexpanded to all the world : "the ends of the earth," "the families of thenations," are to worship Yahweh the king. As if that is not enough,verse 29 brings in the world of the dead, and verses 3of. posterity, genera

tions and peoples yet unborn shall join the paean of praise, declaringwhat Yahweh has accomplished for this once-wretched sufferer.The content for this praise picks up themes from verses 1-21. Reason

for thanksgiving is set forth in verses 24.: God has seen (246) andheard (24^) the afflicted man's lament. So it is he can say (25a), "Mypraise (for Yahweh, sung) in the great congregation comes from thee,"that is, has been worked by God through his saving deed (NAB, "byyour gift"). Hence he pays his vow (256, sing., Kraus) of thanks

giving, by providing this sacrifice, praise, and meal with its joy and goodwishes (v. 26). The final verses (30-31 ) sum up the verdict of the mandelivered, as testimony for posterity: my descendants (NAB) shall sayof my Lord, "Yahweh accomplished it." The sufferer has been reintegrated into his society and enters into a new existence, shalom withGod and man.

Verses 27-31 with their universal hope have produced a wilderness oftheories,18 reflecting the difficulty of verse 29, MT literally, "They shall

18. The verses have been dismissed as "an excess of enthusiasm" (Gunkel), "poetic effusiveness" (Schmidt, HzAT), pre-Israelite cult traditions without much connection to Ps. 22(Kraus, Weiser), or a secondary insertion (recently, Joachim Becker, Israel deutet seine Psalmen[Stuttgarter Bibelstudien, 59; Stuttgart, KBW, 1966], pp. 49-53) . E. Lipinski, "L'hymne Yahw Roi au Psaume 22, 28-32," Bib, 50:153-68 (1969), sees a hymn from the eighth/seventh cent. B.C. The attempt to find an even earlier fragment, by Charles Krahmalkov,"Psalm 22, 28-32," ibid., pp. 389-92, seems rebutted on linguistic grounds by Othmar Keel-Leu,"Nochmals Psalm 22, 28-32," ibid., 511405-13 (1970).

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eat and worship (>0lflwayyistahaw), all the fat ones (dime) of earth;before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, and he who cannotkeep alive his own soul." The initial verb is usually taken as an error for9ok lo yshetah"w "yea> to him shall bow (or worship),55 and the subjectas "the proud of the earth55 (RSV) or, better, "all who sleep in theearth55 (NAB, cf. NEB; Weiser, Kraus, fsh, cf. Dan. 12:2). Thisat least gives an excellent parallelism, "Yea, to him shall all prostrate

themselves who sleep in the earth, before him shall bow all who go downto the dust,55 even if verse 29^ then seems an intrusive phrase (Weiser,Kraus, Gese, Schmid). But such a couplet introduces clear reference tolife after death, and generally in psalms, and Israel's faith until almostMaccabean times, death is held to end contact with God (cf. Ps. 6:5, 88 :10-12). Hence this thought in 22:29 seems a "breakthrough55 (cf.Kraus), the "rule of God55 pressing on to its eschatological consummation (Weiser). Gese refers here to the resurrection of the dead.19 But itis objected that the text itself does not mention this (29a would have tobe understood as an abbreviation for "all who sleep in the earth shallawake (or rise) and bow down . . .55). Schmid sees here merely anassertion of Yahweh5s universal power (cf. Amos 9:2). The New EnglishBible takes the verses as questions, "How can those buried in the earth dohim homage, how can those who go down to the grave bow before him?55

Gese claims, however, that the verses are a unity with the rest of the

psalm, and reflect a type of apocalyptic theology, about the kingdom ofGod and its coming, deliverance and resurrection of the dead, and conversion of the world, here reflected in the rescue of an individual, a signthat the basileia tou theou (v. 28, "dominion55) is breaking in. He datesit to the first half of the fourth century B.C., somewhat prior to theIsaiah-apocalypse (chaps. 24-27, cf. especially 26:19). Such a datingfinds some support in older commentators.20

Once the psalm appeared, how was it used? Gese answers: in the

todh ceremony. As evidence for this continuing cultic use of Psalm 22,

19. Cf. Mitchell Dahood, Psalms I (Anchor Bible, 16; Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday & Co.,1966), pp. 138, 144: "the Victor himself restores to life."

20. Moses Buttenwieser, The Psalms Chronologically Treated (1938; reprinted, New York,KTAV, 1969), pp. 557f.: 344 B.C., W.O.E. Osterley, The Psalms (London, SPCK, 1939),1:182 : fourth/third cent. B.C.

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he refers to half a dozen Mishna passages (cf. also Sirach 51 :i ff).21

Possibly as time went by, in some circles, such compositions were "spiritualized" and a noncultic sense was given to many of the phrases.22

There is also a second possibility: Psalm 22, or parts of it, could havebeen used by pious Jews as they faced illness, oppression, or impendingdeath. Certainly the vow to offer thanksgiving would be made at such atime. Perhaps phrases from the psalm itself would come naturally tothe lips at that moment. It is even possible that the opening wordsof 22:1 could have become proverbial for such times, ce'Elt, 'EU, lmCazabtnx"though we lack evidence. The Psalms of Solomon, rabbinic

sources (see below), and Qumran offer no real help.23 In light of possible reflections of Psalm 22 in Qumran, Thanksgiving Hymns ( iQH)5.5-19, Loren R. Fisher has argued that, if the teacher of righteousnessused it in affliction, Jesus could have too "in the same way.5'24 But the

Qumran teacher does notuse it in the same way as the Nazarene teacher,by quoting verse 1, and the allusions Fisher sees turn out to be mere commonplaces from psalms piety and not even the best reflections of Psalm22 that could be claimed.25 Fisher's conclusionsthat the New Testament has the lament part but not the thanksgiving of the psalm (actuallyit does, cf. Heb. 2:12; the Gospels do not) and that the thanksgiving"might well be the Eucharist of the church"point, in the latter observation, in the direction of the analysis by Hartmut Gese.

21. Mishna Hallah 1,6; Pesahim 1,5 (the only passage readily datable to a specific rabbi,Judah b. Hai, c. A.D. 140-65) and 2,5; Shebuoth 2,2; Zehabim 5,6; and Menahoth 2,3. Furtherreferences on the tdah-ionnula and its later history in Frank Crsemann, Studien zur Formgeschichte von Hymnus und Danklied in Israel (WMANT, 32; Neukirchen, 1969), pp. 267

0.,

276fr.

22. Cf. H. J. Hermisson, Sprache und Ritus im alttestamentlichen Kult: Zur "Spiritual-isierung"derKultbegriffe im Alten Testament (WMANT, 19; Neukirchen, 1965).

23. Cf. Ps. 22:14 with Ps. Sol. 16.2; 22:206 with 18.4 (monogenes) ; and 22:3of. with 18.7I owe the suggestion noted above about 22:1 as possibly becoming proverbial to Geza Vermes,of Oxford. On Qumran, cf. H. Braun, Qumran und das Neue Testament, 2 vols. (Tbingen,J. C. B. Mohr [Paul Siebeck], 1966), I, 58L

24. "Betrayed by Friends: An Expository Study of Psalm 22," Interp, 18:20-38 (1964).25. Cf. Jean Carmignac, "Les citations de l'ancien testament, . . . . dans les hymnes de

Qumran," Revue de Qumran 2 (1959-60) : 373, 382, and "La thologie de la souffrance dansles hymnes de Qumran," ibid. 3 (1961-62) : 375f.; cf. Menahem Mansoor, "The ThanksgivingHymns and the Massoretic Text," ibid. 3 (1961-62): 260, n. 7; and Sven Holm-Nielsen,

Hodayot: Psalms from Qumran (Aarhus, i960) , p. 357. Carmignac recognizes none of theexamples cited by Fisher, and the one in 1 QH 5.20 (cf. Ps. 22:24) that Carmignac does have,Fisher lacks. C. also Crsemann, Danklied in Israel* p. 276.

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I I I . THE PASSION ACCOUNT, ESPECIALLY IN MARK

Psalm 22 colors the Marcan passion narrative, particularly 15:21-41,and provides Jesus' last recorded words (Mark 15:34).

Contrary to many commentators, who seek to settle first the historicityof the saying, then whether 22:1 was meant to suggest despair or, in thespirit of the entire psalm, triumph after suffering, and finally whetherHebrew or Aramaic was the original language, we shall proceed in termsof three levels of meaning, working backwards from our documents:(a) the evangelist's interpretation, in the context of his Gospel; (b) thesense of any earlier source(s), written or oral; (c) the historical-Jesusproblem.

Commentary treatment has often overlooked (a) and (b) on the basisof ( 1 ) the fact that the early church, by its extensive use of Psalm 22, sawmore than just verse 1 implied on the lips of Jesus, and (2) the psychological argument that "use of a biblical verse by a dying man" meanspiety toward the Bible and "harmony with God";26 ergo, Jesus musthave spoken 22:1 but in the triumphant spirit of the entire psalm. MartinDibelius, whose analysis has been particularly influential, went on tosay that either it was known from actual hearers that Jesus prayed thusorit was put on his lips by the early church,27 but his use of these arguments, coupled with his verdict that there is historical probability forother details told in language derived from Psalm 22and Dibeliuseven speaks of eyewitnesseshelped tip the scale toward historicity even

among those employing form criticism to a moderate degree (e.g., Vincent Taylor). Thus in English-language commentaries, until that byEduard Schweizer,28 the dominant view has been that Jesus spoke 22:1and the early church rightly saw the entire psalm intended.

This being so, considerable effort has been spent to determine whetherMark's Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani or Matthew's Eli, Eli, lemasabachthani was what Jesus said. Often it is stated that Mark quotesit in Aramaic (Eli) and Matthew in Hebrew (Eli). Matthew's form

better accounts for the confusion that follows over whether Jesus callsfor Elias (Elijah), but it is usually added that Mark has "re-aramaized"

26. Dibelius, Tradition to Gospel, p. 194.27. Ibid.28. The Good News According to Mark, trans. Donald H. Madvig (Richmond, Va., John

Knox Press, 1970).

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Jesus' statement, or that Matthew has "re-hebraized" what Mark had.Mark's lama seems Hebrew and Matthews's lema Aramaic; sabachthaniin both Gospels is closer to the Targum than to the Hebrew MT's


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duty said, as Jesus expired (same verb as in v. 37), "Truly, this manwas Godcs son" ( 39 ). Three women watch from afar (15:4of. ).

What stands out overall in the Marcan picture of Jesus' death? Theutter Godforsakenness, some say, stressing verse 34. Others, noting thatthere is a "loud cry" also at verse 37, accompanied by a portent whenthe temple veil is ripped and by the centurion's confession, see the secondas a cry of triumph (as if Jesus had more of Ps. 22 than just v. 1 inmind). The righteous sufferer, especially of Psalm 22, is said to be inview,32 or more pointedly the death of "God's obedient Son."33 In recentdiscussion three motifs seem especially emphasized: the apocalypticsigns of (cosmic) victory; atonement via the suffering on the cross; andconquest of demonic opposition.

Eschatological signs there certainly are in Mark's account (darkness,veil torn as judgment or to show access to God), and Mark to a considerable extent can be interpreted throughout apocalyptically.34 The

atonement emphasis has been argued on the basis that Jesus, at his temptation (Mark 1 : i2f.), has already defeated Satan, so that the cross mustbe God's judgment endured by Jesus as a way of deliverance.35 Thethird view sees all of Jesus' life as a conflict with demonic forces, nowclimaxed in the cross,36 especially in the cry at 15137 when Jesus expelsthe demon which possessed him, in a "self-exorcism," at the cost ofhis life.37 This last interpretation raises more problems than it solves, notthe least being the lack of specific reference to such a feat in the cruci

fixion scene and whether Jesus is really to be (dis)credited with havinga lifelong demon expelled only at death. The demonic conflict emphasisdoes neatly integrate the exorcism miracles with the rest of Jesus' life,

31 . Vincent Taylor, The Gospel According to St. Mark (London, The Macmillan Company,1952), p. 587.

32. E.g., Leonhard Goppelt, "Wege zum Verstndnis der Kreuzes nach dem Neuen Testament," in W. Baader, Das Kreuz Christi im Widerstreit der Meinungen (1968), pp. 19-33.

33 . So, e.g., Gerhard Delling, Der Kreuzestod Jesu in der urchristlichen Verkndigung(Gttingen, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1972), pp. 70-72.

34. Cf. Howard G. Kee, Jesus in History: An Approach to the Study of the Gospels (New

York, Harcourt, Brace & World, 1 97 0) ; "The Transfiguration in Mark: Epiphany orApocalyptic Vision?" in Understanding the Sacred Text: (Enslin Festschrift; Valley Forge,Judson Press, 1972), pp. I35"52.

35. Ernest Best, The Temptation and the Passion: the M ark an Soteriology (SNTSMS, 2;Cambridge University Press, 1965).

36. Gf. James M. Robinson, The Problem of History in Mark (SBT, 21; London: SGMPress, 1957).

37. F. W. Danker, "The Demonic Secret in Mark: A Reexamination of the Cry of Dereliction (15 :34 )," ZNW 61:48-69 (1970 )

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but again seems to lack support in the scene at the cross and the passion

generally. The view that demonic powers were already defeated at

the temptation also seems questionable in the face of Mark's very brief

account of : I2f. Finally, apocalyptic emphasis is there at Jesus5

death,

but not to the extent it could have been or is in Matthew (cf. 2715if.)

There is also a widely held position that Mark's real achievement was to

bind a passion narrative to other disparate views of Jesus as teacher and

wonder-worker which he has used as introductory to the story of thecross (M.Kahler).

There is wide agreement that Mark has a "theology of the cross,"

perhap directed against those with a Jesus-without-cross-or-suffering.38

The confession of him as "God's son" at his death, by a Gentile, with its

universal implications, is a key, and there are ample hints that the theme

of the "righteous sufferer who is vindicated" was in Mark's mind. Mark

has an idea of atonement (10:45), but how the ransoming comes about

is not very specific. There is something to be said for the position ofSchreiber and others that the cross is also the exaltation of Jesusbut

it is an exaltation that takes full seriously the depths of despair, lament,

and dying involved. On our part, we see the Marcan passion account

dominated by a view that Jesus came, according to the will and plan

of God (known from scripture), the Son of man, "to give his life a

ransom for many"; suffering, in such a way as had become traditional

in psalms of lament, obedient in sonship, and ultimately triumphant via

the power ofGodbut a "theory" of atonement or precise single-mindedview has not been stamped on all the traditions Mark employs.

Each of the other evangelists, in differing ways, reflects something

of Psalm 22 and kindred laments. Does this trait go back prior to any

of them?

Form criticism has long held that there was an earlier (oral) passion

narrative, telling of the arrest, condemnation, and execution of Jesus,39

but scholars have differed about its extent. Among the proposals for

a "historical core" in Mark 15 are the following (cited byverse numberonly):

4 0

38. T. J. Weeden, Mark: Traditions in Conflict (Philadelphia, Fortress Press, 1971).39. E.g., R. Bultmann, The History of the Synoptic Tradition, trans., J. Marsh (Oxford,

Blackwell, 1963), p. 275, 279, cf. 262-84. For recent analysis, cf. Gerhard Schneider, "DasProblem einer vorkanonischen Passionserzhlung," BZ 16:222-44 (1972).

40. Details in Linnemann, Passionsgeschichte, p. 136.

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Psalm 22 at the Cross

Interpretation

J.Weiss Bultmann Finegan Goguel Taylor Schwei

15&

20&-22, 20&-24


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How and when did Psalm 22 come to exercise this influence? There

are two possibilities : either ( 1 ) Jesus spoke some (or all) ofPsalm 22 on

the cross and the earlychurch began to apply its language in telling of

the crucifixion, or (2) Jesus died without a "last word,53

or at least none

that any one heard, and the early church put on his lips the appropriate

initial words of the psalm it had found so meaningful in interpreting

his death.

In the latter view, 15:37 is basic, "Jesus uttered a loud cry andbreathed his last." This death cry (of triumph?) was then amplified by

giving it content, in connection with a time-scheme : "at the ninth hour

Jesus cried with a loud voice, 01. . .' " from 22:1. While this could

be understood as a cry of despair, the entire psalm was probably in the

minds of those who employed it. Then verses 35f. were addedin a

Greek-speaking community, if Schweizer is right,43

for historically no

Semitic-speaking Jew is likely to have confused Eli or Eli with Elijah,

and Gentiles (at the cross) would likely not have known of a Jewishtradition that Elijah was believed to come and help in time of need.

The man who gives Jesus vinegar is probably understood as trying to

prolong his life, to allow Elijah more time to come ("Wait, let us see

whether Elijah will come to take him down"). So runs much critical

analysis on how use of Psalm 22 at the cross developed.

Gese's article has provided a specific context in the early church where

such application of psalms of lament might have developed : the todhceremony, when a group gathers to celebrate a friend's deliverance, re

capitulating his sufferings (Ps. 22:1-21) and confessing what God

has done and praising him (22:22-31). Bread played a key role, and,

if we bring Psalm 116:13, 17 into the picture, wine also.

With this insight Gese does two things. First he views the oldest

representation of Jesus' death, underlying Mark, as veiled beneath Psalm

22, with its theme of "suffering and God's deliverance" and "eschatologi-cal in-breaking of the kingdom of God." His basic account involves

15:34 (22:1), 37 (death), and the response of Rome's representative

(39) : On the basis of the death cry, the centurion recognizes "God's

son," just as the nations recognize God and confess him in Psalm 22 '.27.

As support Gese appeals to the use Matthew 27:52f. has made of Psalm

43. Schweizer, op. cit., p. 352 ; cf. Linnemann, pp. 150!

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22:29, resurrection of the dead (saints) ! He who during his ministrypreached an eschatological basileia now introduces it with his death.

Secondly Gese sees roots for the Lord's Supper in the todh. Hepoints to the continuing table-fellowship of disciples with the risen One;drawing on scripture to see the meaning of what had happened, theywould "proclaim the Lord's death" (I Cor. 11:26; i.e., recite in lamenthis sufferings), recall what God had done (anamnns, in the sense ofHebrew zkr) and praise God {tehillh, cf. Acts 2:46). A real mealwould be involved, but no animal sacrifice is necessary now, for thecrucified One is himself present as the lamb that was once slain. Theexperience of suffering and resurrection demanded a todh; that inturn explains the origin and development of the Lord's Supper. So Gese.

On this view, use of Psalm 22 in the passion arose in the Aramaic-speaking community. The starting point was either in the statement inthe earliest account that Jesus died "with a loud cry" or attribution of22:1, in the spirit of the whole psalm, to Jesus.

IV: JESUS'DEATH: LAMENT AND THANKSGIVING

Others agree that 22:1 is the starting point for development of thepassion narrative in light of this lament, but insist it goes back to whatJesus actually said upon the cross. We turn now to the historical-Jesuslevel.

We may dismiss several clever interpretations which maintain Jesussaid something akin to "Eli...," but notwhat the first two Evangelistsreport, for instance, "'ell 'attK* "My God thou art," from Psalm22:106,44 or Psalm 118:28.45

Commentators who discuss historicity often argue that it was customary for pious Jews, in time of adversity, to quote Psalm 22. Sometimes this argument is put in general terms ("Jesus used the Psalter inprayer, as contemporaries did"), sometimes more specifically ("There

is some evidence that among the ancient Jews the opening words of thisPsalm were interpreted in the light of the rest of it and recognized as an

44. Harald Sahlin, "Zum Verstndnis von drei Stellen des Markus-Evangeliums (Mc 4 26-29,7:i8f., 15:34)," Bib 33:62-66 (1952) .

45. Thorlief Boman, "Das letzte Wort Jesu," StTh, 17:103-19 (1963), reprinted in DieJesusberlieferung im Lichte der neuen Volkskunde (Gttingen, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht,1967)* PP 221-36.

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effective form of prayer for help in time of trouble . . . " ) ,46

The evidence

turns out usually to be a reference to Dalman, who cites a passage in the

Midrash on the Psalms, about

the way Esther behaved . . . on the three fast-days instituted by herself (Esther iv.16). . . . On the first day she prayed: 'My God!' On the second day again:eMy God!' On the third day: 'Why hast Thou forsaken me?' But when at last

she prayed with a loud voice 'My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?'

herprayer was at once answered.47

That evidence is, however, a frail reed because of ( ) dating the midrash

passage; (2) the difference in tone from Mark 15134;48

and (3) the

fact that here we have 22:1 read back onto the lips of an earlier figure by

later tradition, the very question at issue in the New Testament.

Actual evidence for such use of Psalm 22 in individual piety is sur

prisingly sparse, even in Billerbeck.49

One is hard put to find proof for

use of scriptural passages generally, let alone Psalm 22:1, as "lastwords." The case of Akiba citing the Shema at dawn in his death

tortures has been advanced,50

but it differs in that at issue is a confession

of faith, not a lament, and the point is Akiba observes proper custom,

reciting Deuteronomy 6:4 at the prescribed hour, in the proper way (the

word 'ehd, "one," spoken slowly), even as he was dying.

In the face of this paucity of evidence we are reduced to general arguments from life-of-Jesus research. Sometimes it is stated that the passage

must be genuine because of the difficulties it produced : Luke and Johndrop it, the Western Text in Mark and the Gospel of Peter change it.Closely related is the theory of Schmiedel that this verse is so offensive incontent (Jesus despaired) that it could not have been invented by the

46 . For the former view, cf. H. D. Lange, "The Relationship Between Psalm 22 and thePassion Narrative," Concor, 43:51 0-2 1 (197 2) ; the latter, D. E. Nineham, The Gospel of St.

Mark (Pelican Gospel Commentaries; London, A. & C. Black, rev. ed., 1968), p. 428.

47. Gustav Dalman, Jesus-Jeshua: Studies in the Gospels (London, SPCK, 1929), p. 206,referring to Midr. Teh. xxii. 2. Tr. in The Midrash on Psalms (Yale Judaica Series, 13; NewHaven, 1959), Vol. 1, pp. 297fr., where W. G. Braude translates the Esther incident more as

E. Schweizer gives it in his commentary on Mark, op. cit.48 . Note the artificiality (three phrases, on three days; only the whole verse "works." Esther

is "at once" answered; was Jesus?). Dalman ibid., pp. 2o6f.

49 . H. L. Strack and Paul Billerbeck, Kommentar zum Neuen Testament aus Talmud undMidrasch (Munich, Beck, 1922), I, 1042 and II, 574-80.

50. Birger Gerhardsson, "Jsus livr et abandonn d'aprs la passion selon Saint Matthieu,"RBib, 76:20 6-27 (1 96 9) ; earlier version in Svensk Exegetisk Arsbok 32:92-120 (1967), citingBabylonian Talmud, Berachoth 61 b par.

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church and therefore is one of the "pillar passages" for building a scientific life of Jesus.51 Subsequent scholarship has made almost everyone of those passages suspect, and Nineham, with justification, excludesthe argument.52 The fact that later Christologies may disagree withMark 15134 does not show the picture of Jesus there to be genuine.53

Another major line of argument concerns Jesus5 ipsissima vox. InJeremas5 case for use by Jesus of "Abba55 in a unique way, this saying

is the one exception, and Jeremas explains it as a quotation of scripture,the entire psalm being suggested by its opening line.54 But did Jesusquote scripture thus? Did he lay bare his deepest feelings, "casting pearlsbefore swine55 (Boman)? (Counter-argument: the words were wrungfrom him by pain. ) Jeremas5 argument proves too little, in that such asingular use might be an argument for regarding use of Psalm 22:1 asa creation of the early church which intrudes into Jesus5s otherwisehabitual practice (an intrusion which Luke, moreover, sensed by sub

stituting "Father55

in his comparable saying from the cross at 23:46),and too much in that, if the Psalter was "Jesus5 prayer book,55 then wemight expect him to employ words from it in addressing God more thanonce. Moreover, since "Abba55 was a usage of the early church (Gal.4:6; Rom. 8:15), examples of "Father55 on Jesus5 lips could be community creations,55 just as some hold Mark 15:34 is.

Finally there is the much debated matter of "criteria55 for determininghistorical sayings ofJesus. The rigorous demand that "what is paralleled

in late Judaism or betrays the interests of the early church is not fromJesus55 leaves something to be desired here, since it is hard to find exactparallels to such use of Psalm 22:1 in late Judaism, and the precise interests of the early church involved need to be more carefully specified.Likewise with the contention that "Palestinian milieu55 or "the Jewishnessof Jesus55 is a standard for ascertaining genuine materialwe mustspecify what variety of "Jewishness55 (Judaism) and milieu.

In short, we find the evidence and arguments for genuineness in the

logion of Mark 15:34 to fall short of definite proof that Jesus said it.51. P. W. Schmiedel, "Gospels," Encyclopaedia Biblica (London, A. & C. Black, 1901), Vol.

2, col. 1881.52. Schweizer, Mark, pp. 428f.53. Linnemann, Passions gese hic ht e, p. 153.54. Jeremas, NT Theology, pp. 62, 66, 186, 189, 205, n.5.55. Hans Conzelmann, An Outline of the Theology of the New Testament, tr. J. Bowden

(New York, Harper & Row Publishers, 1969), pp. 101-06.

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At the same time Gese5s thesis as to how Psalm 22 came, through theearly church, to play such a key role in the passion story can be criticized.One may question his interpretation of the psalm itself (resurrection,apocalyptic outlook) and the notion of its continued use in early Christiancircles (is, e.g., the risen Christ to be regarded as speaking the verses[cf. Heb. 2:12] or early Christian prophets?).

Gese5s proposal bears further examination, especially after he developsit more fully, but methodologically we are compelled to say the evidencedoes not suffice, for the rigorous historian, to prove this view, any morethan for the case that Jesus spoke 22:1 as he died. Our ancient sources,as employed to date, fail us.

Clearly, though, Jesus5 death is veiled in language of the Twenty-Second Psalm. A case can be made that he himself thought and expressedhimself in its words, in typical Klagelied piety. A case can also be madethat the saying originated in early Christian meditation on the psalm inthe setting of todh use. In either case, Jesus emerges as the "righteous,vindicated sufferer55 of Israelite piety.56 It is perhaps worth adding thatGese5s case, with its emphasis on "kingdom of God55 and "apocalyptictheology55 in Psalm 22, may still leave the door open and even strengthenthe possibility for attribution of some use of it to the historical Jesus, forthe prophet from Nazareth, on almost every reading of his life, madeGod5s kingship central and employed apocalyptic categories.

No matter which view commends itself, use of Psalm 22 through thepre-Christian centuries and critical analysis of our Gospels working backfrom them to Jesus meet in a picture of the cross as lament in sufferingand thanksgiving for what God then did. To that extent, the intent ofthe psalm came to supreme expression in Jesus.

56. Cf. Lothar Ruppert, Der leidende Gerechte. Eine motivgeschichtliche Untersuchung zumAlten Testament und zwischentestamentlichen Judentum and Der leidende Gerechte und seineFeinde. Eine Wortfelduntersuchung (Forschung zur Bibel, 5 and 6; Wrzburg: Echter VerlagKatholisches Bibelwerk, 1972 and forthcoming) ; summary in Ruppert's Jesus als der leidendeGerechte? Der Weg Jesu im Lichte eines alt- und zwischentestamentlichen Motivs (Stuttgarter

Bibelstudien, 59; Stuttgart: KBW, 1972) ; p. 50, n. 31 : Gese's theory fits Matthew better thanMark.

Documents

1974 - John H. Reumann - Psalm 22 at the Cross. Lament and Thanksgiving for Jesus Christ