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Psalm 22 at the Cross : Lament and Thanksgiving for Jesus Christ

John H. Reumann Interpretation 1974 28: 39 DOI: 10.1177/002096437402800103 The online version of this article can be found at: http://int.sagepub.com/content/28/1/39

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Psalm 22 at the Cross

Lament 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 a JCX. distinct form and history of usage in Israelite cult and "late Judaism.55 It was also influential in the recounting of Jesus5 death in the Gospels. In light of these two facts, we seek here to examine how this psalm functions in the passion and resurrection of God's "righteous sufferer,55 Jesus. Can one build a bridge from the more solid piers of earlier form and Jewish use to those of later gospel application, meeting at Jesus5 crucifixion and the earliest Christian views of Golgotha, a traditiohistorical trajectory of Psalm 22, shedding light on method in historicalJesus research?
I. U S E OF THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES IN THE PASSION

References to the Old Testament are widespread in New Testament passion accounts. In Mark, for the crucifixion scene alone, the followDownloaded from int.sagepub.com by guest on January 28, 2013

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ing can be listed1 (verse numbers as in RSV; boldface type denotes psalm of lament) :
Mark 15:23 (myrrhed wine) 15:24 (garments divided) 15:27 ( dies with two robbers ) ( 15:28, numbered with transgressors) * 15:29 (wagging heads) 15:31 (cannot save himself) 15:32 (reproach) 15:33 (darkness) 15:34 (Eloi,Eloi) 15:36 (vinegar to drink) 15:37 (loud cry) 15:38 (temple veil) (Isa. 53:12) Pss. 22:7, 109:25, Lam. 2: 15 Ps. 22:29c 2 Ps. 69:9b (LXX 68:10) Amos 8:9 Ps. 22:1 Ps. 69:21 Ps. 31:22 Exod. 26:31-35, 36:35-38; Lev.
21:23;

Quotation Ps. 69:21 Ps. 22:18

Allusion Prov. 31:6-7 Ps. 22:16

Influence

Isa. 53:12

Wisd. of Sol. 2 : i8f. Isa. 1 3 : 9 ^ 50:21.

Jer. 15:6-9 Amos 5:18, 20 Exod. i o : 2 i f .

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 a different psalm-of-lament verse for Jesus to utter with a "loud cry" as his 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 hear1. 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 Funktion der Alttestamentlichen Zitate und Anspielungen im Markusevangelium (Gtersloh, Gtersloher Verlagshaus 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 be seen by study of the following references :
Psalm 22 As a whole Quotation Allusion I Peter 1:11 (sufferings, glory) Mark 9:12; Acts 13:29; Luke 24:27 (cf.4 4 f.) Mark 14:21 (goes as is written) Mark 15:34/ Matt. 27:46 Romans 5:5 Mark 15:29/ Matt. 27:39 Matthew 27:43 and Luke 23:35 (rulers scoff) IPeter5:8 John 19:28 Philippians 3:2 Mark 15:24/ Matt. 27:35; Luke 23:34; John 19:24 I I Timothy 4:17 Hebrews 2:12 Influence

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) v. 22 ("I will tell thy name")

x

3. Joachim Gnilka, "Die Verhandlungen vor dem Synhedrion und vor Pilatus nach Markus 4 : 53 1 5 : 5?" m Evangelisch-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) * v. 28 (kingship to Yahweh) v. 29c (cannot save self) *LXX 21:25.

Hebrews 5 : 7 s Revelation 11:15,19:16 Mark 15:31/ Matt. 27:42

Surprisingly, 22: 16b (MT "like a lion my hands and my feet"; versions, "they pierce" my limbs) is not reflected in the passion account, though later writers see it fulfilled in the nailing to the cross.6 Martin Dibelius7 rightly reminds us of the variety of formulations in Mark 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 language woven 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 varies from 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 preMarcan 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 John 20:27 and Luke 24:39, but at least by the time of Cyprian, Ps. 22:16 was being interpreted as literally 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 Linnemann, 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 Gospel of Mark: The New Christian Jewish Passover Hagg ad ah (Studia Post-Biblica, 8; Leiden, E. J. Brill, 1965) > PP 8 3 19, 217, and passim.

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Psalm 22 at the Cross

Interpretation

has argued, is not "fulfillment of prophecy" but "agreement with scripture," against Maurer who spoke of "scriptural proof de facto" in Mark.11 SuhPs emphasis on Mark as "sc hriftgemss" rather than providing Schriftbeweiss ("conformity with scripture," rather than "proof"), seems preferable. Dispute remains over whether the creative power of Old Testament prophecy was responsible for inventing incidents12 or whether there was a core (historical) narrative which was expanded and enriched in light of the Old Testament (so Bultmann, Suhl). But the intent of any "core account" of Jesus5 passion is debated, to what extent "historical" or "proclamation," catechetical instruction, apologetics, or liturgical use (at Easter celebration) ,13 Mark uses the Old Testament at crucial points to provide a "divine explanation" for what happened. In this way a Marcan view of history shines 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 defeated before the kingdom comes). This apocalyptic emphasis will crop up in some interpretations of the cry from Psalm 22:1 at the cross. Equally significant for other interpretations is Kee's observation that in the passion it is precisely those psalms in which the "righteous sufferer" speaks which receive the most frequent emphasis.
II. PSALM 22 : ANALYSIS AND U S E

In this psalm15 we hear the poignant voice of a man who suffers all sorts of misfortunes yet holds fast to the God of Israel (22:1-21, RSV numberings) and who then breaks forth in a flood of praise for Yahweh's deliverance (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 und anderer Motive 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 an individual song of thanksgiving (22-31), an intermingling often found.16 Textually there is a crux for interpretation at verse 21. The Massoretic Text reads (Hebrew, v. 22), "and from the horns of the wild oxen thou hast answered me (canthan)" (KJV, RSV note). Moderns have usually emended to "nyath "and from the horns of the wild oxen (save) my afflicted (soul)" (RSV text, NEB, NAB). However, the traditional Masoretic Text reading can stand if we assume 22:216 refers to a divine response to the man who prays, most likely in the form of a "salvation oracle" (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 Yahweh. 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 set forth 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, 1218) rising in intensity, accompanied in the fyrst two instances by assertions of 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, thus setting up a tension which persists throughout. But the sequence is not simply alternation between doubt and trust; there is a progression in thought. The first lament (22:1-5) goes to the heart of the matter: Why has God 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 des Herrenmahles,,, ZThKirche 65:1-22 (1968). Eng. summaries in ThD 18:237-43 (1970), and New 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, mein Gott, warum hast du mich verlassen?' Psalm 22 als Beispiel alttestamentlicher Rede von Krankheit 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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Psalm 22 at the Cross

Interpretation

"far off"), verse 2 in temporal categories ("day . . . night"), stressing the first person {my [cry for] help, . . . my groaning"). But there follows a confident confession about God, drawn from past corporate experience of the forefathers with Yahweh. Two predications about him are set forth in verse 5, which Gese finds reflected throughout the entire psalm: (1) God as king"yet thou art enthroned as Holy one" (taking, as Kraus does, qdos with ysb)compare verse 28, "dominion (hammHkh, lit., the kingdom) belongs to Yahweh," which Gese sees shaping verses 27-31, the climax of the psalm, and indeed the theologoumenon 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 deliverance wrought in past Heilsgeschichte. That experience of "our fathers" is traced out in verses 4-5 (note the emphasis on trust, bth). Comfort comes 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 enemies who mock and scorn (7-8). His adversaries are described in terms of their malicious gestures (v. 7) and cruel taunts (8), "He counted on Yahwehlet God rescue him" thus raising again the theme of verses 1-2, 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 not far 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) and more vivid in describing the enemies (in animal terms, 12-13, 16) and the plight of the sufferer (14-15, 17-18), right down to his death. There is no expressing confidence and trust but only a petition (19-21) for God's nearness and deliverance. It uses the address "Yahweh" for the first time (apart from the taunting scorn of the enemies, v. 8). Even in this hour of extremity he can still call God his "help." Thus a lament which began "Why hast thou forsaken me?" can conclude "Hasten to my aid" ( 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 praise God 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 stylized words 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). But praise cannot stop even with "all Israel." In verses 27-28 the circle is expanded to all the world : "the ends of the earth," "the families of the nations," 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, generations and peoples yet unborn shall join the paean of praise, declaring what 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) and heard (24^) the afflicted man's lament. So it is he can say (25a), "My praise (for Yahweh, sung) in the great congregation comes from thee," that is, has been worked by God through his saving deed (NAB, "by your gift"). Hence he pays his vow (256, sing., Kraus) of thanksgiving, by providing this sacrifice, praise, and meal with its joy and good wishes (v. 26). The final verses (30-31 ) sum up the verdict of the man delivered, as testimony for posterity: my descendants (NAB) shall say of my Lord, "Yahweh accomplished it." The sufferer has been reintegrated into his society and enters into a new existence, shalom with God and man. Verses 27-31 with their universal hope have produced a wilderness of theories,18 reflecting the difficulty of verse 29, M T 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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Psalm 22 at the Cross Interpretation

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 cannot keep alive his own soul." The initial verb is usually taken as an error for 9 ok lo yshetah"w "yea> to him shall bow (or worship),55 and the subject as "the proud of the earth55 (RSV) or, better, "all who sleep in the earth55 (NAB, cf. NEB; Weiser, Kraus, fsh, cf. Dan. 12:2). This at least gives an excellent parallelism, "Yea, to him shall all prostrate themselves who sleep in the earth, before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,55 even if verse 29^ then seems an intrusive phrase (Weiser, Kraus, Gese, Schmid). But such a couplet introduces clear reference to life after death, and generally in psalms, and Israel's faith until almost Maccabean 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 it is objected that the text itself does not mention this (29a would have to be understood as an abbreviation for "all who sleep in the earth shall awake (or rise) and bow down . . . 55 ). Schmid sees here merely an assertion of Yahweh5s universal power (cf. Amos 9:2). The New English Bible takes the verses as questions, "How can those buried in the earth do him 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 of God and its coming, deliverance and resurrection of the dead, and conversion of the world, here reflected in the rescue of an individual, a sign that the basileia tou theou (v. 28, "dominion55) is breaking in. He dates it to the first half of the fourth century B.C., somewhat prior to the Isaiah-apocalypse (chaps. 24-27, cf. especially 26:19). Such a dating finds 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 have been used by pious Jews as they faced illness, oppression, or impending death. Certainly the vow to offer thanksgiving would be made at such a time. Perhaps phrases from the psalm itself would come naturally to the lips at that moment. It is even possible that the opening words of 22:1 could have become proverbial for such times, ce'Elt, 'EU, lm Ca zabtnx" 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 ( i Q H ) 5.5-19, Loren R. Fisher has argued that, if the teacher of righteousness used it in affliction, Jesus could have too "in the same way.5'24 But the Qumran teacher does not use 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 Psalm 22 that could be claimed.25 Fisher's conclusionsthat the New Testament has the lament part but not the thanksgiving of the psalm (actually it 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. Further references on the tdah-ionnula and its later history in Frank Crsemann, Studien zur Form0 geschichte von Hymnus und Danklied in Israel (WMANT, 32; Neukirchen, 1969), pp. 267 ., 276fr. 22. Cf. H. J. Hermisson, Sprache und Ritus im alttestamentlichen Kult: Zur "Spiritualisierung" der Kultbegriffe 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 18.7 I 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 dans les hymnes de Qumran," ibid. 3 (1961-62) : 375f.; cf. Menahem Mansoor, "The Thanksgiving Hymns 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 the examples 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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Psalm 22 at the Cross Interpretation

III.

T H E 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 historicity of the saying, then whether 22:1 was meant to suggest despair or, in the spirit of the entire psalm, triumph after suffering, and finally whether Hebrew or Aramaic was the original language, we shall proceed in terms of three levels of meaning, working backwards from our documents: (a) the evangelist's interpretation, in the context of his Gospel; (b) the sense of any earlier source(s), written or oral; (c) the historical-Jesus problem. Commentary treatment has often overlooked (a) and (b) on the basis of ( 1 ) the fact that the early church, by its extensive use of Psalm 22, saw more 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" means piety toward the Bible and "harmony with God"; 26 ergo, Jesus must have spoken 22:1 but in the triumphant spirit of the entire psalm. Martin Dibelius, whose analysis has been particularly influential, went on to say that either it was known from actual hearers that Jesus prayed thus or it 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 for other details told in language derived from Psalm 22and Dibelius even 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 by Eduard Schweizer,28 the dominant view has been that Jesus spoke 22:1 and the early church rightly saw the entire psalm intended. This being so, considerable effort has been spent to determine whether Mark's Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani or Matthew's Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani was what Jesus said. Often it is stated that Mark quotes it in Aramaic (Eli) and Matthew in Hebrew (Eli). Matthew's form better accounts for the confusion that follows over whether Jesus calls for 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; sabachthani in both Gospels is closer to the Targum than to the Hebrew MT's <a zabtn, which is represented best by the form zaphthani in the D text of Mark. Textual variants occur in both Gospels. When we add differing opinions about what "current Aramaic" may have been, the judgment of G. D. Kilpatrick is sound : " . . . each word may in both gospels be read in an Aramaic or in a Hebrew form"29 and we lack the evidence to decide fully which Mark and which Matthew wrote, let alone what lay behind them. Perhaps the most we can do is exclude as later revisions the Western reading, "Why have you reproached (neidisas) me?" and that in the Gospel of Peter, "My power, my power (dynamis), why did you forsake me?" 30 Mark's crucifixion scene (15:21-41) consists "of short separate scenes strung together in rapid succession,"31 the whole fitted into Mark's Gospel as, in many ways, the climax. The procession to the place of execution includes the otherwise unexploited detail about Simon of Cyrene bearing Jesus' cross-bar ( 15:20&-21 ). The place is named, "Golgotha," and the meaning given, "place of a skull" (2206). Then follow the offer of "myrrhed wine" (23) and, after "they crucified him," the dividing of garments (24), both actions reflecting psalms. Verse 25 gives the first "time statement" (crucified at "the third hour"), and 26 the inscription on the cross. Two thieves are mentioned (27). (V. 28 is the formula quotation of Isaiah 53:12, found only in later MSS.) Then come three groups of mockers : passers-by ( 29-30 ), chief priests (31-32), and the two robbers (326). The second "time reference" comes in verse 33 (the sixth hour, darkness). The third comes, with the Psalm 22:1 quotation, "at the ninth hour" (34). That leads an unnamed bystander to exclaim, "He's calling Elijah," and someone (else?) gives Jesus vinegar (with what motive?), while waiting for Elijah (35-36). Then Jesus, having uttered "a great cry" (contents here unspecified), dies (37). The temple veil is torn in half (38), and the centurion on
29. The Origins of the Gospel according to St. Matthew (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1946), p. 105. Joachim Jeremas, New Testament Theology, trans. J. Bowden (London, SCM), Vol. 1 ( 1971 ), p. 5, n. 2, thinks Matthew 27:46 in toto Aramaic, like Mark. 30. Krister Stendahl, The School of St. Matthew and its Use of the Old Testament (ASNU, 20; Uppsala, 1954; reprinted, Philadelphia, Fortress Press, 1968), pp. 83-87. The docetizing Gospel of Peter here rests either on a Greek translation which took 9l as did Aquila (ischure= "strength") or on a reading of it as hl (cf. Ps. 22:15, "my strength was dried up").

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duty said, as Jesus expired (same verb as in v. 37), "Truly, this man was Godcs son" ( 39 ). Three women watch from afar (15:4of. ). What stands out overall in the Marcan picture of Jesus' death? The utter Godforsakenness, some say, stressing verse 34. Others, noting that there is a "loud cry" also at verse 37, accompanied by a portent when the temple veil is ripped and by the centurion's confession, see the second as a cry of triumph (as if Jesus had more of Ps. 22 than just v. 1 in mind). The righteous sufferer, especially of Psalm 22, is said to be in view,32 or more pointedly the death of "God's obedient Son."33 In recent discussion three motifs seem especially emphasized: the apocalyptic signs of (cosmic) victory; atonement via the suffering on the cross; and conquest 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 must be God's judgment endured by Jesus as a way of deliverance.35 The third view sees all of Jesus' life as a conflict with demonic forces, now climaxed in the cross,36 especially in the cry at 15137 when Jesus expels the demon which possessed him, in a "self-exorcism," at the cost of his life.37 This last interpretation raises more problems than it solves, not the least being the lack of specific reference to such a feat in the crucifixion scene and whether Jesus is really to be (dis)credited with having a lifelong demon expelled only at death. The demonic conflict emphasis does 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, 1970); "The Transfiguration in Mark: Epiphany or Apocalyptic 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, 2 1 ; London: SGM Press, 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 5 account of : I2f. Finally, apocalyptic emphasis is there at Jesus 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 the cross (M.Kahler). There is wide agreement that Mark has a "theology of the cross," 38 perhap directed against those with a Jesus-without-cross-or-suffering. 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 of Schreiber 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 of Godbut a "theory" of atonement or precise single-minded view 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 39 narrative, telling of the arrest, condemnation, and execution of Jesus, but scholars have differed about its extent. Among the proposals for a "historical core" in Mark 15 are the following (cited by verse number 40 only):
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, "Das Problem 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
15& 20&-22,

Bultmann
20&-24<

Finegan
2,22,

Goguel
22-24

Taylor
21-24

Schwei
2ofc-2<

24a

24 26

26

26
29-30

27
31-32

(27)

37 39
40-4105

37

37
40-41

34 37

34-37

26 27 29a 326 36a 37

39

More recently the existence of such an account has been questioned, and 41 Mark given more credit for putting the story together. Thus Schreiber has posited two traditions (cf. V. Taylor)206-220, 24, 27, and 25, 26, 29a, 32c, 33, 340, 37f.the evangelist adding the rest. But his con clusions have been tellingly criticized by Miss Linnemann, who posits as a basic account 22a, 240, 25a, 33, 34a, 37, 38 to which Christian scribes 42 made additions like 34e, and Mark added the rest. There is disagreement on many points, but commentator after com mentator has found some pre-Marcan account. All agree that 15:37 (Jesus dies with a loud cry) is basic, whereas verse 34 (Jesus shouted with a loud cry, " E l o i . . . " ) is usually regarded as secondary (exceptions: Goguel, Taylor), and if treated as at all original, only 34a (the fact of the cry at the ninth hour) is allowed (Linnemann, Schreiber), with the content from Psalm 22:1 at 346 assigned to later development. Of the other Old Testament reflections, Mark 15:23 (myrrhed wine), 36 (vinegar to drink, both from Ps. 69), and 15:24 (garments divided) and 27 (two criminals, if Isaiah 53 stands behind it) and 33 (darkness) are the features sometimes allowed in a pre-Marcan core, while the words in the mocking at 15: 29, 31 are rarely included. The Old Testa ment coloring may thus be said to have been present in part in the basic pre-Marcan account, however we define that, and to have grown through community additions and redactoral work.
41. Theologie des Vertrauens, pp. 24fr. 42. Linnemann, op. cit., pp. 24fr.

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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) of Psalm 22 on the cross and the early church began to apply its language in telling of 53 the crucifixion, or (2) Jesus died without a "last word, 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 and breathed 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 43 Greek-speaking community, if Schweizer is right, 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 Jewish tradition 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 todh ceremony, when a group gathers to celebrate a friend's deliverance, recapitulating 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 "eschatological 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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Psalm 22 at the Cross Interpretation

22:29, resurrection of the dead (saints) ! He who during his ministry preached an eschatological basileia now introduces it with his death. Secondly Gese sees roots for the Lord's Supper in the todh. He points to the continuing table-fellowship of disciples with the risen One; drawing on scripture to see the meaning of what had happened, they would "proclaim the Lord's death" (I Cor. 11:26; i.e., recite in lament his sufferings), recall what God had done (anamnns, in the sense of Hebrew zkr) and praise God {tehillh, cf. Acts 2:46). A real meal would be involved, but no animal sacrifice is necessary now, for the crucified One is himself present as the lamb that was once slain. The experience of suffering and resurrection demanded a todh; that in turn 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 Aramaicspeaking community. The starting point was either in the statement in the earliest account that Jesus died "with a loud cry" or attribution of 22:1, in the spirit of the whole psalm, to Jesus.
IV: J E S U S ' D E A T H : LAMENT AND THANKSGIVING

Others agree that 22:1 is the starting point for development of the passion narrative in light of this lament, but insist it goes back to what Jesus actually said upon the cross. We turn now to the historical-Jesus level. We may dismiss several clever interpretations which maintain Jesus said something akin to " E l i . . . , " but not what the first two Evangelists report, for instance, "'ell 'attK* "My God thou art," from Psalm 22:106,44 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 in prayer, as contemporaries did"), sometimes more specifically ("There is some evidence that among the ancient Jews the opening words of this Psalm 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 Die Jesusberlieferung 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: e My 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?' her prayer 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 "last words." 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 John drop 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 in content (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 the Passion Narrative," Concor, 43:510-21 ( 1 9 7 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; New Haven, 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 und Midrasch (Munich, Beck, 1922), I, 1042 and II, 574-80. 50. Birger Gerhardsson, "Jsus livr et abandonn d'aprs la passion selon Saint Matthieu," RBib, 76:206-27 ( 1 9 6 9 ) ; earlier version in Svensk Exegetisk Arsbok 32:92-120 (1967), citing Babylonian Talmud, Berachoth 61 b par.

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Psalm 22 at the Cross Interpretation

church and therefore is one of the "pillar passages" for building a scientific life of Jesus.51 Subsequent scholarship has made almost every one of those passages suspect, and Nineham, with justification, excludes the argument.52 The fact that later Christologies may disagree with Mark 15134 does not show the picture of Jesus there to be genuine.53 Another major line of argument concerns Jesus5 ipsissima vox. In Jeremas5 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 Jesus quote scripture thus? Did he lay bare his deepest feelings, "casting pearls before swine55 (Boman)? (Counter-argument: the words were wrung from him by pain. ) Jeremas5 argument proves too little, in that such a singular use might be an argument for regarding use of Psalm 22:1 as a creation of the early church which intrudes into Jesus5s otherwise habitual practice (an intrusion which Luke, moreover, sensed by substituting "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 we might expect him to employ words from it in addressing God more than once. 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 determining historical sayings of Jesus. The rigorous demand that "what is paralleled in late Judaism or betrays the interests of the early church is not from Jesus55 leaves something to be desired here, since it is hard to find exact parallels 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 Jewishness of Jesus55 is a standard for ascertaining genuine materialwe must specify 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, Passionsgese 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 the early 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 Christian circles (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 develops it more fully, but methodologically we are compelled to say the evidence does not suffice, for the rigorous historian, to prove this view, any more than 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 TwentySecond Psalm. A case can be made that he himself thought and expressed himself in its words, in typical Klagelied piety. A case can also be made that the saying originated in early Christian meditation on the psalm in the setting of todh use. In either case, Jesus emerges as the "righteous, vindicated sufferer55 of Israelite piety.56 It is perhaps worth adding that Gese5s case, with its emphasis on "kingdom of God55 and "apocalyptic theology55 in Psalm 22, may still leave the door open and even strengthen the possibility for attribution of some use of it to the historical Jesus, for the prophet from Nazareth, on almost every reading of his life, made God5s kingship central and employed apocalyptic categories. No matter which view commends itself, 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.
56. Cf. Lothar Ruppert, Der leidende Gerechte. Eine motivgeschichtliche Untersuchung zum Alten Testament und zwischentestamentlichen Judentum and Der leidende Gerechte und seine Feinde. Eine Wortfelduntersuchung (Forschung zur Bibel, 5 and 6; Wrzburg: Echter Verlag Katholisches Bibelwerk, 1972 and forthcoming) ; summary in Ruppert's Jesus als der leidende Gerechte? 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 than Mark.

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