The Fathers on Psalm 22

This post is part of an ongoing series offering translations of various early Church father’s commentaries on the Psalms.

Psalm 22

My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

Why so far from my call for help,

from my cries of anguish?

My God, I call by day, but you do not answer;

by night, but I have no relief.

Athanasius: “Psalm 22 describes the nature of the death from the lips of the Savior himself…. When he speaks of hands and feet being pierced, what else is meant than the cross? After presenting all these things, the Psalter adds that the Lord suffers these things not for himself, but for our sake.”[1]

Diodore of Tarsus: For a start, therefore, some commentators thought the opening and the rest apply to the Lord, since the verse in the text O God my God, attend to me: why have you abandoned me? was spoken by the Lord; but it is not possible that the rest is recited on the part of the Lord. In fact, it goes on: Why art thou so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? David’s meaning is this: Lord, be reconciled to me and do not abandon me any further; instead, attend to me, even if my faults put me far from being saved by you (the phrase the words of my groaning meaning the failings themselves). Nevertheless, be faithful to yourself, do not case an eye on the magnitude of the sin but on the magnitude of your loving-kindness. Then the following even still more clearly applies to David than to the Lord—namely—O my God, I cry by day, but thou dost not answer; and by night, but find no rest. Cast your eye on this, Lord, that both by day and by night I cry aloud to you, and when not heard I am led to entertain foolish thoughts—not that I claim you have no providence for human affairs, knowing the reason why I am not heard, the cause being sin. How does this or the rest of the psalm apply to Christ?[2]

Pseudo-Athanasius: My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? The psalm is sung by Christ as in the person of all humanity. It narrates what he endured from the Jews when he bore the cross for our sake. O my God, I cry by day, but thou dost not answer; and by night, but find no rest. He asks that the Father turn his face to us, and remove from us sin and the curse and teach us to be humble-minded, just as he was humbled for our sake.[3]

[1] Benjamin Wayman. Make the Words Your Own: An Early Christian Guide to the Psalms (Brewster, M.A.: Paraclete Press: 2014), 3.

[2] TLG 6. Εὐθὺς οὖν τὸ προοίμιον, ἐπειδὴ κατὰ τὴν λέξιν αὐτὴν εἴρηται καὶ παρὰ τοῦ κυρίου τὸ Ὁ θεὸς ὁ θεός μου, πρόσχες μοι, ἱνατί ἐγκατέλιπές με;   νομίζουσί τινες καὶ τὸ ἑξῆς ἁρμόζειν· οὐκέτι δὲ συγχωρεῖ λέγεσθαι ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ κυρίου τὸ ἑξῆς. Ἐπάγει γάρ· Μακρὰν ἀπὸ τῆς σωτηρίας μου οἱ λόγοι τῶν παραπτωμάτων μου. Ὃ γὰρ βούλεται εἰπεῖν ὁ Δαυεὶδ τοῦτό ἐστιν ὅτι δέσποτα, καταλλάγηθί μοι καὶ μὴ ἀποστρέφου με τοῦ λοιποῦ, ἀλλὰ πρόσχες μοι, εἰ καὶ μακράν με ποιεῖ τὰ πλημμελήματά μου τῆς παρὰ σοῦ σωτηρίας. Τὸ γὰρ «οἱ λόγοι τῶν παραπτωμάτων μου» ἀντὶ τοῦ αὐτὰ τὰ παραπτώματα λέγει. Ἀλλ’ ὅμως, φησί, σὺ σαυτὸν μίμησαι, μὴ πρὸς τὸ πλῆθος ἀποβλέψας τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸ πλῆθος τῆς σῆς φιλανθρωπίας. Εἶτα καὶ τὸ ἑξῆς ἔτι σαφέστερον ἁρμόζει τῷ Δαυεὶδ μᾶλλον ἢ τῷ κυρίῳ. Τί γάρ; Ὁ θεός μου, κεκράξομαι ἡμέρας, καὶ οὐκ εἰσακούσῃ, καὶ νυκτός, καὶ οὐκ εἰς ἄνοιαν ἐμοί. Καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο γάρ, φησίν, ἀπόβλεψον, δέσποτα, ὅτι καὶ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ καὶ ἐν νυκτὶ ἐπιβοῶμαί σε καὶ μὴ ἀκουόμενος οὐκ εἰς ἀνοήτους ἐκφέρομαι λογισμούς, οὐδὲ λέγω μὴ προνοεῖν σε τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων, ἀλλ’ οἶδα τὴν αἰτίαν δι’ ἣν οὐκ ἀκούομαι, τὴν τῆς ἁμαρτίας ὑπόθεσιν. Τοῦτο δὲ ποῦ ἁρμόζει τῷ Χριστῷ ἢ τὸ ἑξῆς τοῦ ψαλμοῦ;

[3] Syriac CSCO 387, SYRI 168 V, pg 14-15. CX. PG 27: 131- for Latin and Greek.