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LXX Psalms

Septuagint

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Psalm 21

1 For the end, concerning the morning aid, a Psalm of David. 2 God, my God, attend to me: why have you forsaken me? the account of my transgressions is far from my salvation.⁠ 3 my God, I will cry to you by day, but you will not hear: and by night, and it shall not be accounted for folly to me. 4 But you, the praise of Israel, dwell in a sanctuary. 5 Our fathers hoped in you; they hoped, and you delivered them. 6 They cried to you, and were saved: they hoped in you, and were not ashamed. 7 But I am a worm, and not a man; a reproach of men, and scorn of the people.⁠ 8 All that saw me mocked me: they spoke with their lips, they shook the head, saying, 9 He hoped in the Lord: let him deliver him, let him save him, because he takes pleasure in him.⁠ 10 For you are he that drew me out of the womb; my hope from my mother's breasts. 11 I was cast on you from the womb: you are my God from my mother's belly. 12 Do not stand aloof from me; for affliction is near; for there is no helper. 13 Many bullocks have surrounded me: fat bulls have beset me round. 14 They have opened their mouth against me, as a ravening and roaring lion. 15 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are loosened: my heart in the midst of my belly has become like melting wax. 16 My strength is dried up, like a potsherd; and my tongue is glued to my throat; and you have brought me down to the dust of death. 17 For many dogs have surrounded me: the assembly of the wicked doers has beset me round: they pierced my hands and my feet.⁠ 18 I counted all my bones; and they observed and looked upon me. 19 They parted my garments among themselves, and cast lots upon my clothing. 20 But you, Lord, do not remove my help afar off: be ready for my aid. 21 Deliver my soul from the sword; my only-begotten one from the power of the dog. 22 Save me from the lion's mouth;⁠ and regard my lowliness from the horns of the unicorns. 23 I will declare your name to my brothers: in the midst of the church I will sing praise to you. 24 You that fear the Lord, praise him; all you seed of Jacob, glorify him: let all the seed of Israel fear him. 25 For he has not despised nor been angry at the plea of the poor; nor turned away his face from me; but when I cried to him, he heard me. 26 My praise is of you in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before those that fear him. 27 The poor shall eat and be satisfied; and they shall praise the Lord that seek him: their heart shall live for ever. 28 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord: and all the kindred of the nations shall worship before you. 29 For the kingdom is the Lord's; and he is the governor of the nations. 30 All the fat ones of the earth have eaten and worshiped: all that go down to the earth shall fall down before him: my soul also lives to him. 31 And my seed shall serve him: the generation that is coming shall be reported to the Lord. 32 And they shall report his righteousness to the people that shall be born, whom the Lord has made.

Texts in conversation

Compare Psalm 22:16 and LXX Psalms 21:17

Hebrew Bible · Septuagint

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Summary

Psalm 22 in the Hebrew and Greek versions uses language that is difficult to translate, especially the description of hands and feet, which may mean “like a lion” or “piercing”. Mark uses the Septuagint translation in the story of Jesus' crucifixion.

Passages

Psalm 22:16

Hebrew Bible
14 My strength drains away like water; all my bones are dislocated. My heart is like wax; it melts away inside me. 15 The roof of my mouth is as dry as a piece of pottery; my tongue sticks to my gums. You set me in the dust of death. 16 Yes, wild dogs surround me—a gang of evil men crowd around me; like a lion they pin my hands and feet. 17 I can count all my bones; my enemies are gloating over me in triumph. 18 They are dividing up my clothes among themselves; they are rolling dice for my garments.
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

LXX Psalms 21:17

Septuagint
14 They have opened their mouth against me, as a ravening and roaring lion. 15 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are loosened: my heart in the midst of my belly has become like melting wax. 16 My strength is dried up, like a potsherd; and my tongue is glued to my throat; and you have brought me down to the dust of death. 17 For many dogs have surrounded me: the assembly of the wicked doers has beset me round: they pierced my hands and my feet. 18 I counted all my bones; and they observed and looked upon me.
100–1 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Psalms

References

"... The declaration of the centurion, ‘Truly this man was God’s son’ (Mark 15:39), is not in response to the Psalmic imagery of the crucifixion, but the events of the foregoing narrative (15:37-38). This particular scene dramatizes the judgment envisioned earlier in the parable of the wicked tenants: ‘He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others’ (12:9). In this case, the tearing of the Temple curtain preludes the coming judgment of the Temple elite whilst the confession of the centurion announces the coming of the age of the gentiles. In the final analysis, it is the description of suffering that led the author to scripturalize the details of Jesus’ crucifixion with LXX Psalm 21. (One other detail may have recommended the psalm to the author: in the Septuagint it reads, ‘They gouged my hands and feet’ ... ‘like a lion’. Whilst this variant could have been easily associated with the ordeal of crucifixion, there is no clear sign the earliest Christians made the association. Compare Zechariah 12:10 in John 19:34, 37) The use of the psalm is of a piece with the Psalmic descriptions of Esther (b. Meggilah 15b), the hymnist of the Hodayot and Aseneth (Joseph and Aseneth 12:11; 13:9). Unmarked language from the psalm has been merged into the narrative description of a suffering righteous person. Much like the scripturalized narratives surveyed earlier in the work, Mark or their source repeatedly draws on one scriptural source during the episode – in this case LXX Psalm 21 ..."
Nathanael Vette, Writing with Scripture: Scripturalized Narrative in the Gospel of Mark, LNTS 670 (London: T&T Clark, 2022), 189–190.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Psalm 22:16 and LXX Psalms 21:17

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