Page:04.BCOT.KD.PoeticalBooks.vol.4.Writings.djvu/329

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which is worldly and common, in one word: holy. Jahve is holy, and has shown Himself such as the תּהלּות of Israel solemnly affirm, upon which or among which He sits enthroned. תהלות are the songs of praise offered to God on account of His attributes and deeds, which are worthy of praise (these are even called תהלות in Psa 78:4; Exo 15:11; Isa 63:7), and in fact presented in His sanctuary (Isa 64:10). The combination יושׁב תּהלּות (with the accusative of the verbs of dwelling and tarrying) is like יושׁב כּרבים, Psa 99:1; Psa 80:2. The songs of praise, which resounded in Israel as the memorials of His deeds of deliverance, are like the wings of the cherubim, upon which His presence hovered in Israel. In Psa 22:5, the praying one brings to remembrance this graciously glorious self-attestation of God, who as the Holy One always, from the earliest times, acknowledged those who fear Him in opposition to their persecutors and justified their confidence in Himself. In Psa 22:5 trust and rescue are put in the connection of cause and effect; in Psa 22:6 in reciprocal relation. פּלּט and מלּט are only distinguished by the harder and softer sibilants, cf. Psa 17:13 with Psa 116:4. It need not seem strange that such thoughts were at work in the soul of the Crucified One, since His divine-human consciousness was, on its human side, thoroughly Israelitish; and the God of Israel is also the God of salvation; redemption is that which He himself determined, why, then, should He not speedily deliver the Redeemer?

Verses 6-8

Psa 22:6-8 (Hebrew_Bible_22:7-9)The sufferer complains of the greatness of his reproach, in order to move Jahve, who is Himself involved therein, to send him speedy succour. Notwithstanding his cry for help, he is in the deepest affliction without rescue. Every word of Psa 22:7 is echoed in the second part of the Book of Isaiah. There, as here, Israel is called a worm, Isa 41:14; there all these traits of suffering are found in the picture of the Servant of God, Isa 49:7; Isa 53:3, cf. Isa 50:6, and especially Isa 52:14 “so marred was His appearance, that He no longer looked like a man.” תּולעת is more particularly the kermes, or cochineal (vermiculus, whence color vermiculi, vermeil, vermiglio); but the point of comparison in the present instance is not the blood-red appearance,