Most will recognize these to be the last words of Christ as he hung on the cross. But in reality this is actually taken from the Old Testament and put into the mouth of Christ in the narrative. Many Christians who haven't read the Bible in its entirety would be oblivious to this fact. Others who do know of it will reinterpret those Old Testaments texts as prophetic. While there are still others who will state that many of the things in the Old Testament as a type of what was to come (Christ).
For the director of music. To the tune of "The Doe of the Morning." A psalm of David. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? Psalm 22:1
As you can see those words are taken from Psalm 22 and it is a lamentation of David where he cries out to his God for help in troubling times. One thing to note is that the Old Testament was written in ancient Hebrew or Aramaic and that the New Testament was written for the most part in Greek Whenever there are portions of the O.T. used in the N.T. it has to be translated into the Greek. The New Testament for the most part uses the translation known as the Septauagint (LXX) which is a Greek translation of the O.T. Hebrew/Aramaic.
"The Septuagint, from the Latin word septuaginta (meaning seventy), is a translation of the Hebrew Bible and some related texts into Koine Greek. The title and its Roman numeral acronym "LXX" refer to the legendary seventy Jewish scholars that completed the translation as early as the late 2nd century BC. Its contents comprise the Eastern Orthodox Old Testament for which reason it is sometimes called the "Greek Old Testament" ("Η μετάφραση των Εβδομήκοντα'"). This translation is quoted in the New Testament, particularly in the writings of Paul the Apostle, and also by the Apostolic Fathers and later Greek Church Fathers." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Septuagint
Incidentally, Psalm 22 also has elements within the texts that fundamentalists believers interpret as prophetic texts regarding the sufferings of Jesus during his crucifixion and subsequent execution at the hands of the Romans. The same can be said about Psalm 53 which if you did not bother to read the 52 chapter you would be oblivious to the fact that it is not referring to Christ but to the nation of Israel.
First let's define what a Psalm is not. It is not a prphecy of anything and should not be taken as such. Let's take a quick look at what a psalm is according to the Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
1. (n.) A sacred song; a poetical composition for use in the praise or worship of God.
2. (n.) Especially, one of the hymns by David and others, collected into one book of the Old Testament, or a modern metrical version of such a hymn for public worship.
So a psalm is a song of worship and praise to God it's not to be taken as a prophecy. David in Psalm 22 was singing a song of praise to his God which started out with his lamentations and ended in praise. The introduction to this Psalm states this fact:"For the director of music. To the tune of "The Doe of the Morning." A psalm of David. In verse 25 David again reminds us that it is a song of praise.
"From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
before those who fear youf
I will fulfill my vows." Psalm 22:25
Incidentally, in the psalm there are elements that like the first verse were taken from this very psalm that seem to describe details from the crucifixion of Christ. I will try to match them up to their so called fulfillment in the N.T. of which we will talk about afterwards. The first verse has already been illustrated and taken care of so we will skip it and point out some other similarities.
16Dogs surround me,
a pack of villains encircles me;
they pierce
my hands and my feet.
17All my bones are on display;
people stare and gloat over me.
18They divide my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment. Psalm 22:16-18
In these three verses we have the crucifixion as it is described in the N.T. they pierced his hands and feet, the mocked him, and they cast lots for his garments. We are going to be using the gospel of Mark although all of these elements are spread out through all four gospels regarding the crucifixion of Christ. Mark is believed to be the first gospel narrative written and all the others are believed to have borrowed elements from it.
They pierced his hands and feet (crucified)
25It was nine in the morning when they crucified him.
They mocked him
29Those
who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying,
“So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days,
30come down from the cross and save yourself!”
31In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves.
They cast lots (gambled) for his garments
24And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.
There are many instances in the New Testament where themes from the Old Testament are borrowed and taken out of context to refer to the life, death, and crucifixion of Christ. Another important factor to mention is that the word Christ is not a name but a title. Strongs Greek Lexicon defines it as thus:
Christos: the Anointed One, Messiah, Christ
Original Word: Χριστός, οῦ, ὁPart of Speech: Noun, Masculine
Transliteration: Christos
Phonetic Spelling: (khris-tos')
Short Definition: Anointed One, the Messiah, the Christ
Definition: Anointed One; the Messiah, the Christ.
It is my theory that Jesus Christ was a fictional figure derived from the Old Testament narratives regarding the hopes of a Messiah for the Hebrews. Once you realize this you can read those O.T. texts properly without trying to read into them what is not there or taking them out of context to conform to what you believe.
Note: All biblical citations are taken from The New International Version of the scriptures. All other references have been hyperlinked.
