Critical Notes on Psalm 22:30

Various translations are suggested for this verse, which has been preserved in some of the ancient versions as well as in these modern translations.¹ There is a scribal error in this verse, and also a later addition by an editor. In addition, some of the phrases, such as the fat ones of the earth and all who go to the dust are not clear at first glance. Therefore, we here look into the etymology and the literary structure of our verse in addition to some of the critical opinion. The end result of our study will offer a modified translation with some changes. This critical note will give the reader a better understanding and reading of the Masoretic text.

Verse 22:30:

aklu veyistahvu kol dishnei eretz lefnav yikru kol yorday afar vnafsho lo hiyah.

Jewish Publication Society translation: All those in full vigor shall eat and prostrate themselves; all those at death’s door, whose spirits flag, shall bend the knee before Him.²

King James Version: All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship. All they that go down to the dust shall bow before him and none can keep alive his own soul.

Revised Standard Version: Yea, to him shall all the proud of the earth bow, before him shall bow all who go down to the dust and he who cannot keep himself alive.

Several proposals have been raised to explain the difficulties in our verse, but, as we shall see, most of them are unsatisfactory. These will be considered as: (A) The subject of eating is not clear since eating was already ended in verse 27. (B) The biblical term dishnei eretz [the fat ones of the earth] appears only once in the Hebrew Bible. Therefore, who are the fat ones of the earth? (C) The meaning of the phrase all who go to the dust is not clear. (D) The last phrase of our verse, Even he that cannot keep his soul alive, was often thought of as a later addition, which is difficult to understand.

They Have Eaten

Reading Psalm 22 shows that the subject of our verse is not eating, since eating was already ended in verse 27. From verse 27 on, the subject is praising God. It is more likely that we have here a scribal error in joining two separate words; instead of aklu [they have eaten] we should read ak-lo [indeed to him].³ Furthermore, using the verb “to eat” in our text destroys the parallelism. On the other hand, reading instead Indeed to Him makes a better parallelism between the first and second phrases: Indeed to Him/before Him . . . the fat ones of the earth.

It has been pointed out that there is a parallelism between the fat ones of the earth and all who go down to dust. Therefore, it was suggested to amend dishnei eretz [the fat ones of the earth] to yeshanei eretz [those who sleep in the earth]. This is because the Hebrew Bible refers many times to the dead as in a state of sleep (Isa. 26:19; Ps. 13:4; Job 2:13; Dan. 12:2). Dahood arrived at the same conclusion without an emendation, by taking “d” as a relative pronoun as in Ugaritic and Aramaic, and regarding “šny” as the syncopated form of “yešēnê.”⁴ The difficulty with this proposal is that according to the Hebrew Bible there is no link between God and the dead in Sheol. Does the text tell us that the dead will worship God in Sheol? Many times we read in the Hebrew Bible that the dead cannot praise God and that death is final.⁵ Later Dahood changed his rendition of the term “dihsenei eretz” on the basis of Ugaritic evidence; thus, he reads the fat ones of the earth. According to him the reference is to the denizens of the netherworld who will be well fed by Mot.⁶ However, the interpretation of eretz in KTU 1. 4. VII. 52 as netherworld is erroneous in this case.⁷

We believe that the reading of the Masoretic text can be preserved here without major changes. The Hebrew root “dsn” and its derivative means “be fat,” “grow fat.”⁸ In the Dead Sea Scrolls we read “so that you will eat and grow fat.”⁹ Interestingly, we find in Arabic the term “dasima [to be fat],”¹⁰ Akkadian “duššumu [very fat],” and probably Akkadian “dašnu” as a synonym of “dannu [huge, big],”¹¹ and Aramaic “dišnā [fat ashes].” Etymologically, all are related to the Hebrew root dsn.¹² The adjective “dāshēn [fat]” is found three times in the Hebrew Bible and it refers to people who became satiated and fat (Deut. 31:20; Isa. 30:23; Ps. 92:15). In our verse it refers to the strong and powerful people. We have to remember that fat animals were considered the healthiest and fat was regarded as the best part of sacrificial animal; therefore, the metaphorical usage of fat as referring to strong and powerful people is easily understood. Indeed, Radak in his commentary says that the fat ones of the earth refers to people. According to him, we have here a prophecy that even the fat and contented Persians and Medes will return to God and humble themselves before Him. Briggs follows a similar path in saying that our verse deals with two classes of worshipers: “all the fat ones of the earth which are the rich, prosperous, powerful nations, and all about to descend to the dust, those decaying, dying, who are going to the pit.”¹³

Rashi, on the other hand, understands the fat ones of the earth as referring to the good and fat produce of the land. Indeed, the noun deshen appears seven times in the Hebrew Bible with the meaning fat: Fatness of the olive tree (Jud. 9:9) and with reference to food and drink (Isa. 55:2; Jer. 31:14; Ps. 36:9; 63:6; 65:12; Job 36:16).¹⁴ Therefore, he renders the phrase: They [the humble ones in v. 27] will eat the fat of the land [finest produce of the earth] and bow down [to praise and thank God]. According to Rashi, our verse refers back to verse 27 and its sequence is inverted. The problem with Rashi’s interpretation is that he does not take into account that, as we have already pointed out, we might have here an error with the verb they have eaten.

Spronk suggests that we interpret the term kol dishnei eretz [all the anointed ones of the earth] as a reference to the dead as shown by mrqdm dšn [the anointed dancers] in KTU 108.5.¹⁵ In the Ugaritic text, this expression appears in a text where the rp’um are mentioned. Similarly, Block and Smith suggest that our verse deals with the cult of the dead in which the dead were fed.¹⁶ This reading ignores the meaning of the root dsn in Hebrew, Akkadian, and Arabic. Interestingly, in the Hebrew Bible we find the parallelism of tov [good things] and desen [fatness] (Isa. 55:2; Jer. 31:14; Ps. 23:5-6, 65:12). The same parallelism is also found in KTU 108.5, where we find dšn [fatness] and ţbm [good things]. Similar parallelism is found in the writing of Ben Sirach (14:11; 26:13; 26:1-20).

All Who Go Down to Dust

The second phrase of our verse reads: All who go down to dust will kneel before Him. We have here a parallelism between bow down in the first phrase and kneel in the second phrase. In other words, the psalmist says that all humans must bow down to God. Dust is prominently associated with the underworld. This is to be expected, since, as God told Adam: ‘you are dust, and to dust you shall return’ (Gen. 3:19). Ben Sira reiterates the point: All [that came] from earth – to earth will it return (40:11). The verse in Genesis means that human beings are created from the dust and after death return there – to “dust” as a specific place, as indicated by the use of the locative preposition “to.” In extra-biblical sources, too, dust was identified with death and the underworld. The word “afar” is found in Ugaritic, too, in association with death and in parallel with “eretz” [We have planted my foes in the netherworld, and in the mud those who rose up against your brother].¹⁷ In Akkadian we find “epru in bit epri [House of Dust]” used for “netherworld.”¹⁸ In the Epic of Gilgamesh we find “ana É ep-ri ša ērubu anāku [in the House of Dust, which I entered.]”¹⁹ However, we have to stress that all who go to the dust in our verse means mortals. The reference is to the future when all humans will descend into the underworld and return to dust (Gen. 3:19; Isa. 26:19; Job. 10:21; 21:26; Dan. 12:2). According to the Hebrew Bible, the good and the bad go to the same place: to Sheol – the underworld.

But He Will Not Revive His Soul

In the third phrase of our verse we read: but He will not revive his soul. According to Weiser these words are probably “a later doctrinal addition.”²⁰ Some suggest reading it with the next verse 31, and to render it and [when one] is no longer able to keep himself alive [when his time to die has come] then [his] descendants shall serve Him [the Lord].²¹ This explanation fails to consider that there is a contrast here between the soul of the man and his descendants (Ps. 25:13). It is more likely that instead “vnafsho lo hiyah [but He will not revive his soul]” can be read “vnafshi lo hayah [my soul also lives to Him]” as it appears in the Septuagint and Peshitta, and thus, we have here a continuation of the praises to God.

In conclusion, our verse is a continuation of the praises to God which started in verse 23 and ends in verse 32. In the previous verses, the author mentioned the seed of Jacob, seed of Israel, The humble, and all the families of the nations. In our verse, he continues this description by mentioning the strong and powerful people, and in contrast to them all the humans who will descend into the underworld, and in the third part of our verse the poet himself will continue to praise God. Therefore, we should read our verse:

Indeed to Him, shall bow down all the powerful people of the earth [ak lo yishtahvu kol dishnei eretz] all who shall go down to dust, will kneel before Him [lefanav yikru kol yorday afar] and my soul lives for Him [vnafshi lo hayah].