Introduction: Psalm 22 - The Second Part of the Description
Psalm 22 is a psalm of lament and crying out, in which King David describes his lowliness and the mockery of his enemies, and from that place turns in prayer to the Holy One, Blessed be He. In the section before us, we will follow the path of the Malbim and see how the pesukim divide into stages: the description of the shame and disgrace, followed by prayer and petition, and from verse 17 onward - the glimmer of light breaking forth from the darkness, the beginning of the salvation.
"But I am a worm and not a man" - The Forgotten Peshat
וְאָנֹכִי תוֹלַעַת וְלֹא אִישׁ חֶרְפַּת אָדָם וּבְזוּי עָם׃ - But I am a worm and not a man, a reproach of mankind and despised by the people.
This is one of the clearest examples of how we grow accustomed to derashot on pesukim and forget the plain meaning, the peshat. Everyone will tell you: King David was modest and humble, and therefore he said, "But I am a worm and not a man" - just as Moshe Rabbeinu said, "And what are we?" and Avraham said, "And I am dust and ashes." Not that this is untrue, but one must know that this is not the peshat of the verse. Ibn Ezra already wrote that it is far-fetched for a person of sound mind to say of himself that he is not a man, but a worm.
Rather, as the commentators explain here, King David is speaking in reference to the nations: I am despicable in their eyes like a worm and not like a man. They consider me a worm; to them, I am a reproach of mankind and despised by the people. And this is indeed how the Jewish people have been treated throughout the generations. During the Holocaust, cockroaches were treated with pesticide, and the Jewish people with Zyklon B gas - literally the same thing, seeking how to exterminate them like vermin. "But I am a worm and not a man" - the gentile treats me like a worm.
The Malbim's Explanation: Grasping the Rope at Both Ends
This is also how the Malbim explains it. King David argues here before the Holy One, Blessed be He, that a tremendous reversal has occurred: Not only do I trust in You and yet fail to attain the ultimate purpose of bitachon, which is salvation - I trusted in You and You do not save - but my very trust in You has turned into a great reproach for me. "I", meaning I on my own, am "a worm and not a man": regarding the advantage that man has over a worm, I am regarded merely as a worm; but regarding the disadvantage that man has compared to a worm, there they specifically consider me a man.
Let us explain: A worm has a certain advantage over a man - no one insults a worm. In a certain sense it is preferable to be a worm, for no one reviles a worm, no one harasses a worm, and no one pays attention to it. King David says: Yet they do revile me, "a reproach of mankind" - with regard to insults, they treat me like a human being. But regarding the disadvantages of a worm, there they consider me a worm. They always choose the worse of the two: If it is more advantageous to treat you as a man in order to revile you, they treat you as a man, for no one insults a worm; and if it is more advantageous to treat you as a worm, they treat you as a worm, with utter contempt, as if you have no desires, no feelings, and nothing at all, and to me you are nothing more than a worm.
It turns out that they hold the rope at both ends, and in every manner I am the lowliest in their eyes. And moreover, David says: Regarding the reproach, they do not merely reproach me as an individual, but consider me "despised by the people" - as though I were an entire nation, a vast collective of despised individuals.
By Way of Homily: If Only I Were a Worm
Some explain this by way of homily. King David continually lamented that he was persecuted and that people spoke lashon hara about him: "Those who sit in the gate talk about me, and I am the song of drunkards." Many of the psalms in Tehillim deal with what people said about David and the things that tormented him - "Yet as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth," and when I fell ill, they would come and say, "When will he die and his name perish?" David says: You are constantly chewing me over in your mouths, David, David, David. If only I were a worm - for a person takes great care never to put a worm in his mouth; worms are not chewed. "But I am a worm and not a man" - just as you do not put a worm into your mouth, so too do not bring my name into your mouths, and cease gossiping and speaking slanderously about me.
"All who see me mock me" - Derision toward one who fell from his stature
כׇּל־רֹאַי יַלְעִגוּ לִי יַפְטִירוּ בְשָׂפָה יָנִיעוּ רֹאשׁ׃ - All who see me mock me; they shoot out the lip, they shake their head.
We have seen that he describes his downfall: on the one hand, they revile me as a worm, and on the other hand, they define me as a nation and despise me as a nation. Where is the greater disgrace? A worm that fell from its level was fundamentally a worm to begin with; there is no novelty in that. But a nation that has fallen from its stature - that is a great disgrace. Therefore, they define me as "despised of people," as a great nation that fell from its stature, and for that reason "they mock me." And it is not merely ordinary mockery, for mockery is directed at something deemed worthless.
"They shoot out the lip, they shake their head" - the Malbim explains that opening the mouth is called peter, as in peter rechem ("that which opens the womb"). "They shoot out the lip" - they open their lips to let out their words like someone speaking of something grand and momentous.
"Roll it onto Hashem, let Him deliver him" - The language of mockery
גֹּל אֶל־יְהֹוָה יְפַלְּטֵהוּ יַצִּילֵהוּ כִּי־חָפֵץ בּֽוֹ׃ - Roll it onto Hashem, let Him deliver him; let Him rescue him, for He delights in him.
And this is what they say in their mockery: this crushed worm - as they call me - rolls itself onto Hashem so that He will deliver it, meaning it turns to Hashem to rescue it from its distress. And the enemies mock: "Let Him rescue him, for He delights in him" - let us see if Hashem will rescue him; after all, He delights in him, so let Him rescue him! All of this is "they mock me, they shoot out the lip, they shake their head": while I roll myself upon Hashem that He may deliver me, they say derisively - let us see whether the Holy One, blessed be He, will truly help him and rescue him.
Rashi explains gol as an expression of rolling: a person ought to roll his burden and load onto his Creator so that He may deliver him. Just as a person rolls a heavy load onto a surface that will bear it, so too, roll your burden onto Hashem and He will bear it.
"For You drew me forth from the womb" - The origin of the mockery
כִּי־אַתָּה גֹחִי מִבָּטֶן מַבְטִיחִי עַל־שְׁדֵי אִמִּֽי׃ - For You drew me forth from the womb; You made me trust upon my mother's breasts.
The Malbim explains that David is arguing: From where does this mockery stem? Because "You drew me forth from the womb" - You were always the One who saved me, and now You have forsaken me: "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?" This is why everyone reviles, blasphemes, despises, and mocks. Another nation upon whom the light of Hashem never shone, and which never merited divine abundance - even when it is in a lowly state, there is no apparent change in Providence. But concerning the Jewish people, who were always helped by the Holy One, blessed be He, the nations come and taunt: Well, where is Hashem now? Where is the One who is supposed to help them?
And he compares the nation to a birth. "Gochi" - the One who drew me out, from the root related to Gichon, as the Malbim explains in his lexical commentary: drawing me out on my belly from the womb. As is well known, the Exodus from Egypt is depicted as an allegory of birth - "to take a nation from the midst of another nation" (keruv goy), extracting something from within the innards, which is a birth. Thus he describes the Exodus of Israel from Egypt: Already back then, You drew me forth from the womb; You brought me out of Egypt and redeemed me. And not only that, but also "You made me trust upon my mother's breasts" - You provided me with a nurse to suckle me, nourish me, and provide for all my needs; this refers to Moshe Rabbeinu, who provided for all their needs and cared for them in the wilderness; You provided us with the manna and the well. And this very reality, that we were aided so greatly by You, is today the cause of the mockery and blasphemy of the nations: Let him turn to Hashem to help him; after all, He helped him in the past, so let him turn to Him now as well.
"Upon You I was cast from the womb" - Between Womb and Belly
עָלֶיךָ הׇשְׁלַכְתִּי מֵרָחֶם מִבֶּטֶן אִמִּי אֵלִי אָֽתָּה׃ - Upon You I was cast from the womb; from my mother's belly You have been my God.
You, Master of the Universe, were also afterward the nursing father and guardian, "as a nursing father carries an infant." In the metaphor, he describes it as though his mother died after he was born, and "Upon You I was cast from the womb" - so that You would raise me. And even before that: "From my mother's belly You have been my God" - even while my mother was carrying me in pregnancy, already then You were the One who watched over me so that I would not perish; You were my guardian. Therefore now, when they see me abandoned, it gives them all the more reason to revile me with greater intensity. For they consider me an important nation, and they say: "Look what you have come to." If I were not so important, they would not be reviling and blaspheming me now.
The Malbim notes the precise difference between rechem (womb) and beten (belly): the womb signifies childbirth, as in peter rechem, the opening of the womb. In contrast, beten always signifies the stage of gestation, while the fetus still lies in the belly and has not yet reached childbirth. Therefore, "From my mother's belly You have been my God" - even back in Egypt, before the birth began and before the Exodus, already then You were my God.
"Do not be far from me" - The Beginning of the Prayer
אַל־תִּרְחַק מִמֶּנִּי כִּי־צָרָה קְרוֹבָה כִּי־אֵין עוֹזֵֽר׃ - Do not be far from me, for trouble is near, for there is none to help.
From here the prayer begins. Until now, we have seen David lamenting and sorrowing over his condition; from here on, he pleads for Hashem to save him. The Malbim explains: when a person asks another for assistance, the helper does not always stand right by his side, ready to assist him at every moment. When does a helper allow himself to step away from the person needing help? In two situations. First, when the trouble is far off, so that even if it arrives, he will have time to reach him and help. Second, when the person has another helper he can rely on in the meantime, since he has someone else to turn to. David says: Master of the Universe, neither of these two conditions applies to me. First, "for trouble is near" - the distress is not far off such that You could leave me. And second, lest You say there is another helper, that too is not the case: "for there is none to help"; You are the only helper. Therefore, the helper cannot distance Himself, for I need Him to support me.
"Many bulls have surrounded me" - Explaining "Trouble is Near"
סְבָבוּנִי פָּרִים רַבִּים אַבִּירֵי בָשָׁן כִּתְּרֽוּנִי׃ - Many bulls have surrounded me; mighty ones of Bashan have encircled me.
First, he explains what he meant by "trouble is near": Master of the Universe, see how immense and imminent the distress is, for right now "many bulls have surrounded me" - many in terms of quantity; and "the mighty ones of Bashan have encircled me" - strong in terms of quality. And what is the difference between surrounding (sibuv) and encircling (kitor)? The Malbim explains: surrounding is around the body, while encircling is around the head - which is why a crown (keter) rests upon the head. It turns out that the bulls stand around my body and the mighty ones of Bashan around my head, and the danger presses right against me.
The Radak explains that he is comparing the stout, powerful, and wicked enemies to bulls, for bulls are robust and strong. As for "mighty ones of Bashan", the Malbim explains that Bashan is a region in Eretz Yisrael known for fertile, rich pastureland, and the livestock grazing there are correspondingly well-fed and fat. The mighty and powerful wicked are compared to the cows of Bashan, just as we find in Amos chapter 4 in the parable of the cows of Bashan regarding the women who oppress the poor and crush the needy - pampering themselves in pleasure and strength.
"They opened their mouths against me" - A Tearing and Roaring Lion
פָּצוּ עָלַי פִּיהֶם אַרְיֵה טֹרֵף וְשֹׁאֵֽג׃ - They open their mouth against me, like a tearing and roaring lion.
Those mighty bulls of Bashan that encircled me, who are the enemies, have already opened their mouth to swallow me up, and more than that - they are like a tearing and roaring lion. What is the meaning of "tearing and roaring"? The Malbim explains that the roar is an expression of fury toward the one being roared at, as if there is something that angered it and caused it to roar and rail. David says: They are consuming me and yet they roar as if I had wronged them, which inflames their wrath even further. And when someone acts in fierce fury, like a bereaved bear, the damage he inflicts is far greater. Therefore, it is not merely "they opened their mouth against me," but like a lion that tears its prey and roars in blazing fury, making the harm emanating from it far greater.
The Radak, on the other hand, explains that the roar here is not an expression of anger, but of joy: Look, Master of the Universe, not only are they tearing me apart, but they roar out of sheer joy, delighting in what they do and doing so with jubilation. And this amplifies the pain - for if someone merely strikes you, that is one thing, but if he strikes you and then laughs afterward, "lest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult." Not only is there the downfall itself, but joy erupts there, with candies handed out in the streets of Gaza; and this reality magnifies the agony even more.
"I am poured out like water" - Explaining "for there is none to help"
כַּמַּיִם נִשְׁפַּכְתִּי וְהִתְפָּרְדוּ כׇּל־עַצְמוֹתָי הָיָה לִבִּי כַּדּוֹנָג נָמֵס בְּתוֹךְ מֵעָֽי׃ - I am poured out like water, and all my bones are disjointed; my heart is like wax, melted within my innards.
Until now, he explained "trouble is near" - how near it is: bulls have surrounded me, mighty ones of Bashan encircled me, they opened their mouths against me. Now he explains "for there is none to help," that I have no one to rely on other than You alone. "I am poured out like water" - I am completely exhausted, too weak to stand against them, and my flesh pours out like water from great dread. "And all my bones are disjointed" - the bones have come apart from one another, in the sense of "his knees knocked against each other," like the knees of a terrified person knocking together. And as if that were not enough, the heart as well, which is the root and the king over the entire body, has melted: "My heart is like wax, melted within my innards" - the wax melts and spreads through all my insides. To such an extent have I reached a state where there is no helper, and salvation can come only from You.
"My strength is dried up like a potsherd" - The Depletion of Strength and Speech
יָבֵשׁ כַּחֶרֶשׂ כֹּחִי וּלְשׁוֹנִי מֻדְבָּק מַלְקוֹחָי וְלַעֲפַר־מָוֶת תִּשְׁפְּתֵֽנִי׃ - My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaves to my jaws; and You lay me in the dust of death.
The Malbim continues: Not only were all my limbs shaken, both the external ones and the internal ones that melted as we saw in the previous verse, but strength has also departed from me completely. A person's vitality lies in his natural moisture, and this fluid has dried up - I have lost my vigor, there is no moisture left in my body, "dried up like a potsherd," to the point where it is impossible for me to regain strength. Like a withered tree of which one cannot say it will begin to sprout anew. Furthermore: I cannot even cry out for salvation, for "my tongue cleaves to my jaws" - my tongue has stuck to the roof of my mouth out of dread, and I do not even have the strength to cry out. And what is the outcome? "And You lay me in the dust of death" - there is no hope that I will be saved, and You, as it were, set me down into the dust of death. "Tishpeteni" comes from the expression of setting a pot, like setting a cooking pot upon the hearth, meaning You place me and bring me to the state of the dust of death.
And what is "my strength" (kochi)? In the straightforward understanding, as the Ibn Ezra explains, it is literal: a person's life depends on his bodily moisture, and when this moisture is missing, he loses his strength. Consider what happens to an elderly person - he loses his vital moisture: the skin dries up and wrinkles, the hair dries out, everything dries up, until even the brain dries up and the person passes away completely. Thus, man's strength is in his moisture: when moisture is present he is fresh and youthful, and when it dries up it is an expression of old age. And this is "my strength is dried up like a potsherd."
The Radak cites in the name of his father a somewhat novel interpretation: "Kochi" is related to the word ke'ach - the phlegm or spittle that a person coughs up and clears from his throat, which has dried up. Another interpretation, also cited in Ibn Ezra, is likewise novel: "Kochi" is not from the word for strength, but from inverted root letters, like simlah and salmah, keves and kesev - and so kochi is like chiki (my palate): I cannot speak because my palate is dried up like a potsherd, my mouth has dried out.
According to this, the continuation is clearly understood: "and my tongue cleaves to my jaws" - since the palate has dried up, my tongue is naturally stuck and I cannot utter a word from my mouth. And what is "malkochai"? Interestingly, the Malbim does not explain this word here. Rashi brings two explanations: First, that these are the gums, for when a person is in distress, grief, and stress, his mouth dries up, and the gums represent the mouth. In the name of Menachem, he explains that malkochai is like "with tongs" (bemelkakhayim) in Yeshayahu - the tool used to grasp something, like tweezers or tongs. According to this, it refers to the teeth, which resemble a craftsman's tongs, and "my tongue cleaves to my jaws" means that my teeth are clamped shut against each other and I cannot open my mouth.
"For Dogs Have Encompassed Me" - The First Glimmer
כִּי סְבָבוּנִי כְּלָבִים עֲדַת מְרֵעִים הִקִּיפוּנִי כָּאֲרִי יָדַי וְרַגְלָֽי׃ - "For dogs have encompassed me; a congregation of evildoers has surrounded me; like a lion are my hands and my feet."
Here begins the third section. First, David described his distress; next, we saw how he prays to Hashem; and from verse 17 begins the second half of the chapter, where light begins to glimmer out of the darkness - the beginning of the salvation. He describes: it is true that "dogs have encompassed me," just as hunters would go out to hunt an animal with dogs, and the dogs encircle the prey until it becomes confused and does not know where to flee, for the dogs approach from multiple directions, allowing the hunter to capture it. The hunting dogs already encompass me, and "a congregation of evildoers" - a band coming to do me harm - "has surrounded me." Yet even so, I do not fear them; rather, "like a lion are my hands and my feet": my hands and feet are like a lion, meaning that my hands and feet stand firm against them with strength like the paws of a lion, for a lion neither fears nor trembles before the hunters and those who pursue it.
And what is the difference between sevavuni ("encompassed me") and hikifuni ("surrounded me")? The Malbim has already explained in several places that hakafah always denotes a complete encirclement, whereas sibuv can be from three directions and is not necessarily on all sides. Therefore: the dogs encompassed me from several sides, and afterward came the congregation of evildoers and, moreover, surrounded me in a full, unbroken circle.
"I Will Recount All My Bones" - Might or Counting
אֲסַפֵּר כׇּל־עַצְמוֹתָי הֵמָּה יַבִּיטוּ יִרְאוּ־בִֽי׃ - "I will tell of all my bones; they look and stare at me."
The Malbim explains that asaper is an expression of recounting or declaring: I will recount before them all my atzmotai, which in an innovative interpretation means all my might (otzmati). I will declare before them the great strength that I possess, the fortitude and might. And even though "they look and stare at me," gazing upon me with scorn - and it is a rule with the Malbim that looking or seeing associated with the preposition bet denotes looking with contempt, gazing upon one's downfall, gloating over one's disgrace - nevertheless, I am not afraid; rather, I will recount before them my great might.
Ibn Ezra notes that some interpret asaper in the sense of counting, as in "Were I to count them, they would outnumber the sand" and "Who can number the clouds?" And what is the idea? When a person is severely emaciated, only skin and bones are visible, and one can count his bones - the bones of the chest, the back, and the spine. According to this, it is a continuation of the description of David's dire condition: see how severe my plight is, that my bones can already be counted through the skin from the extreme emaciation that has stricken me.
Ibn Ezra further explains that since he said earlier, "all my bones are out of joint," the meaning is that I count how many bones have been separated from me - after my bones have become disjointed, I am as if taking an inventory, and they look at this and mock me. And homiletically, by way of allusion, Ibn Ezra explains: after all, a person does not literally count his disjointed bones; rather, the reference is to the people who accompanied him and at a certain point abandoned him. David says: I count all my "bones" - those who were part of me, bone of my bone, and now they have deserted me and left me to contend with Sheol and to battle against my pursuers. These are the bones that I count, taking note of who it was that abandoned me.
יְחַלְּקוּ בְגָדַי לָהֶם וְעַל־לְבוּשִׁי יַפִּילוּ גוֹרָֽל׃ - "They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots."
In summary: In this passage, King David describes the depth of humiliation and mockery: the enemies hold both ends of the rope - reviling him as a man while disparaging him as a worm, and mocking his very trust in Hashem: "He rolled his cause onto Hashem; let Him deliver him." It is precisely the Providence that has accompanied him ever since "You drew me from the womb," from the Exodus from Egypt and the leadership in the wilderness, that gives room for mockery during the time of concealment. Out of this, David turns to prayer: "Do not be far from me, for trouble is near; for there is none to help" - trouble is not far off and there is no other helper, and therefore the Helper must not stay far away. He details the proximity of the danger - bulls, the mighty ones of Bashan, a ravening and roaring lion - and the utter depletion of his strength: poured out like water, a heart melted like wax, strength dried up like a potsherd, and a tongue cleaving to the jaws. And from verse 17, the light begins to emerge from the darkness: even though the dogs encompassed him and a congregation of evildoers surrounded him, his hands and feet stand firm like a lion, and he recounts before them his strength - a sign that even in the depths of darkness, trust in Hashem is never broken.