Psalm 22 and 88 confirm Islam’s claim about Jesus never got crucified
Mohamad Mostafa Nassar
Twitter:@NassarMohamadMR
To put everything in the proper perspective, please first visit: Did Isaiah 53 really prophesies about the crucifixion of Jesus? to see all of the Old Testament’s verses that clearly confirmed Islam’s Divine Claims about Jesus never got crucified.
Having said that, let us now look at Psalm 22 and 88:
Psalm 22 (Young’s Literal Translation)
1 To the Overseer, on `The Hind of the Morning.’ — A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? Far from my salvation, The words of my roaring?
2 My God, I call by day, and Thou answerest not, And by night, and there is no silence to me.
3 And Thou [art] holy, Sitting — the Praise of Israel.
4 In Thee did our fathers trust — they trusted, And Thou dost deliver them.
5 Unto Thee they cried, and were delivered, In Thee they trusted, and were not ashamed.
6 And I [am] a worm, and no man, A reproach of man, and despised of the people.
7 All beholding me do mock at me, They make free with the lip — shake the head,
8 `Roll unto Jehovah, He doth deliver him, He doth deliver him, for he delighted in him.’
9 For thou [art] He bringing me forth from the womb, Causing me to trust, On the breasts of my mother.
10 On Thee I have been cast from the womb, From the belly of my mother Thou [art] my God.
11 Be not far from me, For adversity is near, for there is no helper.
12 Many bulls have surrounded me, Mighty ones of Bashan have compassed me,
13 They have opened against me their mouth, A lion tearing and roaring.
14 As waters I have been poured out, And separated themselves have all my bones, My heart hath been like wax, It is melted in the midst of my bowels.
15 Dried up as an earthen vessel is my power, And my tongue is cleaving to my jaws.
16 And to the dust of death (some translations don’t have “death” in the verse. See below for proofs) thou appointest me, For surrounded me have dogs, A company of evil doers have compassed me, Piercing my hands and my feet.
17 I count all my bones — they look expectingly, They look upon me,
18 They apportion my garments to themselves, And for my clothing they cause a lot to fall.
19 And Thou, O Jehovah, be not far off, O my strength, to help me haste.
20 Deliver from the sword my soul, From the paw of a dog mine only one.
21 Save me from the mouth of a lion: — And — from the horns of the high places Thou hast answered me!
22 I declare Thy name to my brethren, In the midst of the assembly I praise Thee.
23 Ye who fear Jehovah, praise ye Him, All the seed of Jacob, honour ye Him, And be afraid of Him, all ye seed of Israel.
24 For He hath not despised, nor abominated, The affliction of the afflicted, Nor hath He hidden His face from him, And in his crying unto Him He heareth.
25 Of Thee my praise [is] in the great assembly. My vows I complete before His fearers.
26 The humble do eat and are satisfied, Praise Jehovah do those seeking Him, Your heart doth live for ever.
27 Remember and return unto Jehovah, Do all ends of the earth, And before Thee bow themselves, Do all families of the nations,
28 For to Jehovah [is] the kingdom, And He is ruling among nations.
29 And the fat ones of earth have eaten, And they bow themselves, Before Him bow do all going down to dust, And he [who] hath not revived his soul.
30 A seed doth serve Him, It is declared of the Lord to the generation.
31 They come and declare His righteousness, To a people that is borne, that He hath made!
There are few important points to notice in the verses above:
1- In the red-colored verses above, we see claims that, on the surface, seem to support the Christians’ claims about Jesus Christ got crucified and died on the cross. However, this prayer proves otherwise, since the Servant, Jesus, didn’t die on any cross nor was he crucified! So these words, if they were to prove anything, they would prove that the Servant will not be crucified because the Servant, who prayed those exact words for himself, never suffered through this experience, and never got killed from his enemies.
2- The highlighted parts above – along with the ample other Old Testament verses that talked about GOD Almighty “lifting” and “raising” the Messiah from death – clearly state that GOD Almighty would deliver and did deliver and save him from the evil, pain and suffering.
3- As to the lie in Psalm 22:16, when one looks at the Arabic and few other English translations, he will clearly see that “death” isn’t part of the original text. In Arabic for instance, it says إِلَى تُرَابِ الأَرْضِ تَضَعُنِي. which translates as to the soil of the earth you put me (i.e., physically wrestled down by the “dogs” who pierced his hands and feet). But even if we take the word “death” as the real translation, this still doesn’t mean actual death for the following reasons:
| (a)- | As I mentioned above, if the words in the verse were to prove anything, they would prove that the Servant will not be crucified because the Servant who prayed those exact words for himself, never suffered through this experience and never got killed from his enemies. Also, Psalm 22 is not independent from the latter ones. The latter ones in Psalm 91, and 116-118, clearly spell out that Jesus will never get harmed nor be killed by his enemies. They also spell out that GOD Almighty will send down the Angels to lift Jesus up and save him from all harm and death. Satan even tried to use this DIVINE PROMISE to tempt Jesus to jump off of the temple. Again, visit: Jesus never got crucified: Psalm 116:16 Jesus and his mother, Mary, both thanked GOD Almighty for saving Jesus from harm and death. Isaiah 53:10 and Psalm 91:16 indisputably confirm that Jesus never got crucified. Both Jesus and satan even referenced them in the NT during their conversation. |
| (b)- | The text doesn’t give any indication that Christ will actually die. |
| (c)- | No where in the entire OT was the resurrection ever prophesied! |
| (d)- | The text of the verse seems to clearly be talking about Christ being physically brought/wrestled down by the “dogs”. |
| (e)- | The original text seems to be speaking of poetical, metaphoric and symbolic style. Examples:i- Christ is a “worm” and “not a man” in Psalm 22:6. ii- The enemies are “dogs” in Psalm 22:16,20.We can not use this text to support the lies of the crucifixion and the resurrection, especially when there are ample OT verses that clearly state that the crucifixion never happened! |
4- And even if we were to assume that Psalm 22 did indeed prophesy about the crucifixion of the Messiah, which it didn’t, (no resurrection mentioned here nor throughout the entire Old Testament, and the corrupt New Testament lied about it (1), [2]), then still given the fact that GOD Almighty in the Old and New Testaments did abrogate and nullify His Divine Promises and Predictions that He even took Personal OATHS on many times, and given the fact that there are ample other verses in the Old Testament that clearly predict the saving of the Messiah from crucifixion or death (see the link above), then we have no reason not to believe that GOD Almighty could not and would not have saved Jesus Christ from crucifixion.
5- And again, Psalm 22 is not independent from the latter ones. The latter ones in Psalm 91, and 116-118, clearly spell out that Jesus will never get harmed nor be killed by his enemies. They also spell out that GOD Almighty will send down the Angels to lift Jesus up and save him from all harm and death. Satan even tried to use this DIVINE PROMISE to tempt Jesus to jump off of the temple.
Psalm 88 (Young’s Literal Translation)
1 A Song, a Psalm, by sons of Korah, to the Overseer, `Concerning the Sickness of Afflictions.’ — An instruction, by Heman the Ezrahite. O Jehovah, God of my salvation, Daily I have cried, nightly before Thee,
2 My prayer cometh in before Thee, Incline Thine ear to my loud cry,
3 For my soul hath been full of evils, And my life hath come to Sheol.
4 I have been reckoned with those going down [to] the pit, I have been as a man without strength.
5 Among the dead — free, As pierced ones lying in the grave, Whom Thou hast not remembered any more, Yea, they by Thy hand have been cut off.
6 Thou hast put me in the lowest pit, In dark places, in depths.
7 Upon me hath Thy fury lain, And [with] all Thy breakers Thou hast afflicted. Selah.
8 Thou hast put mine acquaintance far from me, Thou hast made me an abomination to them, Shut up — I go not forth.
9 Mine eye hath grieved because of affliction, I called Thee, O Jehovah, all the day, I have spread out unto Thee my hands.
10 To the dead dost Thou do wonders? Do Rephaim rise? do they thank Thee? Selah.
11 Is Thy kindness recounted in the grave? Thy faithfulness in destruction?
12 Are Thy wonders known in the darkness? And Thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
13 And I, unto Thee, O Jehovah, I have cried, And in the morning doth my prayer come before Thee.
14 Why, O Jehovah, castest Thou off my soul? Thou hidest Thy face from me.
15 I [am] afflicted, and expiring from youth, I have borne Thy terrors — I pine away.
16 Over me hath Thy wrath passed, Thy terrors have cut me off,
17 They have surrounded me as waters all the day, They have gone round against me together,
18 Thou hast put far from me lover and friend, Mine acquaintance [is] the place of darkness!
Comments on this chapter:
Nothing of substance to be noticed here. The words are very common and there is nothing unique about them. They don’t contain prophecies in them, nor do they represent any prophecy. Christians are fond on twisting and perverting this chapter to support the crucifixion and resurrection lies, which are refuted by the bible itself. See my notes above.
And like above, Psalm 88 is not independent from the latter ones. The latter ones in Psalm 91, and 116-118, clearly spell out that Jesus will never get harmed nor be killed by his enemies. They also spell out that GOD Almighty will send down the Angels to lift Jesus up and save him from all harm and death. Satan even tried to use this DIVINE PROMISE to tempt Jesus to jump off of the temple.
Conclusion:
The Old Testament never prophesied about Jesus’ crucifixion. It spoke about Jesus being sentenced to death, but it thoroughly spoke about GOD Almighty saving him from all harm and death.