This is yet another allusion in the passion narrative to the 22nd
Psalm. It is the only distinct allusion to this psalm given in Matthew which is
not paralleled in the Synoptics. Compared with the LXX text it seems to be an
allusion rather than a deliberate adaptation. The words as given by Matthew
are, however, exactly those of the M.T.—except the νυν which is natural in the context of
Matthew—if the Hebrew כי is taken in another sense than the one in which the
LXXB takes it. Matthew understands it as conditional, which is
possible from the grammatical point of view, though it is less usual and
certainly not intended in the psalm. On this point Matthew coincides with LXXU
Lucian. Their reading seems to be influenced by the N.T., but when the
O.T. Peshitta understands the text in the same way as Matthew, it is clearly due
to such influence from the N.T., since the Syriac follows Matthew as against
the LXX even in the rest of the verse.
Both Matthew and the LXX have read גַּל instead of the M.T.’s
imperative גֹּל. Matthew’s (and the O.T. Peshitta’s) “he has put his trust” is
a somewhat more exact rendering of the Hebrew גלל, “to roll” = “to throw
(oneself) on Yahweh”, than is the LXX’s “he has hoped”. The Targum has combined
the verb with the root גיל, “to shout for joy”.
At the same time the whole situation is like a historical illustration
to what is said about the thoughts of the ungodly in Wisdom 210 ff.,
a text which in its turn shows affinity to Is. 53 (e.g. when it states
that the wise man is repulsive to behold, 214) and with allusion to
Ps. 229, “Let us see if his words be true, and let us try what shall
befall in the ending of his life. For if the righteous man is God’s son, he
will uphold him, and he will deliver (ρυσεται) him out of the hand of his adversaries”, Wisdom 217-18.
In v. 16 it is said that the righteous man boasts that God is his father. The
line of thought found in Wisdom is certainly met in the other Synoptics, but it
seems that Matthew intentionally chose to make this allusion clearer and more
conscious by his quotation from Ps. 229. However, the passage in
Wisdom has not influenced the form of the text in Matthew, unless there is a
slight influence in Matthew’s omission of the Psalter’s “to save” and retention
of ρυεσθαι common to Matthew
and Wisdom. (Krister Stendahl, The School of St. Matthew and Its Use of the
Old Testament [Acta Seminarii Neotestamentici Upsaliensis 20; Uppsala:
Almquist & Wiksells, 1954], 140-41)
