For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, Neither has he hidden his face from him; but when he cried to him, he heard.
Parallel Translations
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For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, Neither has he hidden his face from him; but when he cried to him, he heard.
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For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.
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(22-25) For He hath not despised nor abhorred the lowliness of the poor; neither hath He hid His face from him; but when he cried unto Him, He heard.'
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to Psalms 22:24 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Hebrews 5:7 He, in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and petitions with strong crying and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and having been heard for his godly fear,
- Isaiah 50:6-9 I gave my back to those who beat me, and my cheeks to those who plucked off the hair. I didn’t hide my face from shame and spitting. For the Lord Yahweh will help me. Therefore I have not been confounded. Therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I won’t be disappointed. He who justifies me is near. Who will bring charges against me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord Yahweh will help me! Who is he who will condemn me? Behold, they will all grow old like a garment. The moths will eat them up.
- Psalms 116:3-6 The cords of death surrounded me, the pains of Sheol got a hold of me. I found trouble and sorrow. Then I called on Yahweh’s name: “Yahweh, I beg you, deliver my soul.” Yahweh is Gracious and righteous. Yes, our God is merciful. Yahweh preserves the simple. I was brought low, and he saved me.
- Psalms 118:5 Out of my distress, I called on Yah. Yah answered me with freedom.
- Psalms 34:6 This poor man cried, and Yahweh heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
- Psalms 69:29-34 But I am in pain and distress. Let your salvation, God, protect me. I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. It will please Yahweh better than an ox, or a bull that has horns and hoofs. The humble have seen it, and are glad. You who seek after God, let your heart live. For Yahweh hears the needy, and doesn’t despise his captive people. Let heaven and earth praise him; the seas, and everything that moves therein!
- Luke 23:46 Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” Having said this, he breathed his last.
- Psalms 22:6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people.
- Psalms 22:2 My God, I cry in the daytime, but you don’t answer; in the night season, and am not silent.
- Psalms 69:17 Don’t hide your face from your servant, for I am in distress. Answer me speedily!
- Psalms 35:10 All my bones shall say, “Yahweh, who is like you, who delivers the poor from him who is too strong for him; yes, the poor and the needy from him who robs him?”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 24. For he hath not despised. To rejoice in…
24. For he hath not despised. To rejoice in one another’s good, and to give thanks in common for each other’s welfare, is a branch of that communion which ought to exist among the people of God, as Paul also teaches,
“That for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons, thanks may be given by many on our behalf.” (2 Corinthians 1:11,)
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But this statement of David serves another important purpose — it serves to encourage every man to hope that God will exercise the same mercy towards himself. By the way, we are taught from these words that the people of God ought to endure their afflictions patiently, however long it shall please the Lord to keep them in a state of distress, that he may at length succor them, and lend them his aid when they are so severely tried.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain The poor afflicted are comforted by this example of…
The poor afflicted are comforted by this example of David, or Christ.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 22:24 For he hath not despised nor abhorred…
Psa 22:24 For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.
Ver. 24. For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction] Vel responsionem, id est orationem, quae est responsio linguae, Pro 16:1. With men a poor man’s tale cannot be heard; and the answer given to such cuts off half the petition, as the echo doth the voice; but here it is otherwise. "I know thy poverty," saith Christ to one of the seven Churches; "but" (that is nothing) "thou art rich." God thinks not the worse of his suppliants for their meanness, but the better rather.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain He hath not despised: I was despised by the…
He hath not despised: I was despised by the people, Psa 22:6, but not by God.
Nor abhorred, i.e. he did not turn away his face from it, as men do from things which they abhor, but looked upon it with compassion.
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Neither hath he hid his face from him, to wit, for ever; for he did so for a time; but now, saith he, he hath lift up upon me the light of his countenance.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction…
For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted,.... That is, Christ, who was afflicted by men, both by their tongues, and by their hands; by devils, by the temptations of Satan for Christ suffered being tempted, though he was not overcome; and by his attacks upon him, both in the garden and on the cross; and by the Lord himself, Jehovah his Father, who laid on him the iniquity and chastisement of his people, bruised him, and put him to grief; awoke the sword of justice against him, and spared him not: his afflictions were many, both in body and soul; in body, being scourged, buffeted, bruised, pierced, racked, and tortured on the cross; in soul, being made exceeding sorrowful, and an offering for sin; sustaining his Father's wrath, and seeking and enduring affliction by the rod of it; see Isa 53:4; now, though his afflictions and sufferings were despised by men, and he was despised and abhorred on account of them; yet not by his Father, he took pleasure in them, and in him as suffering for his people; not simply considered, as if he delighted in his sufferings as such, but as they were agreeable to his counsel and covenant, and brought about the salvation of his chosen ones: he accepted them in the room and stead of his people; the sacrifice of Christ was of a sweet smelling savour to him; he was well pleased with his righteousness, his law being magnified and made honourable by it; and his death was precious in his sight, being the propitiation for the sins of his people; so far was he from despising and abhorring the afflictions of his son. And this is mentioned as a reason or argument for praise and thanksgiving in them that fear the Lord; since God has looked upon the redemption price his Son has paid for them sufficient; has not despised, but accepted of it as the ransom of their souls: some render the words, "the prayer of the afflicted"; so the Targum, and the Septuagint version, and the versions that follow that; which agrees with the next words:
neither hath he hid his face from him; when men did, as ashamed of him, Isa 53:3; for though he forsook him for a while, and in a little wrath hid his face from him for a moment, that he might bear the whole curse of the law for us; yet he returned again, and did not hide his face from him for even;
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but when he cried unto him, he heard; cried not only on account of his crucifiers, that God would forgive them; but on account of himself, that he would not be afar off from him; that he would take his spirit or soul into his hands, into which he committed it; that he would deliver him from the power of death and the grave, and loose their bands; in all which he was heard, Heb 5:7.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Abhorred - He did not turn away his face…
Abhorred - He did not turn away his face from it, as men do from things which they abhor. From him - For ever: tho' he did so for a time.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 24. For he hath not despised] It is…
Verse 24. For he hath not despised] It is his property to help and save the poor and the humble; and he rejects not the sighings of a contrite heart. Perhaps it may mean, Though ye have despised me in my humiliation, yet God has graciously received me in the character of a sufferer on account of sin; as by that humiliation unto death the great atonement was made for the sin of the world.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction…
For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted - This expresses the belief that his prayer had been heard. The fact that he had been thus heard is here assigned to be the ground or reason for the exhortation in the previous verse, addressed to all the pious. The Lord had heard his prayer, and this was a reason why others should also confide in the Lord, and feel assured that he would likewise hear their prayers.
Neither hath he hid his face from him - That is, “permanently, constantly, finally, completely.” He has not wholly abandoned me, but though he seemed to forsake me, it was for a time only; and his friendship has not been ultimately and forever withdrawn. It was indeed the foundation of all the petitions in this psalm that the Lord had hid his face from the sufferer Psa 22:1; but, from this verse, it seems that it was only for a time. That which he passed through was a temporary darkness, succeeded by the clear manifestations of the divine favor. The Lord heard his prayer; the Lord showed that he had not utterly forsaken him.
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But when he cried unto him, he heard - Showing that now he had the evidence and the assurance that his prayer had been heard. As applicable to the Redeemer on the cross, this means that though the darkness seemed to continue until death, yet it was not an utter forsaking. His prayer was heard; his work was accepted; the great object for which he came into the world would be accomplished; he himself would rise triumphantly from his sufferings; and the cause which he came to establish, and for which he died, would finally prevail in the world. Compare Heb 5:7-8; Joh 11:42; Isa 53:11-12.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 24. For he hath not despised—Because “he hath not…
24. For he hath not despised—Because “he hath not despised.” The answer of prayer, even of the afflicted poor, is the theme and occasion of this public praise.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 24. For he hath not despised as men do…
24. For he hath not despised as men do (Psa_22:6) nor abhorred as something loathsome and abominable (Isa_49:7, though the word here is even stronger) the affliction of the afflicted. Cp. Psa_69:33. The ‘servant of Jehovah’ (Isa_53:4; Isa_53:7) and Zion’s future king (Zec_9:9) are both described as ‘afflicted.’ See note on Psa_9:12.
hid his face] In anger (Psa_10:11, Psa_13:1); or abhorrence (Isa_53:3, R.V.).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction…
For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted. The Father might seem by his passivity to disregard his Son"s affliction; but it was not really so. Every pang was marked, every suffering sympathized with. And the reward received from the Father was proportionate. (see Isa_53:12, "Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death;" and Php_2:8-11, "He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross; wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a Name which is above every name: that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father Neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard. There was no real turning away, no real forsaking. Every cry was heard, and the cries were answered at the fitting moment.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 24. For he hath not despised nor abhorred…
Ver. 24. For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted. Here is good matter and motive for praise. The experience of our covenant Head and Representative should encourage all of us to bless the God of grace. Never was man so afflicted as our Saviour in body and soul from friends and foes, by heaven and hell, in life and death; he was the foremost in the ranks of the afflicted, but all those afflictions were sent in love, and not because his Father despised and abhorred him. It is true that justice demanded that Christ should bear the burden which as a substitute he undertook to carry, but Jehovah always loved him, and in love laid that load upon him with a view to his ultimate glory and to the accomplishment of the dearest wish of his heart. Under all his woes our Lord was honourable in the Father's sight, the matchless jewel of Jehovah's heart.
Neither hath he hid his face from him. That is to say, the hiding was but temporary, and was soon removed; it was not final and eternal.
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But when he cried unto him, he heard. Jesus was heard in that he feared. He cried in extremis and de profundis, and was speedily answered; he therefore bids his people join him in singing a Gloria in excelsis.
Every child of God should seek refreshment for his faith in this testimony of the Man of Sorrows. What Jesus here witnesses is as true today as when it was first written. It shall never be said that any man's affliction or poverty prevented his being an accepted suppliant at Jehovah's throne of grace. The meanest applicant is welcome at mercy's door:
"None that approach his throne shall find A God unfaithful or unkind."
Ver. 24. For he hath not despised nor abhorred the prayer of the poor, neither hath he hid his face from me; but when I cried unto him, he heard me. Let him, therefore, that desires to be of the seed of Israel, and to rejoice in the grace of the gospel, become poor, for this is a fixed truth, our God is one that has respect unto the poor! And observe the fulness and diligence of the prophet. He was not content with having said "will not despise", but adds, "and will not abhor; "and, again, "will not turn away his face; "and again, "will hear." And then he adds himself as an example, saying, "When I cried", as our translation has it. As if he had said, "Behold ye, and learn by my example, who have been made the most vile of all men, and numbered among the wicked; when I was despised, cast out, rejected, behold! I was held in the highest esteem, and taken up, and heard. Let not this state of things, therefore, after this, my encouraging example, frighten you; the gospel requires a man to be such a character before it will save him. These things, I say, because our weakness requires so much exhortation, that it might not dread being humbled, nor despair when humbled, and thus might, after the bearing of the cross, receive the salvation." Martin Luther.
Ver. 24. A consoling fact in history attested by universal experience.
Ver. 24. (first clause). A common fear dispelled.
Psalms 22:25*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 he has not despised or abhorred the suffering of…
he has not despised or abhorred the suffering of the afflicted one
Possible meanings are 1) he has not despised the afflicted one because he is suffering or 2) he has not belittled the suffering of the afflicted one
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despised or abhorred
These two words mean basically the same thing and emphasize that God has not forgotten the one who is afflicted and suffering. (See: Doublet)
despised
strongly disliked or hated
he has not ... abhorred the suffering of the afflicted one
Here, suffering is a metonym for the person who suffers. To abhor something is to think of it as horrible. AT: "he has not ... thought of the afflicted one who suffers as horrible"
the suffering of the afflicted one ... from him ... the afflicted one cried
Possible meanings are 1) the author was speaking about how God treats people who are suffering. AT: "those who suffer ... from them ... those who are suffering cried" or 2) the author was speaking specifically about how God treated him. AT: "my suffering because of my affliction ... from me ... I cried" (See: Generic Noun Phrases and First, Second, or Third Person)
has not hidden his face from him
Hiding one's face from someone represents ignoring him. AT: "has not turned his attention away from him" or "has not ignored him" (See: Metaphor)
he heard
"he listened." It is implied that he responded when he heard their cry. AT: "he answered" or "he helped" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
because of you
Here "you" refers to Yahweh. (See: Forms of You)
I will fulfill my vows
This refers to sacrifices the writer promised to offer to God. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
before those who fear him
Here "him" refers to Yahweh. It can be stated as "you." AT: "in the presence of those who fear you" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
translationWords
suffer
afflicted
Yahweh
face
cry
praise
assembly
fulfill
vow
fear
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 22:24 Unlike his response to the wicked (see 21:8-12),…
22:24 Unlike his response to the wicked (see 21:8-12), God cares about the needy and hears their prayers (51:17; 69:33; 102:17).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.