Structure of Psalm 22
Having proposed that verses containing the Hebrew root words for “near” and “far” tend to mark the borders of chiastic units in Isaiah, it is a reasonable question to ask if this happens anywhere else in the Scriptures. The answer is an emphatic yes! This occurs in Psalm 22, and there is support for this in the literature. Our focus again here is purely structural.
If you have never studied this Psalm of David before, you really ought to, since it is prophetic of Christ. Christ quotes from Psalm 22 on the cross. Good sources to help study Psalm 22 would include Volume I of the 3 volume set by Charles Spurgeon, and a brief presentation is given in the book by Patrick Reardon:
Spurgeon, H. C., “The Treasury of David” Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts, ISBN 0-917006-25-9.
Reardon, Patrick Henry, Christ in the Psalms, Conciliar Press, Chesterton, Indiana, 2000, ISBN 1-888212-21-7.
What justification is there for this structure in the literature?
Biblical Scholars and detail oriented people might want to view and/or download the following excerpt from an unpublished paper.