Psalms 22:6 · Bible study
Psalms 22:6 Commentary: Worm and No Man
Hebrew · 11 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
A study of Psalm 22:6, where David calls himself a worm and no man, exploring its meaning in David's life and its prophetic fulfillment in Christ.
Research Summary
- Meaning: The speaker describes himself as utterly despised, like a worm, treated as less than human, yet this cry is aimed at God who ultimately delivers.
- Key words: 'Worm' (Hebrew tola’ath) signifies defenselessness and contempt; 'no man' means stripped of honor and status.
- Main debate: Whether the verse is a direct messianic prophecy (Barnes, Gill) or a typological foreshadowing (Calvin, Matthew Henry) of Christ’s suffering.
- Theological theme: Humiliation and vindication; the pattern of suffering preceding glory, fully realized in Christ.
- Best use: As a model for lament, giving voice to deep pain while turning toward God, and as a prophecy pointing to the cross.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people.
WEB World English Bible 2000
But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people.
KJV King James Version 1769
But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised of the people.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
And I am a worm, and no man, A reproach of man, and despised of the people.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and the despised of the people.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
And thy mercy will follow me all the days of my life. And that I may dwell in the house of the Lord unto length of days.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Mas yo soy gusano, y no hombre; oprobio de los hombres, y desecho del pueblo.
Mas eu sou um verme, e não um homem; sou humilhado pelos homens, e desprezado pelo povo.
Ils criaient à toi, et ils étaient sauvés;
Ich aber bin ein Wurm und kein Mensch, ein Spott der Leute und Verachtung des Volks.
Tot U hebben zij geroepen, en zijn uitgered; op U hebben zij vertrouwd, en zijn niet beschaamd geworden.
Ma io sono un verme e non un uomo; il vituperio degli uomini, e lo sprezzato dal popolo.
Do ciebie wołali, a wybawieni są; w tobie nadzieję mieli, a nie byli pohańbieni.
Так, благость и милость [Твоя] да сопровождают меня во все дни жизни моей, и я пребуду в доме Господнем многие дни.
但我是 蟲，不是 人，被眾人 羞辱，被百姓 藐視。
But I am a worm and not a man; cursed by men, and looked down on by the people.
Verse in Context
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree that this verse describes the speaker’s extreme humiliation and rejection. David, as the original author, uses the metaphor of a worm to convey utter defenselessness and contempt. Barnes notes that the sufferer is treated 'as if he were a grovelling worm beneath the notice of the great God.' Calvin reads David as a type of Christ, setting forth the depths of abasement before exaltation. Gill and Matthew Henry explicitly apply the words to Jesus, despised by men and trampled underfoot. The repeated language, 'a reproach of men, and despised of the people', matches the portrayal of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53. All major traditions view the verse as pointing to the Messiah’s voluntary humiliation, whether directly prophetic or typologically foreshadowed. The shared core is clear: here is a cry from the lowest point of human shame, yet one that God ultimately answers.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Direct messianic prophecy: Barnes and Gill apply the words specifically to Jesus, seeing the details (mockery, casting lots) as fulfilled in the Gospels.
- Typological foreshadowing: Calvin and Matthew Henry see David as a type; the language fits David’s experience but reaches its full meaning in Christ.
- Primarily historical Davidic lament: Some modern readers emphasize the original setting in David’s life without denying later Christian application.
What is clear: The verse expresses the speaker’s profound humiliation and rejection by both God and society, and this is later taken up by the New Testament as a pattern fulfilled in Christ’s crucifixion.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Who is the speaker? | David is the original author, writing from personal experience of deep distress. | Some traditions (Barnes, Gill) read the psalm as directly prophetic of Christ; others (Calvin, Matthew Henry) see David as a type whose words find their ultimate meaning in Jesus. Both sides affirm a Christological connection. |
| Meaning of 'worm' imagery | The worm symbolizes complete defenselessness, insignificance, and public contempt. | Gill expands the image to the scarlet worm (cochineal), connecting it to Christ’s blood; Keil and Delitzsch caution against overreading that color symbolism, noting the primary point is defenseless suffering. |
| Fulfillment in the crucifixion | The mockery and contempt described (vv. 7, 8) parallel the Gospels’ accounts of Jesus on the cross. | Historically, some (e.g., Adam Clarke) question whether Jesus would have used this exact self-description; others see it as literally fulfilled in His being treated as subhuman and cursed. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Psalm 22 is a lament attributed to David, likely written during a period of intense persecution, perhaps while fleeing from Saul or during Absalom’s rebellion. The opening verses, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' set the tone of abandonment. In the ancient Near East, the worm (the Hebrew tola’ath in the supplied excerpts) represented the most insignificant and contemptible of creatures. It was trampled underfoot, defenseless, and often associated with death and decay. By calling himself 'a worm, and no man,' the speaker claims he is treated as less than human. The phrase 'no man' does not deny his humanity but declares that he is stripped of all dignity, office, and respect. The crowds mock him, shake their heads, and taunt him with his reliance on God (vv. 7, 8).
This language echoes the second part of Isaiah, where Israel is called a worm (Isa 41:14) and the Servant is described as 'despised and rejected of men' (Isa 53:3). The Cambridge Bible notes this parallel. In David’s day, such terms conveyed the shame of being a public spectacle. The psalm’s superscription, 'Upon Aijeleth Shahar' (possibly a tune name), has also been understood by some as pointing to the morning hind, a symbol of the hunted Christ. Keil and Delitzsch explain that every word of this verse finds resonance in Isaiah’s portrait of the Servant. Historically, the psalm is both a personal cry from a king under siege and a prophetic template for the greater King who would suffer in the same pattern but to a far deeper degree.
Textual Notes
The supplied commentaries and translations do not note any significant textual variants for Psalm 22:6. The verse is stable across the Hebrew manuscripts represented in the Masoretic Text and reflected in the major English translations (WEB, KJV, ASV, BSB, YLT, Darby). The Douay-Rheims rendering appears to be a misplacement (it cites a different verse). No early manuscript evidence suggests alternative readings for this line.
Reception History
The early church, particularly after the Gospels recorded Jesus quoting Psalm 22:1 on the cross, read the entire psalm as prophetic of Christ. By the second century, Justin Martyr and others cited the psalm against Jewish interlocutors as proof of messianic suffering. In the medieval period, the verse appeared in liturgical settings for Good Friday, emphasizing Christ’s abjection. The Geneva Bible note (1599) tersely glosses it as humiliation. Reformers like Calvin and Wesley reinforced the typological reading, while later Baptist and Methodist commentators (Gill, Clarke) debated the directness of the prophecy. In modern charismatic and evangelical contexts, the verse is often used in intercessory prayer as a model for crying out in deep distress, trusting that God hears the worm’s cry. Across traditions, it remains a touchstone for the doctrine of Christ’s kenosis, his emptying of glory to the point of being counted less than human.
Preaching This Verse
Three-Point Outline
- The Lowest Self-Description: The speaker calls himself a worm, utterly weak, defenseless, and despised. This is not self-pity but honest confession of utter humiliation.
- The Rejection by Both God and Man: Unlike the fathers who cried to God and were delivered, this sufferer seems abandoned. His prayers go unanswered; his enemies mock his faith.
- The Unexpected Vindication: The psalm does not end in despair. Verses 22, 31 shift to praise and deliverance. The worm becomes the conqueror, a pattern fulfilled in Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection.
Five-Point Outline
- Identity: 'I am a worm', a confession of being counted as worthless by the world.
- Rejection: 'No man', stripped of human honor and status, treated as subhuman.
- Public Shame: 'A reproach of men', scorned openly, a byword among the crowd.
- Universal Contempt: 'Despised of the people', not just enemies, but the general populace holds him in contempt.
- Prophetic Hope: Through this deepest humiliation, God brings about salvation, seen both in David’s eventual rescue and supremely in the cross.
Illustration Hooks
- Barely visible: A worm on a busy road, ignored or crushed without a second thought. Many people feel equally invisible or disposable in their suffering.
- The scarlet worm (cochineal): Gill and others note the Hebrew word can refer to the kermes insect, crushed to produce red dye. This visual connects to Christ’s blood shed for sin.
- Swallowing pride: In a culture obsessed with reputation, confessing to be 'less than a man' is the ultimate renunciation of status, a picture of Christ’s humility (Phil 2:7, 8).
Questions Your Congregation Is Asking
- If God delivered the fathers who trusted Him, why does He sometimes seem silent in my deepest pain?
- Is it okay to feel like a worm, worthless and despised, when I am suffering? Does the Bible validate those feelings?
- How can I see Christ in this verse if I don’t read it as a direct prophecy?
Leading a Discussion
This verse catches the psalmist at his lowest point. He feels more like an insect than a human being. But this raw honesty is directed toward God, and the psalm does not stay in the dirt. Use these questions to guide your group through observation, understanding, and application.
Discussion Questions
- Read Psalm 22:6, 8 aloud. What images come to mind? Which words feel the most painful to you?
- Why do you think the psalmist calls himself a worm? What does that metaphor communicate about his state?
- How does the phrase 'no man' compare with the description of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53:2, 3? What does it mean to be considered less than human?
- Barnes and Gill both apply this directly to Christ. Calvin sees David as a type. What are the strengths of each view? Does the rest of the psalm support one more than the other?
- Verse 9 shifts to 'But you brought me out of the womb.' How does remembering God’s past faithfulness help when you feel like a worm?
- Have you ever felt rejected or despised? How does this verse give language to that pain, and where does it lead you?
- If Jesus truly felt this way on the cross, what does it mean for you when you are tempted to think no one understands your suffering?
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Job 25:6 | How much less man, who is a worm, and the son of man, who is a worm!” |
| Psalms 31:1 | For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. In you, Yahweh, I take refuge. Let me never be disappointed. Deliver me in your righteousness. |
| Psalms 31:11 | Because of all my adversaries I have become utterly contemptible to my neighbors, a horror to my acquaintances. Those who saw me on the street fled from me. |
| Psalms 69:7 | Because for your sake, I have borne reproach. Shame has covered my face. |
| Psalms 69:12 | Those who sit in the gate talk about me. I am the song of the drunkards. |
| Psalms 69:19 | You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor. My adversaries are all before you. |
| Psalms 69:20 | Reproach has broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness. I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; for comforters, but I found none. |
| Psalms 88:8 | You have taken my friends from me. You have made me an abomination to them. I am confined, and I can’t escape. |
Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
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What the Commentators Say
10 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke insists these words express David's own sense of utter worthlessness, not a prophetic reference to Christ. He rejects any attempt to apply "worm and no man" to Jesus, finding no basis for such an interpretation in the text.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes highlights the stark contrast between the faithful fathers whom God heard and the Redeemer, who was treated as a grovelling worm beneath notice. Forsaken by both God and men, he was despised as if he had no claim to the dignity of a man.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin reads this psalm as David's personal complaint that serves as a prophetic type of Christ, showing the pattern of abasement before exaltation. He is notably dismissive of elaborate mystical interpretations of the title "hind of the morning," insisting interpreters have needlessly sought hidden meaning in a minor detail.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
Cambridge Bible notes that every phrase in this verse echoes the second half of Isaiah. The image of a worm means being trampled, defenceless, and utterly despised. The same picture appears in Isaiah where both Israel and the suffering servant are called a worm and rejected by people.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
But I am a worme, and not a man: a shame of men, and the contempt of the people.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill argues that Christ called himself a worm not because he was humble, but because the Jews treated him with utter contempt, trampling him as people do a worm. He also notes the connection to the scarlet worm, whose death produces crimson dye, as a picture of Christ dying on the cross and shedding his blood to cleanse sin.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB points out that the Psalmist's words of deep humiliation express not Christ's actual worth, but the contempt in which He was held by others. The phrase reflects their low estimation, not His true value.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange argues that David speaks in this psalm as a prophet who consciously saw himself as a type of the coming Messiah. He rejects both a merely historical reading limited to David and a purely direct Messianic interpretation that excludes David. For Lange, the psalm is typical-prophetical: David’s own suffering and deliverance foreshadow Christ, and David understood this as he wrote.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry notes the title "Aijeleth Shahar" (hind of the morning) and explains that some interpreters see it pointing to Christ, marked from eternity to be pursued like a swift hind. He acknowledges that others take it simply as the tune name.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley draws a clear distinction between David and Christ here. The description of being a worm, neglected and despised by people of every rank, fits David only in part, but it applies fully and truly to Christ alone.