The Hind of the Morning

The translation of Aijeleth hash-Shahar (’ayyeleth ha-shachar) in the title of Ps 22, probably the name of some wellknown song to which the psalm was intended to be sung, which possibly had reference to the early habits of the deer tribe in search of water and food, or to the flight of the hind from the hunters in early dawn; or "morning" may symbolize the deliverance from persecution and sorrow.

"The first rays of the morning sun, by which it announces its appearance before being itself visible, are compared to the fork-like antlers of a stag; and this appearance is called, Ps 22 title. `The hind of the morning,’ because those antler rays preceded the red of dawn, which again forms the transition to sunrise" (Delitzsch, Iris. 107).

According to Hengstenberg, the words indicate the subject-matter of the poem, the character, sufferings, and triumph of the person who is set before us. See PSALMS. For an interesting Messianic interpretation see Hood, Christmas Evans, the Preacher of Wild Wales, 92 ff.