Psalm 69:5 - Hated Without a Cause

The Claim Referring to John

The claim is that John 15:25 fulfilled a prophecy written in Psalm 69:4. In order to understand how problematic this claim is, let’s first look at the KJV text of John 15:24-35:

“If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin, but now they have both seen and hated both me and my Father.

But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.”

It should be noted that “they” is referring to the Jews. The Gospel of John refers to the religious Jews negatively more than any other Gospel. To him, they are a hateful people who are to be replaced, and, therefore, their hat fulfills a tiny segment of a song that is about Jews, collectively in Babylon, complaining about their life there, narrated in the first-person, and how the people who hate them call them thieves and mock them, and hate them.

The verse in Psalm 69.

Remember, there is no verse anywhere in the Tanach that says that the Jews will hate the messiah and seek to annihilate him. That is solely the view of the writers of the New Testament. Think about it rationally: what would be the point in writing such a song and then maintaining it for centuries when the core message of the prophets was that the Jews will desire and yearn for them messiah who will get them out of their mess?

Now, many psalms begin with what is known as a “superscription”, which often contains an idea of the theme of the song. Many Cristian translations will either drop the superscription in some cases, or will join them to the second verse, thus causing the numbering to differ from the traditional Hebrew versions. So in the Christian numbering, the verse 69:4 is being referenced, but maps back to verse 69:5 in the Hebrew text.

Now the superscription “To He who grants victory concerning roses” (or some “for the conductor, about roses”), has a lot of room for interpretation. Many imply that “roses” are reflected in the verse in that they are desirable, want to be plucked, and have an inherent protection (thorns) that can make it difficult. However you want to interpret it, the idea does seem to be a positive implication.

And here is the verse in question about those hateful Jews that John was referring to:

“Those who hate me for no reason outnumber the hairs on my head: it is they who would annihilate me, being my lying enemies, claiming I robbed and I should return what I stole.”

Nowhere in John 15 is the wrongful claim made by the Jews that Jesus was a robber and must return what he stole. That is, of course, the verse that is being referred to, a verse that has the nation who are holding the Jews captive, saying this about the Jews, and not the Jews saying this about a messiah that they are yearning for to get them out of that exile.

In fact, the very next line, after “they have me and lie about me” has the person admit that he has sinned, and that his sins are not hidden from God.

So, again, this does not refer to the sinless and innocent Jesus being mentioned by John.

Conclusion

John’s claim that the hateful Jews hating their messiah was foretold in song is a forced claim that takes two Hebrew words out of 14 to make it seem so, until one actually reads the rest of the words, and considers the context.

So, was the Jews hating a messiah a fulfilled prophecy?

No according to the Tanach. So, it’s a failed “prophecy”.

And here’s the meme used.