Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 22:12
Many bulls have compassed me: strong [bulls] of Bashan have beset me round.
12. He compares his insolent enemies to wanton bulls, which “are in the habit of gathering in a circle round any novel or unaccustomed object, and may easily be irritated into charging with their horns” (Tristram, Nat. Hist. of the Bible, p. 71). Bashan is here used in a wide sense for the district from the Jabbok to the spurs of Hermon, including part of Gilead. It was famous for its rich pastures (Num 32:1 ff.; Deu 32:14; Amo 4:1).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Many bulls have compassed me – Men with the fierceness and fury of bulls. Compare Isa 51:20; Psa 68:30.
Strong bulls of Bashan – The country of Bashan embraced the territory which was on the east of the Jordan, north of Gilead, which was given to the half tribe of Manasseh: compare Gen 14:5 with Jos 12:4-6. It was distinguished as pasture land for its richness. Its trees and its breed of cattle are frequently referred to in the Scriptures. Thus in Deu 32:14, rams of the breed of Bashan are mentioned; in Isa 2:13, Zec 11:2, oaks of Bashan are mentioned in connection with the cedars of Lebanon; in Amo 4:1, the kine of Bashan are mentioned. The bulls of Bashan are here alluded to as remarkable for their size, their strength, and their fierceness; and are designed to represent men that were fierce, savage, and violent. As applied to the Redeemer, the allusion is to the fierce and cruel men that persecuted him and sought his life. No one can doubt that the allusion is applicable to his persecutors and murderers; and no one can show that the thought indicated by this phrase also may not have passed through the mind of the Redeemer when on the cross.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 12. Many bulls have compassed me] The bull is the emblem of brutal strength, that gores and tramples down all before it. Such was Absalom, Ahithophel, and others, who rose up in rebellion against David; and such were the Jewish rulers who conspired against Christ.
Strong bulls of Bashan] Bashan was a district beyond Jordan, very fertile, where they were accustomed to fatten cattle, which became, in consequence of the excellent pasture, the largest, as well as the fattest, in the country. See Calmet. All in whose hands were the chief power and influence became David’s enemies; for Absalom had stolen away the hearts of all Israel. Against Christ, the chiefs both of Jews and Gentiles were united.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Bulls; wicked, and violent, and potent enemies; for such are so called, Eze 39:18; Amo 4:1.
Strong bulls of Bashan, i.e. fat and lusty, as the cattle there bred were, Deu 3:13; 32:14, and therefore fierce and furious.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12, 13. His enemies, with thevigor of bulls and rapacity of lions, surround him, eagerly seekinghis ruin. The force of both figures is greater without the use of anyparticle denoting comparison.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Many bulls have compassed me,…. By whom are meant the chief priests, elders, Scribes, and Pharisees, among the Jews, and Herod and Pontius Pilate among the Gentiles, comparable to bulls for their fierceness, rage, and fury against Christ, Ps 2:1; and for their pushing at him with their horns of power and authority, and for their trampling him under their feet, his person and offices; these compassed him about at his apprehension, arraignment, trial, and condemnation; and there were many of them to one child, Jesus:
strong [bulls] of Bashan have beset me round; Bashan was a very fruitful country, in which cattle of various sorts, and bulls among the rest, were fed and fattened; see De 32:14; bulls are noted for their strength in other writers a. Hence great men, who abounded in riches and power, and used them to the oppression of the poor, are compared to the kine of Bashan, Am 4:1; and a very fit name this was for the kings and princes of the earth; for Caiaphas, Annas, and the chief priests, that lived upon the fat of the land, who beset Christ around, and employed all their power and policy to take him and bring him to death; nor is it unusual with Heathen writers b to compare great personages to bulls.
a “Fortes tauri”, Virgil. Georgic. l. 1. v. 65. Ovid. Metamorph. l. 9. Fab. 1. b Homer. Iliad. 2. v. 48. Horat. Satyr. l. 1. Satyr. 3. v. 110.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(Heb.: 22:13-14) Looking back upon his relationship to God, which has existed from the earliest times, the sufferer has become somewhat more calm, and is ready, in Psa 22:13, to describe his outward and inner life, and thus to unburden his heart. Here he calls his enemies , bullocks, and in fact (cf. Psa 50:13 with Deu 32:14), strong ones of Bashan, the land rich in luxuriant oak forests and fat pastures ( = buthne, which in the Beduin dialect means rich, stoneless meadow-land, vid., Job S. 509f.; tr. ii. pp. 399f.) north of Jabbok extending as far as to the borders of Hermon, the land of Og and afterwards of Manasseh (Num 30:1). They are so called on account of their robustness and vigour, which, being acquired and used in opposition to God is brutish rather than human (cf. Amo 4:1). Figures like these drawn from the animal world and applied in an ethical sense are explained by the fact, that the ancients measured the instincts of animals according to the moral rules of human nature; but more deeply by the fact, that according to the indisputable conception of Scripture, since man was made to fall by Satan through the agency of an animal, the animal and Satan are the two dominant powers in Adamic humanity. is a climactic synonym of . On Psa 22:14 compare the echoes in Jeremiah, Lam 2:16; Lam 3:46. Finally, the foes are all comprehended under the figure of a lion, which, as soon as he sights his prey, begins to roar, Amo 3:4. The Hebrew , discerpere , according to its root, belongs to , carpere . They are instar leonis dilaniaturi et rugientis .
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
12. Strong bulls have encompassed me. The Psalmist now complains of the cruelty and barbarous rage of his enemies; and he compares them first to bulls, secondly to lions, and thirdly to dogs. When the anger of bulls is kindled, we know how fierce and terrible they are. The lion, also, is a cruel beast, and dreadful to mankind. And the eager and fierce boldness with which dogs, when once they are irritated, rush upon a man to do him injury, is well known. In short, David’s enemies were so blood-thirsty and cruel, that they more resembled wild beasts than men. He calls them not simply bulls, but strong bulls. Instead of rendering the original word רבים, rabbim, strong, as we have done, some would render it many: with which I cannot agree. David, it is true, was assailed by great hosts of enemies; but it appears, from the second clause of the verse, that what is here described is their strength, and not their number. He there terms them the bulls of Bashan; meaning by that expression, well-fed bulls, and, consequently, large and strong: for we know that the hill of Bashan was distinguished for rich and fat pastures. (511)
(511) “The bull is known to be a fierce animal, and those of Bashan, from its luxuriant pastures, were uncommonly so.” — Dr Geddes.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(12) Bulls of Bashan.For Bashan see Num. 21:33; for its pastures and cattle, comp. Deu. 32:14, and for the figures, Amo. 4:1. Instead of fat bulls, the LXX. and Vulgate paraphrase strong ones of Bashan. The point of the comparison lies in the wantonness and insolence of pampered pride, displayed by the minions of fortune.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12. Many bulls have compassed me “Under the names of ferocious beasts, mentioned here and in Psa 22:13; Psa 22:16; Psa 22:20-21, are signified powerful and deadly enemies.” French and Skinner. The word denotes young bulls, in their full strength and vigour. Rosenmuller says, of the third year.
Of Bashan A rich district in northern Gilead noted for its fat cattle. The bulls of Hermon and Bashan were often too wild for the yoke and exceedingly fierce. See Job 39:9-12, where another word is used to signify the same animal. See note on Psa 22:21
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Many bulls have surrounded me, strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gape at Me with their mouth, like a ravening and a roaring lion.’
He knew what had brought Him there. During His last days He had been crowded in as though by a herd of bulls which had threatened and surrounded Him, as the Chief Priests and Scribes had hemmed Him in. And now there they were, gaping at Him with their mouths, and as they stood there at the cross, they were surrounding Him on every side, as though they were hungry lions, determined to consume Him.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Psa 22:12. Many bullsof Bashan By the strong and fierce bulls of Bashan, which was the richest soil in Palestine, are represented the haughty senators, the chief-priests, the Scribes, the Pharisees, and the other great men of Judea; who, after having resolved upon the death of Christ, Psa 2:2 were so insolent as to make their appearance round his cross, and to insult him with their mockeries.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
It would be a loss of time to continually remark, how impossible it is to preserve any kind of consistency in those scriptures, by keeping up the recollection of David, King of Israel, as being at all personally represented in these and the like accounts. David never was in the situation here described; and therefore I do request the Reader, once for all, to forget David, unless as a type of Christ, and wholly look to Him, whom David, as a prophet, and under the spirit of prophecy, is so accurately describing. Reader, look into the Evangelists, after reading these prophetical relations of your Redeemer, and behold how the history corresponds to the prediction in every point. Never indeed were sorrows like unto his sorrows, in the days of his humiliation. Who can hear of a Lamb in the midst of bulls, and behold Jesus under the buffetings of the soldiers, the reproaches of the Scribes and Pharisees, the scourge and the spear, and the thorny crown, but must be struck with the striking nature of the similitude to the reality? Who can hear of a soul so afflicted as to be poured out like water, and all the bones of his body out of joint, and then behold Jesus when nailed to the cross, and by the elevation and fixing the cross, dislocating, though not breaking, the bones of his sacred body, but must cry out, Behold the Man! And was not Jesus parched, with his tongue cleaving to his jaws, when he said, I thirst. In short, under every circumstance, in his buffetings, sufferings, crucifixion, dying, and the dust of death, into which he was brought, if the prophet had been at the hall of Pilate, and the hill of Calvary, he could scarcely have made a more accurate portrait of the Lamb of God, than he hath now done: so exactly was fulfilled a prophecy delivered a thousand years before the period of its accomplishment. Dearest Lord, give me so to meditate on these things, until I feel my whole soul going forth in all that love and affection which thy people participate, who know thee in the power of thy resurrection, and in the fellowship of thy sufferings. Phi 3:10 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 22:12 Many bulls have compassed me: strong [bulls] of Bashan have beset me round.
Ver. 12. Many bulls have compassed me ] Young bulls, which noteth their lustiness and courage. Tauri bene saginati et petulci.
Strong bulls of Bashan
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Many: Psa 68:30, Jer 50:11
strong: Deu 32:14, Deu 32:15, Isa 34:7, Eze 39:18, Amo 4:1-3, Mat 27:1, Act 4:27
Reciprocal: Num 21:33 – Bashan 1Sa 23:26 – away 1Ki 4:13 – Argob 1Ch 5:11 – Gad Psa 18:4 – floods Psa 109:3 – compassed Psa 118:11 – General Psa 119:157 – Many Psa 124:2 – when men Isa 53:8 – General Jer 50:27 – bullocks Eze 34:20 – Behold Mat 27:41 – General Mar 12:7 – This Mar 15:29 – they Luk 10:3 – I send Luk 11:53 – to urge Luk 22:44 – being Luk 23:5 – they Luk 23:23 – General Luk 23:35 – the people Joh 18:3 – a band
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
22:12 Many bulls have compassed me: strong {g} [bulls] of Bashan have beset me round.
(g) He means that his enemies were so fat, proud and cruel that they were more like beasts than men.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
David’s enemies and agony 22:12-15
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The psalmist felt he was at the mercy of his enemies, as a person is in the presence of a dangerous bull or lion. Cattle grew large and strong in Bashan (or Gilead), the territory east of the Sea of Chinnereth (Galilee; cf. Num 32:1-5; Amo 4:1).