They pierced my hands and my feet<\/em> ] The figure of the savage dogs is still continued. They fly at his feet and hands, and maim them.<\/p>\n The A.V. here rightly deserts the Massoretic text in favour of the reading represented by the LXX, Vulg., and Syr., which have, they dug<\/em>, or, pierced<\/em>. Another group of ancient Versions (Aq. Symm. Jer.) gives they bound<\/em>. ( Fixerunt<\/em> in some editions of Jerome is a corruption for the true reading vinxerunt<\/em>.) The Massoretic text has, like a lion my hands and my feet<\/em>. A verb did they mangle<\/em> must be supplied, but the construction is harsh and the sense unsatisfactory. It seems certain that a somewhat rare verb form ( k’<\/em> r<\/em> <\/em>), ‘they pierced,’ has been corrupted into the similar word ( k’<\/em> r<\/em> <\/em>), ‘like a lion.’ The Targum perhaps preserves a trace of the transition in its conflate rendering, biting like a lion<\/em>.<\/p>\n The literal fulfilment in the Crucifixion is obvious. But it is nowhere referred to in the N.T.<\/p>\n For dogs have compassed me – <\/B>Men who resemble dogs; harsh, snarling, fierce, ferocious. See Phi 3:2<\/span>, note; and Rev 22:15<\/span>, note. No one can doubt that this is applicable to the Redeemer.<\/P> The assembly of the wicked have enclosed me – <\/B>That is, they have surrounded me; they have come around me on all sides so that I might not escape. So they surrounded the Redeemer in the garden of Gethsemane when they arrested him and bound him; so they surrounded him when on his trial before the Sanhedrin and before Pilate; and so they surrounded him on the cross.<\/P> They pierced my hands and my feet – <\/B>This passage is attended with more difficulty than perhaps any other part of the psalm. It is remarkable that it is nowhere quoted or referred to in the New Testament as applicable to the Saviour; and it is no less remarkable that there is no express statement in the actual history of the crucifixion that either the hands or the feet of the Saviour were pierced, or that he was nailed to the cross at all. This was not necessarily implied in the idea of crucifixion, for the hands and the feet were sometimes merely bound to the cross by cords, and the sufferer was allowed to linger on the cross thus suspended until he died from mere exhaustion. There can be no doubt, however, that the common mode of crucifixion was to nail the hands to the transverse beam of the cross, and the feet to the upright part of it. See the description of the crucifixion in the notes at Mat 27:31-32<\/span>. Thus, Tertullian, speaking of the sufferings of Christ, and applying this passage to his death, says that this was the special or proper – propria<\/I> – severity of the cross. Adv. Marcionem, iii. 19, ed. Wurtz, I. p. 403. See Hengstenbergs Christology, 1,139. The great difficulty in this passage is in the word rendered in our version, they pierced – <\/span> ka’ariy<\/I>. It occurs only in one other place, Isa 38:13<\/span>, where it means as a lion. This would undoubtedly be the most natural interpretation of the word here, unless there were good reasons for setting it aside; and not a few have endeavored to show that this is the true rendering. According to this interpretation, the passage would mean, As lions, they (that is, my enemies) surround (gape upon) my hands and my feet; that is, they threaten to tear my limbs to pieces. Gesenius, Lexicon. This interpretation is also that of Aben Ezra, Ewald, Paulus, and others. But, whatever may be the true explanation, there are very serious objections to this one.<\/P> (a) It is difficult to make sense of the passage if this is adopted. The preceding word, rendered in our version enclosed, can mean only surrounded or encompassed, and it is difficult to see how it could be said that a lion could surround or encompass the hands and the feet. At all events, such an interpretation would be harsh and unusual.<\/P> (b) According to this interpretation the word me – enclosed me – would be superfluous; since the idea would be, they enclose or surround my hands and my feet.<\/P> (c) All the ancient interpreters have taken the word here to be a verb, and in all the ancient versions it is rendered as if it were a verb.<\/P> Even in the Masorah Parva it is said that the word here is to be taken in a different sense from what it has in Isa 38:13<\/span>, where it plainly means a lion. Gesenius admits that all the ancient interpreters have taken this as a verb, and says that it is certainly possible that it may be so. He says that it may be regarded as a participle formed in the Aramaic manner (from <\/span> kur<\/I>), and in the plural number for <\/span> ka’ariym<\/I>, and says that in this way it would be properly rendered, piercing, my hands and my feet; that is, as he says, my enemies, who are understood in the dogs. From such high authority, and from the uniform mode of interpreting the word among the ancients, it may be regarded as morally certain that the word is a verb, and that it is not to be rendered, as in Isa 38:13<\/span>, as a lion. The material question is, What does the verb mean? The verb – <\/span> kur<\/I> – properly means to dig, to bore through, to pierce.<\/P> Thus used, according to Gesenius, it would mean piercing; and if the word used here is a verb, he supposes that it would refer to the enemies of David as wounding him, or piercing him, with darts and weapons. He maintains that it is applicable to David literally, and he sees no reason to refer it to the Messiah. But, if so, it is natural to ask why the hands and the feet are mentioned. Certainly it is not usual for darts and spears thrown by an enemy to injure the hands or the feet particularly; nor is it customary to refer to the hands or the feet when describing the effects produced by the use of those weapons. If the reference were to the enemies of David as wounding him with darts and spears, it would be much more natural to refer to the body in general, without specifying any of the particular members of the body. DeWette renders it fesseln – they bind my hands and my feet.<\/P> He remarks, however, in a note, that according to the ancient versions, and the codices of Kennicott and DeRossi, it means durchbohren<\/I> – bore through. Aquila, Symmachus, and Jerome in five codices, says he, render it bind. The Septuagint renders it <\/SPAN><\/span> oruxan<\/I> – they pierced. The Latin Vulgate the same, foderunt.<\/I> See the Syriac. For these reasons it seems to me that the common rendering is the true one, and that the meaning is, that, in some proper sense, the enemies here referred to pierced or bored through the hands and the feet of the sufferer. Evidently this could not be literally applied to David, for there is not the least authority for supposing that this ever happened to him; nor, as has been shown, was such a thing probable. A casual dart, or the stroke of a spear, might indeed strike the hand or the foot; but it would be unusual and remarkable if they should strike those members of the body and leave the other parts uninjured, so as to make this a matter for special notice; and even if they did strike those parts, it would be every way unlikely that they would pierce them, or bore them through.<\/P> Such an event would be so improbable that we may assume that it did not occur, unless there was the most decisive evidence of the fact. Nor is there the least probability that the enemies of David would pierce his hands and feet deliberately and of design. I say nothing in regard to the fact that they never had him in their possession so that they could do it; it is sufficient to say that this was not a mode of punishing one who was taken captive in war. Conquerors killed their captives; they made them pass under yokes; they put them under saws and harrows of iron (compare 2Sa 12:31<\/span>; 1Ch 20:3<\/span>); but there is not the slightest evidence that they ever tortured captives in war by piercing the hands and the feet. But, as has been remarked above, there is every reason to believe that this was the ordinary mode of crucifixion. I conclude, therefore, that this must have had original reference to the Messiah. It is no objection to the interpretation that this passage is not expressly referred to as having been fulfilled in the Redeemer, for there are undoubtedly many passages in the prophets which refer to the Messiah, which are not formally applied to him in the New Testament. To make it certain that the prophecy referred to him, and was fulfilled in him, it is not necessary that we should find on record an actual application of the passage to him. All that is necessary in the case is, that it should be a prophecy; that it should have been spoken before the event; and that to him it should be fairly applicable.<\/P> <\/p>\n Verse 16<\/span>. For dogs have compassed me<\/B><\/I>] This may refer to the Gentiles<\/I>, the Roman soldiers, and others by whom our Lord was surrounded in his trial, and at his cross.<\/P> <\/P> They pierced my hands and my feet<\/B><\/I>] The other sufferings David, as a type of our Lord, might pass through; but the piercing of the<\/I> hands and feet<\/I> was peculiar to our Lord; therefore, this verse may pass for a direct revelation<\/I>. Our Lord’s hands and feet were pierced when he was nailed to the cross, David’s never were pierced.<\/P> <\/P> But there is a various reading here which is of great importance. Instead of caaru, they pierced<\/B><\/I>, which is what is called the kethib<\/I>, or marginal<\/I> reading, and which our translators have followed; the keri<\/I> or textual reading is caari, as a<\/I> lion<\/I>. In support of each reading there are both MSS. and eminent critics. The Chaldee has, “Biting as a lion my hands and my feet;” but the Syriac, Vulgate, Septuagint, AEthiopic<\/I>, and Arabic<\/I> read, “they pierced<\/I> or digged<\/I>;” and in the Anglo-Saxon<\/I> the words are, [Anglo-Saxon]: “They dalve<\/I> (digged) hands mine, and feet mine.<\/I>“<\/P> <\/P> The Complutensian<\/I> Polyglot has caaru, they digged<\/I> or pierced<\/I>, in the text<\/I>; for which it gives carah<\/I>, to cut,<\/I> dig<\/I>, or penetrate<\/I>, in the margin, as the root whence is derived. But the Polyglots of Potken, Antwerp, Paris<\/I>, and London<\/I>, have caari<\/I> in the text; and caaru<\/I> is referred to in the margin<\/I>; and this is the case with the most correct Hebrew Bibles. The whole difference here lies between yod<\/I> and vau,<\/I> which might easily be mistaken for each other; the former making like a lion<\/I>; the latter, they pierced<\/I>. The latter is to me most evidently the true reading.<\/P> <\/p>\n He calls his enemies <\/P> dogs<\/B> for their vileness and filthiness, for their insatiable greediness and implacable fury and fierceness against him. He explains what he means by dogs<\/I>, even wicked men, who are oft so called, not some few of them singly, but the whole company<\/I> or congregation<\/I> of them; whereby may be noted either their great numbers, or their consulting and conspiring together, as it were, in a lawful assembly; which was most literally and eminently fulfilled in Christ. <\/P> They pierced my hands and my feet:<\/B> these words cannot with any probability be applied to David, nor to the attempts of his enemies upon him; for their design was not to torment his hands or feet, but to take away his life. And if it be pretended that it is to be understood of him in a metaphorical sense, it must be considered, that it is so uncouth and unusual a metaphor, that those who are of this mind cannot produce any one example of this metaphor, either in Scripture or in other authors; nor are they able to make any tolerable sense of it, but are forced to wrest and strain the words. But what need is there of such forced metaphors, when this was most properly and literally verified in Christ, whose hands and feet were really pierced and nailed to the cross, according to the manner of the Roman crucifixions, to whom therefore this is applied in the New Testament. See Mat 27:35<\/span>; Mar 15:24<\/span>; Luk 23:33<\/span>; Joh 19:18<\/span>,23<\/span>,37<\/span>. <\/P> <\/p>\n 16.<\/B> Evildoers are well describedas dogs, which, in the East, herding together, wild and rapacious,are justly objects of great abhorrence. The last clause has been asubject of much discussion (involving questions as to the genuinenessof the Hebrew<\/I> word translated “pierce)” which cannotbe made intelligible to the English reader. Though not quoted in theNew Testament, the remarkable aptness of the description to the factsof the Saviour’s history, together with difficulties attending anyother mode of explaining the clause in the Hebrew,<\/I> justify anadherence to the terms of our version and their obvious meaning.<\/P><\/p>\n For dogs have compassed me<\/strong>,…. By whom are meant wicked men, as the following clause shows; and so the Chaldee paraphrase renders it, “the wicked who are like to many dogs”; and to these such are often compared in Scripture, Mt 7:6<\/span>; and it may be the Roman soldiers, who were Gentiles, may be chiefly intended, whom the Jews used to call dogs, Mt 15:26<\/span>; these assembled together in Pilate’s hall and surrounded Christ, and made sport with him; to these were committed the execution of him, they crucified him, and sat around him watching him while on the cross, as they also did when in the grave: some have thought the dregs of the Jewish people are designed, the common people, such as Job says he would not set with the dogs of his flock,<\/p>\n Job 30:1<\/span>; who encompassed Christ on the cross, wagging their heads at him; though I see not but that all of them, even the chief among them, the high priest, sanhedrim, Scribes, and Pharisees, may be intended; who are so called because of their impurity in themselves; for their avarice and covetousness, being greedy dogs that could never have enough; and for their impudence, calumnies, malice, and envy, against Christ: the allusion seems to be to hunting dogs, who, when they have got the creature they have been in pursuit of, surround it and fall upon it. Christ, in the title of this psalm, is called Aijeleth Shahar, “the morning hind”, who was hunted by the Jews, and at last surrounded and taken by them;<\/p>\n the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me<\/strong>; the Jewish sanhedrim, the chief priests and elders, who assembled together to consult his death, before whom he was brought when taken; and in, the midst of whom he was set and examined, and by them unanimously condemned; and who, notwithstanding all their pretensions to religion, were a set of wicked men: and also the whole congregation of the Jews, the body of the people, who were united in their request for his crucifixion and death; and who in great numbers got together, and in a circle stood around him when on the cross, insulting him;<\/p>\n they pierced my hands and my feet<\/strong>; by nailing them to the cross, which, though not related by the evangelists, is plainly suggested in<\/p>\n Joh 20:25<\/span>; and is referred to in other passages of Scripture,<\/p>\n Zec 12:10<\/span>; and clearly points at the kind of death Christ should die; the death, of the cross, a shameful and painful one. In this clause there is a various reading; in some copies in the margin it is, “as a lion my hands and my feet”, but in the text, “they have dug” or “pierced my hands and my feet”; both are joined together in the Targum, “biting as a lion my hands and my feet”; as it is by other interpreters c; and Schultens d retains the latter, rendering the preceding clause in connection with it thus,<\/p>\n “the assembly of the wicked have broken me to pieces, as a lion, my hands and my feet.”<\/p>\n In the Targum, in the king of Spain’s Bible, the phrase, “as a lion”, is left out. The modern Jews are for retaining the marginal reading, though without any good sense, and are therefore sometimes charged with a wilful and malicious corruption of the text; but without sufficient proof, since the different reading in some copies might be originally occasioned by the similarity of the letters and ; and therefore finding it in their copies, or margin, sometimes , and sometimes<\/p>\n , have chose that which best suits their purpose, and is not to be wondered at; however, their “masoretic” notes, continued by them, sufficiently clear them from such an imputation, and direct to the true reading of the words; in the small Masorah on the text it is observed that the word is twice used as here pointed, but in two different senses; this is one of the places; the other is Isa 38:13<\/span>; where the sense requires it should be read “as a lion”: wherefore, according to the authors of that note, it must have a different sense here, and not to be understood of a lion; the larger Masorah, in Nu 24:9<\/span>; observes the word is to be found in two places, in that place and in Ps 22:16<\/span>; and adds to that, it is written , “they pierced”; and Ben Chayim confirms e this reading, and says he found it so written it, some correct copies, and in the margin ; and so it is written in several manuscripts; and which is confirmed by the Arabic, Syriac, Ethiopic, Greek, and Vulgate Latin versions; in which it is rendered, “they dug my hands and my feet”; and so took it to be a verb and not a noun: so Apollinarius in his metaphrase; and which is also confirmed by the points; though taking for a participle, as the Targum, that reading may be admitted, as it is by some learned men f, who render it “digging” or “piercing”, and so has the same sense, deriving the word either from or , which signify to dig, pierce, or make hollow; and there are many instances of plural words which end in , the omitted, being cut off by an apocope; see 2Sa 23:8<\/span>; and either way the words are expressive of the same thing, and manifestly point to the sufferings of Christ, and that kind of death he should die, the death of the cross, and the nailing of his hands and feet to it, whereby they were pierced. This passage is sometimes applied by the Jews g themselves to their Messiah.<\/p>\n c Amamae Antibarb. Bibl. p. 743. d Origin. Heb. l. 1. c. 12. s. 8. Vid. Jacob. Alting. Dissert. Philolog. 5. s. 27-34. e In Maarcath , fol. 10. 2. ad Calc. Buxtorf. Bibl. f Pocock. Miscell. c. 4. p. 59, 60. Pfeiffer. Exercitat. 8. s. 37. Carpzov. Critic. Sacr. p. 838, 839. Alting. ut supra. (Dissert. Philolog. 5.) s. 48, 49. g Pesikta in Yalkut, par. 2. fol. 56. 4.<\/p>\n (Heb.: 22:17-19)<\/strong> A continuation, referring back to Psa 22:12<\/span>, of the complaint of him who is dying and is already as it were dead. In the animal name , figuratively descriptive of character, beside shamelessness and meanness, special prominence is given to the propensity for biting and worrying, i.e., for persecuting; hence Symmachus and Theodotion render it . In Psa 22:17<\/span><\/em> takes the place of ; and this again is followed by in the plur<\/em>. (to do anything in a circle, to surround by forming a circle round, a climactic synonym, like to ) either per attractionem <\/em> (cf. Psa 140:10<\/span>; 1Sa 2:4<\/span>), or on account of the collective . Tertullian renders it synagoga maleficorum <\/em>, Jerome concilium pessimorum <\/em>. But a faction gathered together for some evil purpose is also called , e.g., . In Psa 22:17<\/span><\/em> the meaning of , instar leonis <\/em>, is either that, selecting a point of attack, they make the rounds of his hands and feet, just as a lion does its prey upon which it springs as soon as its prey stirs; or, that, standing round about him like lions, they make all defence impossible to his hands, and all escape impossible to his feet. But whether we take this as accusative of the members beside the accusative of the person (vid., Psa 17:11<\/span>), or as the object of the to be supplied from Psa 22:17<\/span><\/em>, it still remains harsh and drawling so far as the language is concerned. Perceiving this, the Masora on Isa 38:13<\/span> observes, that , in the two passages in which it occurs (Psa 22:17<\/span>; Isa 38:13<\/span>), occurs in two different meanings ( ) ; just as the Midrash then also understands in the Psalm as a verb used of marking with conjuring, magic characters.<\/p>\n (Note: Hupfeld suspects this Masoretic remark ( ) as a Christian interpolation, but it occurs in the alphabetical Masoreth register . Even Elias Levita speaks of it with astonishment (in his [ ed. Ginsburg<\/em>, p. 253]) without doubting its genuineness, which must therefore have been confirmed, to his mind, by MS authority. Heidenheim also cites it in his edition of the Pentateuch, `ynym m’wr , on Num 24:9<\/span>; and down to the present time no suspicion has been expressed on the part of Jewish critics, although all kinds of unsatisfactory attempts have been made to explain this Masoretic remark (e.g., in the periodical Biccure ha-‘Ittim).<\/em>)<\/p>\n Is the meaning of the Masora that , in the passage before us, is equivalent to ? If so the form would be doubly Aramaic: both the participial form (which only occurs in Hebrew in verbs med. E<\/em>) and the apocopated plural, the occurrence of which in Hebrew is certainly, with Gesenius and Ewald, to be acknowledged in rare instances (vid., Psa 45:9<\/span>, and compare on the other hand 2Sa 22:44<\/span>), but which would here be a capricious form of expression most liable to be misapprehended. If is to be understood as a verb, then it ought to be read . Tradition is here manifestly unreliable. Even in MSS the readings and are found. The former is attested both by the Masora on Num 24:9<\/span> and by Jacob ben Chajim in the Masora finalis<\/em> as the MS Chethb<\/em>.<\/p>\n (Note: The authenticity of this statement of the Masora may be disputed, especially since Jacob ben Chajim became a convert to Christianity, and other Masoretic testimonies do not mention a to ; nevertheless, in this instance, it would be premature to say that this statement is interpolated. Ant. Hulsius in his edition of the Psalter (1650) has written in the margin according to the text of the Complutensis.)<\/p>\n Even the Targum, which renders mordent sicut leo manus et pedes meos <\/em>, bears witness to the ancient hesitancy between the substantival and verbal rendering of the . The other ancient versions have, without any doubt, read . Aquila in the 1st edition of his translation rendered it (from the Aramaic and Talmudic = to soil, part<\/em>. , dirty, nasty); but this is not applicable to hands and feet, and therefore has nothing to stand upon. In the 2nd edition of his translation the same Aquila had instead of this, like Symmachus, “they have bound,” <\/p>\n (Note: Also in Jerome’s independent translation the reading vinxerunt<\/em> is found by the side of fixerunt<\/em>, just as Abraham of Zante paraphrases it in his paraphrase of the Psalter in rhyme . The want of a verb is too perceptible. Saadia supplies it in a different way “they compass me as a lion, to crush my hands and feet.”)<\/p>\n after , Arab. krr <\/em>, to twist, lace; but this rendering is improbable since the Hebrew has other words for “to bind,” constringere <\/em>. On the other hand nothing of any weight can be urged against the rendering of the lxx (Peshto , Vulg. foderunt <\/em>, Jer. fixerunt <\/em>); for (1) even if we do not suppose any special verb , can be expanded from ( ) = ( ) just in the same manner as , Zec 14:10<\/span> from , cf. Dan 7:16<\/span>. And (2) that and can signify not merely to dig out and dig into, engrave, but also to dig through, pierce, is shown, – apart from the derivative (the similarity of the sound of which to from the root , maksh , mraksh <\/em>, is only accidental), – by the double meaning of the verbs , (e.g., Herod. i. 174), fodere <\/em> ( hast <\/em>); the lxx version of Psa 40:7<\/span> would also support this meaning, if (from ) in that passage had been the original reading instead of . If be read, then Psa 22:17<\/span><\/em>, applied to David, perhaps under the influence of the figure of the attacking dogs (Bhl), says that the wicked bored into his hands and feet, and thus have made him fast, so that he is inevitably abandoned to their inhuman desires. The fulfilment in the nailing of the hands and (at least, the binding fast) of the feet of the Crucified One to the cross is clear. This is not the only passage in which it is predicated that the future Christ shall be murderously pierced; but it is the same in Isa 53:5<\/span> where He is said to be pierced ( ) on account of our sins, and in Zec 12:10<\/span>, where Jahve describes Himself as in Him.<\/p>\n Thus, therefore, the reading might at least have an equal right to be recognised with the present recepta <\/em>, for which Hupfeld and Hitzig demand exclusive recognition; while Bttcher, – who reads , and gives this the meaning“springing round about (after the manner of dogs), – regards the sicut leo <\/em> as “a production of meagre Jewish wit;” and also Thenius after taking all possible pains to clear it up gives it up as hopeless, and with Meier, adopting a different division of the verse, renders it: “a mob of the wicked has encompassed me like lions. On my hands and feet I can count all my bones.” But then, how comes limping on after the rest! And how lamely does precede Psa 22:18<\/span>! How unnaturally does it limit , with which one chiefly associates the thought of the breast and ribs, to the hands and feet! is potientialis<\/em>. Above in Psa 22:15<\/span> he has said that his bones are out of joint. There is no more reason for regarding this “I can count etc.” as referring to emaciation from grief, than there is for regarding the former as referring to writing with agony. He can count them because he is forcibly stretched out, and thereby all his bones stand out. In this condition he is a mockery to his foes. signifies the turning of one’s gaze to anything, the fixing of one’s sight upon it with pleasure. In Psa 22:19<\/span> a new feature is added to those that extend far beyond David himself: they part my garments among them…. It does not say they purpose doing it, they do it merely in their mind, but they do it in reality. This never happened to David, or at least not in the literal sense of his words, in which it has happened to Christ. In Him Psa 22:19<\/span><\/em> and Psa 22:19<\/span><\/em> are literally fulfilled. The parting of the by the soldiers dividing his among them into four parts; the casting lots upon the by their not dividing the , but casting lots for it, Joh 19:23<\/span>. is the garment which is put on the body that it may not be bare; the clothes, which one wraps around one’s self for a covering; hence is punningly explained in B. Sabbath<\/em> 77 b<\/em> by (with which one has no need to be ashamed of being naked) in distinction from , a mantle (that through which one appears , because it conceals the outline of the body). In Job 24:7<\/span>, and frequently, is an undergarment, or shirt, what in Arabic is called absolutely Arab. t w b , thob <\/em> “the garment,” or expressed according to the Roman distinction: the tunica <\/em> in distinction from the toga <\/em>, whose exact designation is . With Psa 22:19<\/span> of this Psalm it is exactly as with Zec 9:9<\/span>, cf. Mat 21:5<\/span>; in this instance also, the fulfilment has realised that which, in both phases of the synonymous expression, is seemingly identical.<\/p>\n (Note: On such fulfilments of prophecy, literal beyond all expectation, vid., Saat auf Hoffnung <\/em> iii., 3, 47-51.)<\/p>\n 16. They have pierced my hands and my feet. The original word, which we have translated they have pierced, is כארי, caari, which literally rendered is, like a lion. As all the Hebrew Bibles at this day, without exception, have this reading, I would have had great hesitation in departing from a reading which they all support, were it not that the scope of the discourse compels me to do so, and were there not strong grounds for conjecturing that this passage has been fraudulently corrupted by the Jews. With respect to the Septuagint version, there is no doubt that the translators had read in the Hebrew text, כארו, caaru, that is the letter ו, vau, where there is now the letter י, yod. (513) The Jews prate much about the literal sense being purposely and deliberately overthrown, by our rendering the original word by they have pierced: but for this allegation there is no color of truth whatever. What need was there to trifle so presumptuously in a matter where it was altogether unnecessary? Very great suspicion of falsehood, however, attaches to them, seeing it is the uppermost desire of their hearts to despoil the crucified Jesus of his escutcheons, and to divest him of his character as the Messiah and Redeemer. If we receive this reading as they would have us to do, the sense will be enveloped in marvellous obscurity. In the first place, it will be a defective form of expression, and to complete it, they say it is necessary to supply the verb to surround or to beset. But what do they mean by besetting the hands and the feet? Besetting belongs no more to these parts of the human body than to the whole man. The absurdity of this argument being discovered, they have recourse to the most ridiculous old wives’ fables, according to their usual way, saying, that the lion, when he meets any man in his road, makes a circle with his tail before rushing upon his prey: from which it is abundantly evident that they are at a loss for arguments to support their view. <\/p>\n Again, since David, in the preceding verse, has used the similitude of a lion, the repetition of it in this verse would be superfluous. I forbear insisting upon what some of our expositors have observed, namely, that this noun, when it has prefixed to it the letter כ, caph, which signifies as, the word denoting similitude, has commonly other points than those which are employed in this passage. My object, however, is not here to labor to convince the Jews who in controversy are in the highest degree obstinate and opinionative. I only intend briefly to show how wickedly they endeavor to perplex Christians on account of the different reading which occurs in this place. When they object, that by the appointment of the law no man was fastened with nails to a cross, they betray in this their gross ignorance of history, since it is certain that the Romans introduced many of their own customs and manners into the provin ces which they had conquered. If they object that David was never nailed to a cross, the answer is easy, namely, that in bewailing his condition, he has made use of a similitude, declaring that he was not less afflicted by his enemies than the man who is suspended on a cross, having his hands and feet pierced through with nails. We will meet a little after with more of the same kind of metaphors. <\/p>\n (513) This word has created much discussion. In the Hebrew Bible, the kethib or textual reading is, כארי, caari, like a lion; the keri, or marginal reading, is כארו, caaru, “they pierced,” from כרה, carah, to cut, dig, or pierce. Both readings are supported by MSS. There is, however, no ground to doubt that the genuine reading is, כארו, caaru. As the Septuagint here reads ωρυξαν , they pierced, the translators, doubtless, considered that the correct reading of the Hebrew text was כארו, caaru. The Vulgate, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic, give a similar rendering. All the Evangelists also quote and apply the passage to the crucifixion of Christ. Besides, the other reading, כארי, caari, as a lion, renders the passage unintelligible. The Chaldee version has combined both the ideas of pierced and as a lion, reading, “Biting, as a lion, my hands and my feet.” Our author supposes that the text has been fraudulently corrupted by the Jews, who have intentionally changed כארו, caaru, into כארי, caari. But there is no necessity for supposing that there has been any fraud in the case. In the process of transcription, the change might have been made unintentionally, by the substitution of the letter י, yod, for the letter ו, vau, which it so nearly resembles. Walford observes, “that the present reading [ כארי, caari ] is quite satisfactory, if it be taken as a participle plural in reflexive, and be translated, ‘Wounders of my hands and my feet.’” <\/p>\n (16) Dogs.<\/strong>Literally, barkers. <\/em>(For the wild scavenger dogs of the East, comp. 1Ki. 12:19<\/span>, &c) Symmachus and Theodotion render, hunting dogs.<\/p>\n The assembly of the wicked <\/strong>denotes the factious nature of the attacks on the sufferer. His enemies have combined, as savage animals, to hunt in packs. Comp. Virgil, n. <\/em>ii. 351:<\/p>\n lupi ceu They pierced.<\/strong>The word thus rendered has formed a <\/strong>battle-ground for controversy. As the Hebrew text at present stands the word reads kar <\/em>(like a <\/strong>lion). (Comp. Isa. 38:13<\/span>.) But no intelligible meaning can be got out of like a lion my hands and my feet. Nor does the plan commend itself of dividing the verses differently, and reading, The congregation of wicked men have gathered round me like a lion. On my hands and my feet I can tell all my bones. The punctuation of the text must therefore be given up, and a meaning sought by changing the reading. The necessity of a change is supported both by the ancient versions and by some MSS., and also by the Masora; though considerable difference exists as to what the word should be <\/strong>read. If the authority of the ancient versions alone were <\/strong>to decide, some verb in the past tense must be read, <\/strong>but the most reasonable course is to accept the present text, but with a different vowel, treating it as a <\/strong>participle, with suffix, of kr, <\/em>whose root-idea, according to Ewald, is to bind; but according to most other scholars is to dig. It is, however, so doubtful whether it can mean to dig through<\/em>i.e.<\/em>, to piercethat it is better to understand here a binding of the limbs so tightly as to dig into <\/em>them, and wound them. Render: The band of villains [literally, breakers<\/em>] <\/em>surrounded me, binding my hands and feet so as to cut them.<\/p>\n 16<\/strong>. <\/strong> Dogs <\/strong> Called “assembly of the wicked” in next line, the only bitter comparison in the psalm. The wild dogs of the East are meant, a figure at once of impurity, baseness, and cruelty. In Egypt, and the East generally, dogs usually go at large. Having no master to care for them, hunger<\/p>\n makes them ferocious. Their physiognomy is ignoble, and their appearance haggard and disgusting. They were always the synonyme of vileness, contention, and uncleanness. 1Sa 24:14 ; 2Sa 9:8<\/span>; Php 3:2<\/span>; Rev 22:15<\/span>. <\/p>\n They pierced my hands and my feet <\/strong> Few passages of Scripture have been more sharply contested. Standing as it does in our English version, it is a wonderful prediction of the manner of Christ’s death. The difficulty lies in the word rendered pierced. <\/em> On the one hand, , ( kaaree,<\/em>) which is the form of the word in the common Hebrew text, has been taken as two words, , the particle of comparison, ( as, like, <\/em> or taking Quamets as indicating the article, as the,<\/em>) and , ( a lion,<\/em>) which would read: “The congregation of the wicked have enclosed me; as a lion, <\/em> (or, as the lion,<\/em>) my hands and my feet;” or, as Hengstenberg: “They beset me, lionlike, on my hands and my feet.” But, though this would seem a natural and easy way to dispose of the grammatical difficulty, and has four examples where the same form occurs, (namely: Num 23:24<\/span>; Num 24:9<\/span>; Isa 38:13<\/span>; Eze 22:25<\/span>,) yet it involves grave difficulty as to the sense. In the four other cases mentioned the allusion to the lion is perfectly clear, and the sense easy and natural, but in this it completely destroys the sense, leaving the metaphor unexplained, or, rather, contradicted. Dr. Alexander, who adheres to the Messianic application of the passage, suggests an ellipsis, and the reading: “Like a lion [they have wounded] my hands and my feet.”<\/p>\n Professor Stuart, also, by bringing forward from the preceding line the verb , (translated “enclosed me,”) and giving its radical sense to strike, stab, pierce, cut, <\/em> proposes the rendering: “As a lion [they pierce] my hands and my feet.” But this is not satisfactory. If the reference be to the habit of the lion in attacking his prey, it is not according to fact; if to cutting and tearing his prey, why specify hands and feet, and not rather, as Psa 7:2<\/span>: “Lest he tear my soul (that is, tear me) like a lion, rending it in pieces;” or, Isa 38:13<\/span>: “As a lion, so will he break all my bones.” This is lionlike; but, on the hypothesis now under consideration, the allusion to the lion is simply unnatural and absurd. The lion does not seize the hands and feet, but springs upon the victim. It must be further considered that , ( my hands and my feet,<\/em>) are in the accusative, and hence the limbs are not mentioned incidentally, but as the objective point of attack, which still more forcibly shows the unnaturalness of the metaphor as an allusion to the habits of the lion. The language is clearly unique, and the difficulty of explaining it according to the well known habits of the lion is so formidable that the Jews themselves, according to the little Masora, held that ( kaaree<\/em>) in the two passages (Psa 22:16<\/span>, and Isa 38:13<\/span>) is in two different meanings. Evidently, here the prophet outsteps the limit of type and history, and, as in the case of the “Priest-King,” (Psa 110:4<\/span>,) ascends to the height of absolute revelation concerning Messiah.<\/p>\n Two other interpretations of the passage in question have obtained. First, has been taken as an irregular form of the plural participle of the root , in the sense of , to dig, pierce through, bore, <\/em> by dropping , the regular plural termination, and inserting . The anomaly, though of extreme rarity, is admissible by the best authority. They then read, “Piercing my hands and my feet:” or, considering the participle as a noun in regimen, “Piercers of my hands and my feet.”<\/p>\n But, secondly, instead of a participle the ancient versions read it as a verb, , ( kaaroo,<\/em>) which simply changes the yod ( ) into vauv, ( ,) with corresponding vowel points. Thus the Septuagint, they pierced; <\/em> Vulgate, they pierced, stabbed; <\/em> Jerome, they fastened; <\/em> Syriac, they penetrated, perforated. <\/em> Manuscripts, also, of unquestioned authority have the same. Kennicott mentions four Hebrew manuscripts having in the text and in the margin. It is evident that the Septuagint followed manuscripts which read “ they pierced,” <\/em> the same as our English version. The lexical and grammatical difficulties which beset the present reading of the text would seem to dictate the necessity of correcting, and taking the word as a verb. But, whether as an irregular participle, or by correcting the text as a verb, the sense will be the same though, as Tregelles remarks, “the latter is preferable.” It is notable that the most natural evidences of crucifixion were laid in the wounded “hands and feet” by the Saviour himself, (Luk 24:39<\/span>\ud83d\ude09 “Behold my hands and my feet, <\/em> that it is I myself.”<\/p>\n The passage in question is not directly quoted in the New Testament, but allusions which belong to the crucifixion occur both in the Old and New Testaments. Isa 53:5<\/span>: “He was pierced <\/em> [ from , bore through, perforate, pierce<\/em> ] for our transgressions.” Zec 12:10<\/span>: “They shall look on me whom they have pierced,” <\/em> ( ,) quoted Joh 19:37<\/span>; Rev 1:7<\/span><\/p>\n ‘For dogs have surrounded Me. A company of evildoers have enclosed Me. They pierced my hands and my feet.’<\/p>\n But His trials continued. Having obtained that they wanted, His opponents were now gathered round Him like a pack of snarling dogs, and He felt enclosed by the soldiers of Rome who had driven nails through His hands and feet. But the ones who were really responsible for the nails were the ones who watched and sneered, and you and I.<\/p>\n Psa 22:16<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>For dogs have compassed me<\/em><\/strong><\/strong> The idea here is, of a pack of hounds encompassing a distressed deer, <\/em>which they have hunted down. See the remarks on the title. Hereby are represented the Roman soldiers and the other Gentiles who were with the Jews around the cross. Schultens renders the next clause, the assembly of the wicked, as a lion, have broken my hands and my feet. <\/em>But Houbigant defends our present version. See his note. This and the following verses were literally fulfilled in our Saviour; and Theodoret observes, that when he was extended, and his limbs distorted on the cross, it might be easy for a spectator literally to tell all his bones. <\/em>See Bishop Pearson on the Creed, p. 88. <\/p>\n Psa 22:16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.<\/p>\n Ver. 16. For dogs have compassed me<\/strong> ] That is, men of mean rank; opposed to bulls and lions, i.e.<\/em> great ones, and interpreted in the next words, the assembly of the wicked, the rude rabble, and of rancorous disposition, Job 30:1 Pro 26:11<\/span> Mat 7:6 Phi 3:2<\/span> Psa 59:7<\/span> ; Psa 59:15<\/span> . A.D. 1556, at Wessensten, in Germany, a Jew for theft was in this cruel manner to be executed. He was hanged by the feet with his head downward, between two dogs, which constantly snatched and bit at him (Melch. Adam in Vit. Jac. And.). <\/p>\n <\/p>\n They pierced my hands and my feet<\/strong> ] sc.<\/em> When they nailed Christ to the cross, Mat 27:35<\/span> Joh 20:25<\/span> . Where let me similate, saith a learned man, the orator’s gradation, Facinus vincire civem Romanum, &c.<\/em> It was much for the Son of God to be bound, more to be beaten, most of all to be slain; Quid dicam in crucem tolli?<\/em> but what shall I say to this, that he was crucified? that was the most vile and ignominious of all punishments; it was also a cruel and cursed kind of death; which yet he refused not: and here we have a clear testimony for his cross, which the devil would fain wring from us by his agents, the Jews, with their Keri and Chetib. See Galatin. l. 8, c. 17; l. 1, c. 8; Mercer in Job 7:20<\/span> .<\/p>\n dogs. Figure of speech Hypocatastasis. App-6. “Enemies” being implied (not expressed). <\/p>\n assembly = congregation: in civic aspect. <\/p>\n wicked = breakers up. Hebrew. ra’a. App-44. <\/p>\n They pierced, &c. = “As a lion [they break up] my hands and my feet”. The Hebrew text reads ka’ari = as a lion (the “k” = as). The Authorized Version and Revised Version, with Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, take the “k” as part of the verb k’aru, and alter the vowel points, making it read “they pierced”. It is better to translate the Hebrew text literally, and supply the Ellipsis of the verb from Isa 38:13, “they break up”. The meaning is exactly the same, and agrees with Joh 19:37. <\/p>\n the Testimony of the Delivered<\/p>\n Psa 22:16-31<\/p>\n In the middle of Psa 22:21 there is a remarkable change from the plaintive to the triumphant: supplication and entreaty break out into exultation; hope saves the broken harp from the hands of despair, restrings it, and extracts from it strains to which angels, on their way home to God, are constrained to listen.<\/p>\n He who had said, Thou hearest not, Psa 22:2, confesses that all the while God has been hearing and helping. Now Jesus will join the saints in psalms of praise. See Joh 17:26 (will make it known) and Heb 2:12. Man may abhor a worm, but God uses worms to thresh mountains, Isa 41:14-15.<\/p>\n In the closing verses there is a sure forecast of the effects of the death on the Cross not only upon the Jews, but also upon the ends of the earth, that is, the Gentiles. The usurper shall be dethroned, Psa 22:28; resurrection shall be accomplished, Psa 22:29; and a spiritual seed shall satisfy the Redeemers travail, Psa 22:30.<\/p>\n dogs: Psa 22:1, *title Psa 22:20, Psa 59:6, Psa 59:14, Mat 7:6, Phi 3:2, Rev 22:15 <\/p>\n compassed: Luk 11:53, Luk 11:54 <\/p>\n assembly: Psa 86:14, Jer 12:6, Mat 26:57, Mar 15:16-20, Luk 22:63-71, Luk 23:4, Luk 23:5, Luk 23:10, Luk 23:11, Luk 23:23 <\/p>\n they pierced: The textual reading is kaari, “as a lion my hands and feet;” but several manuscripts, read karoo, and others karoo in the margin, which affords the reading adopted by our translators. So the LXX , so also the Vulgate, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic; and as all the Evangelists so quote the passage, and apply it to the crucifixion of Christ, there seems scarcely the shadow of a doubt that this is the genuine reading; especially when it is considered, that the other contains no sense at all. The whole difference lies between , wav and , yood, which might easily be mistaken for each other. Zec 12:10, Mat 27:35, Mar 15:24, Luk 23:33, Joh 19:23, Joh 19:37, Joh 20:25, Joh 20:27 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Deu 23:18 – dog 1Sa 23:26 – away 2Ki 8:13 – a dog Job 16:10 – gaped Psa 18:4 – floods Psa 27:2 – wicked Psa 35:15 – the abjects Psa 49:5 – heels Psa 54:3 – oppressors Psa 88:17 – They Psa 94:21 – gather Psa 119:150 – draw nigh Psa 119:157 – Many Psa 124:2 – when men Hab 1:4 – for Zec 13:6 – I was Mar 15:31 – also Joh 3:14 – even Joh 12:32 – if Joh 18:32 – what Joh 19:18 – General Phi 2:8 – the death Rev 1:7 – and they<\/p>\n Psa 22:16. Dogs have compassed me So he calls his enemies, or rather the enemies of Christ, for their insatiable greediness, and implacable fierceness against him. The idea seems to be taken from a number of dogs encompassing a distressed deer, which they have hunted down, as is intimated in the remarks on the title. Hereby, Dr. Dodd thinks, are represented the Roman soldiers and the other Gentiles who were with the Jews around the cross. But without such a particular application, it may be interpreted generally of Christs enemies, either consulting and conspiring against him, or assaulting him with violence. They pierced my hands and my feet These words cannot, with any probability, be applied to David, nor to the attempts of his enemies upon him; for their design was, not to torment his hands or feet, but to take away his life. And if it be pretended that it is to be understood of him in a metaphorical sense, it must be considered that it is so uncouth and unusual a metaphor that those who are of this opinion cannot produce any example of such a one, either in the Scriptures or in other authors; nor are they able to make any tolerable sense of the words thus understood. But what need is there of such forced interpretations, when this clause was most properly and literally verified in Christ, whose hands and feet were really pierced, and nailed to the cross, according to the manner of the Roman crucifixions? to whom therefore it is applied in the New Testament.<\/p>\n 22:16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they {k} pierced my hands and my feet.<\/p>\n (k) Thus David complained as though he were nailed by his enemies in both hands and feet, but this was accomplished in Christ.<\/p>\n David’s enemies and agony restated 22:16-18<\/span><\/p>\n David compared his enemies to wild dogs that had him surrounded and were waiting to finish him off. Already he felt as though they had begun to tear him apart by biting his extremities, his hands and feet. Years later, the enemies of the Lord Jesus actually did pierce<\/span> His hands and His feet when they nailed Him to the cross (cf. Luk 24:39-40). [Note: See Conrad R. Gren, "Piercing the Ambiguities of Psalms 22:16 and the Messiah’s Mission," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 48:2 (June 2005):283-99.] <\/span><\/p>\nFuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Raptores atra in nebula.<\/p>\nFuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
<\/p>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n