Mazmur 22:6-8
Konteks22:6 But I 1 am a worm, 2 not a man; 3
people insult me and despise me. 4
22:7 All who see me taunt 5 me;
they mock me 6 and shake their heads. 7
“Commit yourself 9 to the Lord!
Let the Lord 10 rescue him!
Let the Lord 11 deliver him, for he delights in him.” 12
Mazmur 22:12-13
Konteks22:12 Many bulls 13 surround me;
powerful bulls of Bashan 14 hem me in.
22:13 They 15 open their mouths to devour me 16
like a roaring lion that rips its prey. 17
Mazmur 22:16-17
Konteks22:16 Yes, 18 wild dogs surround me –
a gang of evil men crowd around me;
like a lion they pin my hands and feet. 19
[22:6] 1 tn The grammatical construction (conjunction + pronoun) highlights the contrast between the psalmist’s experience and that of his ancestors. When he considers God’s past reliability, it only heightens his despair and confusion, for God’s present silence stands in stark contrast to his past saving acts.
[22:6] 2 tn The metaphor expresses the psalmist’s self-perception, which is based on how others treat him (see the following line).
[22:6] 3 tn Or “not a human being.” The psalmist perceives himself as less than human.
[22:6] 4 tn Heb “a reproach of man and despised by people.”
[22:7] 5 tn Or “scoff at, deride, mock.”
[22:7] 6 tn Heb “they separate with a lip.” Apparently this refers to their verbal taunting.
[22:7] 7 sn Shake their heads. Apparently this refers to a taunting gesture. See also Job 16:4; Ps 109:25; Lam 2:15.
[22:8] 8 tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons. The psalmist here quotes the sarcastic taunts of his enemies.
[22:8] 9 tn Heb “roll [yourself].” The Hebrew verb גלל here has the sense of “commit” (see Prov 16:3). The imperatival form in the Hebrew text indicates the enemies here address the psalmist. Since they refer to him in the third person in the rest of the verse, some prefer to emend the verb to a perfect, “he commits himself to the
[22:8] 10 tn Heb “Let him”; the referent (the
[22:8] 11 tn Heb “Let him”; the referent (the
[22:8] 12 tn That is, “for he [the
[22:8] sn This statement does not necessarily reflect the enemies’ actual belief, but it does reflect the psalmist’s confession. The psalmist’s enemies sarcastically appeal to God to help him, because he claims to be an object of divine favor. However, they probably doubted the reality of his claim.
[22:12] 13 sn The psalmist figuratively compares his enemies to dangerous bulls.
[22:12] 14 sn Bashan, located east of the Jordan River, was well-known for its cattle. See Ezek 39:18; Amos 4:1.
[22:13] 15 tn “They” refers to the psalmist’s enemies, who in the previous verse are described as “powerful bulls.”
[22:13] 16 tn Heb “they open against me their mouth[s].” To “open the mouth against” is a Hebrew idiom associated with eating and swallowing (see Ezek 2:8; Lam 2:16).
[22:13] 17 tn Heb “a lion ripping and roaring.”
[22:16] 19 tn Heb “like a lion, my hands and my feet.” This reading is often emended because it is grammatically awkward, but perhaps its awkwardness is by rhetorical design. Its broken syntax may be intended to convey the panic and terror felt by the psalmist. The psalmist may envision a lion pinning the hands and feet of its victim to the ground with its paws (a scene depicted in ancient Near Eastern art), or a lion biting the hands and feet. The line has been traditionally translated, “they pierce my hands and feet,” and then taken as foreshadowing the crucifixion of Christ. Though Jesus does appropriate the language of this psalm while on the cross (compare v. 1 with Matt 27:46 and Mark 15:34), the NT does not cite this verse in describing the death of Jesus. (It does refer to vv. 7-8 and 18, however. See Matt 27:35, 39, 43; Mark 15:24, 29; Luke 23:34; John 19:23-24.) If one were to insist on an emendation of כָּאֲרִי (ka’ariy, “like a lion”) to a verb, the most likely verbal root would be כָּרָה (karah, “dig”; see the LXX). In this context this verb could refer to the gnawing and tearing of wild dogs (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV). The ancient Greek version produced by Symmachus reads “bind” here, perhaps understanding a verbal root כרך, which is attested in later Hebrew and Aramaic and means “to encircle, entwine, embrace” (see HALOT 497-98 s.v. כרך and Jastrow 668 s.v. כָּרַךְ). Neither one of these proposed verbs can yield a meaning “bore, pierce.”
[22:17] 20 tn The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 17-18 draw attention to the progressive nature of the action.
[22:17] 21 tn Heb “they.” The masculine form indicates the enemies are in view. The referent (the psalmist’s enemies) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
