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Read›Psalms›Chapter 22

The Psalm of the Cross

Psalms 22:16

Why translations differ here

"They pierced" or "like a lion"? Many Christian Bibles (KJV, BSB and others) read "they pierced my hands and my feet", with the Septuagint ("they dug") and a first-century Hebrew fragment from the Judean desert, and Christians have long read the psalm in the light of the crucifixion.

In 11 translations

BSB
For dogs surround me; a band of evil men encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet.DSS, LXX, Vulgate, and Syriac; most MT like a lion at my hands and feet
KJV
For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.
WEB
For dogs have surrounded me. A company of evildoers have enclosed me. They have pierced my hands and feet.So Dead Sea Scrolls. Masoretic Text reads, “Like a lion, they pin my hands and feet.”
ASV
For dogs have compassed me: A company of evil-doers have inclosed me; They pierced my hands and my feet.
LSV
And You appoint Me to the dust of death, || For dogs have surrounded Me, || A company of evildoers has surrounded Me, || Piercing My hands and My feet.
YLT
And to the dust of death thou appointest me, For surrounded me have dogs, A company of evil doers have compassed me, Piercing my hands and my feet.
DBY
For dogs have encompassed me; an assembly of evil-doers have surrounded me: they pierced my hands and my feet.
DRC21:17
For many dogs have encompassed me: the council of the malignant hath besieged me. They have dug my hands and feet.
GNV
For dogges haue compassed me, and the assemblie of the wicked haue inclosed me: they perced mine hands and my feete.
JPS22:17
For dogs have encompassed me; a company of evil-doers have inclosed me; like a lion, they are at my hands and my feet.
LXXE21:17
For many dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked doers has beset me round: they pierced my hands and my feet.

Word by word Hebrew · tap a word

Where the editions differ

Editions are published forms of the Hebrew and Greek texts. Meet the editions and sources →

  • A Dead Sea or Judean Desert manuscript reads כָּ֝אֲרוּ (“they dug”); Leningrad Codex reads כָּ֝אֲרִ֗י (“like a lion”).

Edition differences: STEP Bible, based on work at Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0). Names and codes expanded; consecutive words grouped. Comparisons follow the editions used by the source; see version details.

Original-language editions

WLC22:17
כִּ֥י סְבָב֗וּנִי כְּלָ֫בִ֥ים עֲדַ֣ת מְ֭רֵעִים הִקִּיפ֑וּנִי כָּ֝אֲרִ֗י יָדַ֥י וְרַגְלָֽי׃KJV:Ps.22.16
LXX-Br21:17
Ὅτι ἐκύκλωσάν με κύνες πολλοὶ, συναγωγὴ πονηρευομένων περιέσχον με· ὤρυξαν χεῖράς μου, καὶ πόδας,

In the reference works topics that cite this verse

From public-domain Bible dictionaries and topical indexes (1884–1915).

Cross-references most cited first

  • John 19:37And, as another Scripture says: “They will look on the One they have pierced.”
  • Zechariah 12:10Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and…
  • Matthew 27:35When they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments by casting lots.
  • John 20:25So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands, and put my finger where the nails have been, and put my hand into His side, I will never believe.”
  • John 19:23When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they divided His garments into four parts, one for each soldier, with the tunic remaining. It was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
  • John 19:34Instead, one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out.
  • Mark 15:24And they crucified Him. They also divided His garments by casting lots to decide what each of them would take.
  • Luke 23:33When they came to the place called The Skull, they crucified Him there, along with the criminals, one on His right and the other on His left.
  • John 20:27Then Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe.”
  • Isaiah 53:5But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
  • Philippians 3:2Watch out for those dogs, those workers of evil, those mutilators of the flesh!
  • Psalms 22:20Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of wild dogs.
  • Mark 15:16–20Then the soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called the whole company together. They dressed Him in a purple robe, twisted together a crown of thorns, and set it on His head. And they…
  • Luke 23:4–5Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.” But they kept insisting, “He stirs up the people all over Judea with His teaching. He began in Galilee and has come…
  • Psalms 22:1My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving me, so far from my words of groaning?
  • Luke 23:10–11Meanwhile, the chief priests and scribes stood there, vehemently accusing Him. And even Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked Him. Dressing Him in a fine robe, they sent Him back to Pilate.

From the OpenBible.info cross-reference set (votes from readers; not every link is a quotation or allusion).

Verse numbering differs between Bibles
  • 22:17 in some Bibles
  • 22:16 in most Bibles

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