Psalms 22:17

"For dogs have surrounded me. A company of evildoers have enclosed me. They have pierced my hands and feet."

Key Reflection

In first-century Palestine, the image of dogs surrounding someone was a powerful metaphor for enemies and adversaries who would attack and demean. The psalmist's hands and feet being pierced evoke the crucifixion, foreshadowing Jesus' suffering on the cross. For the original audience, these verses vividly depict the humiliation and violence inflicted upon those deemed enemies or heretics, with Jesus later fulfilling this imagery as He was tortured and crucified.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

I may tell all my bones -That is, I may count them. They are so prominent, so bare, that I can see them and count their number. The idea here is that of emaciation from continued suffering or from some other cause. As applied to the Redeemer, it would denote the effect of long protracted suffering and anxiety on his frame, as rendering it crushed, weakened, emaciated. Compare the notes atIsaiah 52:14;Isaiah 53:2-3. No one can prove that an effect such as is here referred to may not have been produced by the sufferings of the Redeemer. They look and stare upon me -That is, either my bones - or, my enemies that stand around me.

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