“For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.”
OBJECTION – The verse in Psalm 22:16 reads within Jewish Bibles as “Like a lion, they are at my hands and feet.” The Hebrew word ‘ki-ari’ (like a lion) is grammatically similar to the word ‘gouged’. Thus Christianity reads the verse as a reference to crucifixion – “They pierced my hands and my feet.”
ANSWER – The verses before and after are what we must focus on first of all. This gives us the context of what David the psalmist is foretelling. Contextually then, what we read is a description of the Messiah being crucified. King David wrote this prophetic word for the Lord hundreds of years before Yeshua (Jesus) was hung on the cross. The verses around verse 16 are extremely accurate and detailed in showing the painful experience of being pinned to a tree, to hang and suffer until death!
Verse 13 – “They gaped upon Me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.”
The prophet is using symbolic visionary language here and we should note he sees the people around the suffering one as a lion!
Verse 14 – “I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint: My heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.”
The language is more intense now and more descriptive. The person suffering here is dehydrating at an alarming rate, his bones are out of joint which is exactly what happens when someone is suspended from a cross and has to bear most of their body weight from the arms and shoulder joints. The pain is excruciating and slowly but surely the bones are pulled away from the joint and cartilage. It is like being on a rack and slowly pulled apart! No wonder then that scholar and layperson alike read these verses and have commented (in context) on them as describing Messiah’s death on the execution stake.
Verse 15 – “My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and My tongue cleaveth to My jaws: and Thou hast brought me into the dust of death.”
The condemned person was not allowed any water and so was left to hang in the sun for hours on end which soon drains the energy from the human body. On top of this Yeshua had been flogged viciously by the Roman authorities prior to being taken to be crucified.
The interesting thing to note in this verse is the statement ‘Thou hast brought me into the dust of death.’ Our key word here is Thou, and obviously the Lord G-d is in view here.
When we do a drash (to search out) within Midrash to illustrate and illuminate any verse we find a remarkable statement from Elohim regarding His ‘anointed One’ spoken of in –
Zechariah 13:7 – “Awake, O sword, against My shepherd, and against the man that is My fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts: smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn Mine hand upon the little ones.”
The Lord of Hosts is speaking here. Notice how the Shepherd (another title of the Messiah) is to be struck! By Who? By the Lord of Hosts! Secondly, this man is His fellow! This is an incredible statement by G-d that He sees the Shepherd or Messiah as His counterpart – one who is equal or His contemporary – of the same class. (This is what the Oxford dictionary defines ‘a fellow’ as being in grammatical language). Further to this we then have confirmation of this when Yeshua tells us that, “I and My Father are one” in John 10:30. We should also note that Jesus has already stated, “I AM the good shepherd” in verse 11 of the same chapter. When we search the scriptures together seeking out the whole counsel and meaning of G-d’s Word we can come to accept the plain meaning – the p’shat within Midrashic exposition.
In conclusion, we must surely now agree, that when a lion has gouged anyone with its claws they will have pierced the actual body part just as a nail will when it is literally hammered down into soft flesh! The prophet is using symbolic language to describe something G-d is showing him and so we are happy to agree that the Hebrew word ‘ki-ari’ (like a lion) is grammatically correct, as it fits into the context of verse 13 which states ‘as a ravening and roaring lion’ which is then in turn in context with verse 16, where the actual word is used – ‘like a lion, they are at my hands and feet.’
There is then no deception here, no twisting of the verse words to make it fit the crucifixion scene. The verse was given a more understandable rendering and valid interpretation to show the reader the clearest picture of an extremely accurate prediction of Messiah’s death. When we read verses of Psalm 69 we again are given a picture of the crucifixion scene. Indeed scattered throughout the Psalms and the Prophets are depictions of The Suffering Servant our Messiah. If we become seekers and searchers of the truth, then the truth will set us free as Yeshua stated it would. Shalom.