properly · verb, piel imperfect, 1st person common singular
bones
עַצְמוֹתָ֑יatz.mo.Tai
H6106
a bone (as strong) · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix
look
יַ֝בִּ֗יטוּya.Bi.tu
H5027
to scan · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
stare
יִרְאוּyir.'u-
H7200
to see · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Luke 23:35 And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, t…
Job 33:21 His flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen; and his bones that were not seen stick out.
Matthew 27:39-41 And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads,
Isaiah 52:14 As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:
Luke 23:27 And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him.
Mark 15:29-32 And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days,
Psalms 102:3-5 For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth.
Matthew 27:36 And sitting down they watched him there;
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 22:11-21
In these verses we have Christ suffering and Christ praying, by which we are directed to look for crosses and to look up to God under them.
I. Here is Christ suffering. David indeed was often in trouble, and beset with enemies; but many of the particulars here specified are such as were never true of David, and therefore must be appropriated to Christ in the depth of his humiliation.
1. He is here deserted by his friends: Trouble and distress are near, and there is none to help, none to uphold, Psa 22:11. He trod the wine-press alone; for all his disciples forsook him and fled. It is God's honour to help when all other helps and succours fail.
2. He is here insulted and surrounded by his ene…
His emaciated frame, itself an item of his misery, is rendered more so as the object of delighted contemplation to his enemies. The verbs, "look" and "stare," often occur as suggestive of feelings of satisfaction (compare Psa 27:13; Psa 54:7; Psa 118:7).
John Gill on Psalms 22:17
I may tell all my bones,.... For what with the stretching out of his body on the cross, when it was fastened to it as it lay on the ground, and with the jolt of the cross when, being reared up, it was fixed in the ground, and with the weight of the body hanging upon it, all his bones were disjointed and started out; so that, could he have seen them, he might have told them, as they might be told by the spectators who were around him; and so the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions render it, "they have numbered all my bones"; that is, they might have done if: the Targum is, "I will number all the scars of my members", made by the blows, scourges, and wounds he received;…
Psalm 22:17-21
17. I will number all my bones; they look and stare upon me. 18. They part my garments among them, and cast the lot upon my vesture. 19. Be not thou then, O Jehovah! far from me. O thou: who art my strength, make haste to help me. 20. Deliver my soul from the sword; my only one [514] from the hand [or power] of the dog. 21. Save me from the mouth of the lion, and hear me from the horns of the unicorns. [515]
17. I will number. The Hebrew word tsmvt, atsmoth which signifies bones, is derived from another word, which signifies strength; and, therefore, this term is sometimes applied to friends, by whose defense we are strengthened, or to arguments and reasons which are, as it…
The Church Fathers
"They numbered distinctly all My bones" [Psalm 22:17]. They numbered distinctly all My bones, while extended on the wood of the Cross. "Yea, these same regarded, and beheld Me." Yea, these same, that is, unchanged, regarded and beheld Me.
They did not appear to have done something in passing or by chance. Instead, he says that they "looked carefully and stared," and their stony hearts were not softened by miracles. Great rocks were split and the earth shook, the sun hid itself in a cloak of darkness so as not to look upon such a great crime, and, how sad to say, their wickedness remained unshaken in their sacrilege, and their eyes unwavering.
The passion of our Lord signifies our time, the period in which we weep here. Scourges, bonds, insults, spittle, a crown of thorns, wine mixed with gall, vinegar on a sponge, reviling, abuse, finally the cross itself, the sacred limbs hanging on the wood [of the cross]—what do all these sufferings signify for us except the period through which we are passing, the time of sorrow, the time of mortality, the time of trial? It is a foul period, but let that foulness of the dung be in the field, not in the house. Let grief arise on account of one's sins, not on account of frustrated desires. A foul period, if used to advantage, is a fertile period. What has a more unpleasant odor than a field that has been covered with dung? It was a beautiful field before it received this load of manure; it was first reduced to foulness so that it might come to fertility. Foulness, therefore, is a mark of this time; let that foulness, however, be for us a period of fertility. Furthermore, let us see with the prophet who says, "We have seen him." What is he like? "There is no beauty in him or comeliness." Why is this? Ask another prophet. "They have numbered all my bones." They have numbered his bones as he hung on the cross. A foul sight, the sight of one crucified; but that foulness produced beauty. What beauty? That of the resurrection, because he is "beautiful above the sons of people."
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Aijeleth Shahar — Hind of the dawn, a name found in the title of Ps. 22. It is probably the name of some song or tune to the measure of which the psalm was to be chanted. Some, however, understand by the name some…
Hind — Heb. ‘ayalah (2 Sam. 22:34; Ps. 18:33, etc.) and ‘ayeleth (Ps. 22, title), the female of the hart or stag. It is referred to as an emblem of activity (Gen. 49:21), gentleness (Prov. 5:19), feminine…
Persecution · OF JESUS — OF JESUS
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
(Heb.: 22:17-19)A continuation, referring back to Psa 22:12, of the complaint of him who is dying and is already as it were dead. In the animal name כּלבים, 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 θηράται κυνηγέται. In Psa 22:17 עדת מרעים takes the place of כלבים; and this again is followed by הקּיף in the plur. (to do anything in a circle, to surround by forming a circle round, a climactic synonym, like כּתּר to סבב) either per attractionem (cf. Psa 140:10; Sa1 2:4), or on account of the collective עדה. Tertullian renders…
I can count all my bones: The psalmist’s enemies have utterly shamed him by taking his garments. Jesus also suffered this disgrace (see Matt 27:35). • stare at me and gloat: Enemies make the psalmist the object of their scorn (see Pss 35:24, 26; 38:16; 55:3; cp. 59:10). • throw dice: Literally cast lots. The casting of lots was sometimes a way for godly people to find God’s direction (Lev 16:8; Num 27:21; Acts 1:24-26). Here, the lots are thrown simply as a game of chance. The soldiers threw dice for Jesus’ clothing after the crucifixion (Matt 27:35; Mark 15:24; Luke 23:34; John 19:24).
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 22:17
I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.
So emaciated was Jesus by his fastings and sufferings that he says, "I may tell all my bones." He could count and recount them. The posture of the body on the cross, Bishop Horne thinks, would so distend the flesh and skin as to make the bones visible, so that they might be numbered. The zeal of his Father's house had eaten him up; like a good soldier he had endured hardness. Oh that we cared less for the body's enjoyment and ease and more for our Father's business! It were better to count the bones of an emaciated body than to bring leanness into our souls. "They look and stare upon me." Unholy eyes gazed insultingly upon the Saviours's…
