Psalms 22:17

17 and lock me in a cage - a bag Of bones in a cage, stared at by every passerby.

Psalms 22:17 Meaning and Commentary

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;

they look [and] stare upon me;
meaning not his bones, but his enemies; which may be understood either by way of contempt, as many Jewish interpreters explain it: so the Scribes and elders of the people, and the people themselves, looked and stared at him on the cross, and mocked at him, and insulted him; or by way of rejoicing, saying, "Aha, aha, our eye hath seen", namely, what they desired and wished for, ( Psalms 35:21 ) ; a sight as was enough to have moved an heart of stone made no impression on them; they had no sympathy with him, no compassion on him, but rejoiced at his misery: this staring agrees with their character as dogs.

Psalms 22:17 In-Context

15 I'm dry as a bone, my tongue black and swollen. They have laid me out for burial in the dirt.
16 Now packs of wild dogs come at me; thugs gang up on me. They pin me down hand and foot,
17 and lock me in a cage - a bag Of bones in a cage, stared at by every passerby.
18 They take my wallet and the shirt off my back, and then throw dice for my clothes.
19 You, God - don't put off my rescue! Hurry and help me!
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.