Psalms 22:17

17 All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me.

Psalms 22:17 in Other Translations

KJV
17 I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.
ESV
17 I can count all my bones-- they stare and gloat over me;
NLT
17 I can count all my bones. My enemies stare at me and gloat.
MSG
17 and lock me in a cage - a bag Of bones in a cage, stared at by every passerby.
CSB
17 I can count all my bones; people look and stare at me.

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 My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.
16 Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet.
17 All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.
19 But you, LORD, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me.

Cross References 2

  • 1. Luke 23:35
  • 2. Psalms 25:2; Psalms 30:1; Psalms 35:19; Psalms 38:16; Lamentations 2:17; Micah 7:8; Luke 23:27
Scripture quoted by permission.  Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.  NIV®.  Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica.  All rights reserved worldwide.