Psalms 22:17

17 I can count every one of my bones, while they gaze at me and gloat.

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 as dry as a fragment of a pot, my tongue sticks to my palate; you lay me down in the dust of death.
16 Dogs are all around me, a pack of villains closes in on me like a lion [at] my hands and feet.
17 I can count every one of my bones, while they gaze at me and gloat.
18 They divide my garments among themselves; for my clothing they throw dice.
19 But you, ADONAI, don't stay far away! My strength, come quickly to help me!
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.