Psalms 22:21

21 Make thou me safe from the mouth of a lion; and my meekness from the horns of unicorns. (Save thou me from the lion's mouth; yea, my poor body from the horns of these bulls.)

Psalms 22:21 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 22:21

Save me from the lion's mouth
Either the devil, who is as a roaring lion, whom Christ overcame both in the garden and on the cross, and destroyed him and his works; or all his wicked enemies, especially the most powerful of them, who were in greatest authority, as the chief priests and elders; so rulers and civil magistrates, who are cruel and unmerciful, are compared to lions, ( Proverbs 28:15 ) ( 2 Timothy 4:17 ) ;

for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns;
some read this as a prayer like the former, "hear thou me" F12 that is, deliver me; but according to our version it expresses what God had done, that he had heard him and saved him; and is used as a reason or argument with him that he would regard also his other petitions: or it may have respect to what follows, that since God had heard him, and delivered him out of the hands of his most powerful enemies, therefore he would declare his name and praise him; for the unicorn being a very strong creature, and its strength lying much in its horn, with which it pushes and does mischief; see ( Numbers 23:22 ) ( Job 39:9-12 ) ( Deuteronomy 33:17 ) . Christ's strong and potent enemies are intended here; such as Satan and his principalities and powers, the sanhedrim of the Jews, Herod, Pontius Pilate, and others, from whose power he was freed when raised from the dead. According to Pliny F13, the monoceros, or unicorn, is the fiercest of wild beasts; in its body like a horse, it has the head of an hart and feet of an elephant, the tail of a bear, makes a great bellowing; has one black horn rising up in the middle of the forehead, of two cubits long; it is denied that it was ever taken alive, which agrees with ( Job 39:9 Job 39:10 ) ; (See Gill on Job 39:9) and (See Gill on Job 39:10).


FOOTNOTES:

F12 (yntyne) "exaudi me", Muis, Gejerus, Michaelis.
F13 Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 21.

Psalms 22:21 In-Context

19 But thou, Lord, delay not thine help from me; behold thou to my defence. (But thou, Lord, do not delay thy help for me; hasten thou to my defence.)
20 God, deliver thou my life from sword; and deliver thou mine one alone from the hand, or power, of the dog. (God, deliver thou my life from the sword; yea, rescue thou my very life from the power of these dogs.)
21 Make thou me safe from the mouth of a lion; and my meekness from the horns of unicorns. (Save thou me from the lion's mouth; yea, my poor body from the horns of these bulls.)
22 I shall tell thy name to my brethren; I shall praise thee in the midst of the church. (I shall tell out thy name to my brothers, or my kinsmen; and I shall praise thee in the midst of the congregation.)
23 Ye that dread the Lord, praise him; all the seed of Jacob, glorify him. All the seed of Israel, dread him; (Ye who fear the Lord, praise him; all of Jacob's children, glorify him. All of Israel's descendants, fear him;/Ye who revere the Lord, praise him; all of Jacob's children, glorify him. All of Israel's descendants, revere him;)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.