Psalms 22:16

Psalms 22:16 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.
• New International Version (NIV)Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet;
• New Living Translation (NLT)My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs; an evil gang closes in on me. They have pierced my hands and feet.

Context of Psalms 22:16

14I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; 15my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet— 17I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me; 18they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.

Psalms 22:16 word by word

כִּ֥י סְבָב֗וּנִי כְּלָ֫בִ֥ים עֲדַ֣ת מְ֭רֵעִים הִקִּיפ֑וּנִי כָּ֝אֲרִ֗י יָדַ֥י וְרַגְלָֽי׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• For dogsכֶּ֫לֶבkeleb · dogH3611
• have compassedסָבַבsâbab · to turn: surroundH5437
• me: the assemblyעֵדָה‛êdâh · congregationH5712
• of the wickedרָעַעrâ‛a‛ · be evilH7489
• have inclosedנָקַףnâqaph · to surroundH5362
• me: they piercedאַרְיֵה'ărîy 'aryêh · lionH738
• me: they piercedכוּרkârâh · to digH3738
• my handsיָדyâd · handH3027
• and my feetרֶ֫גֶלregel · footH7272

Cross-references for Psalms 22:16

• Psalms 22:1My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
• Psalms 59:6Each evening they come back, howling like dogs and prowling about the city.
• Matthew 7:6"Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
• Philippians 3:2Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh.
• Revelation 22:15Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
• Luke 11:53As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things,
• Psalms 86:14O God, insolent men have risen up against me; a band of ruthless men seeks my life, and they do not set you before them.
• Jeremiah 12:6For even your brothers and the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously with you; they are in full cry after you; do not believe them, though they speak friendly words to you."
• Matthew 26:57Then those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered.
• Mark 15:16And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor's headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion.
• Luke 22:63Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him as they beat him.
• Luke 23:4Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, "I find no guilt in this man."
• Zechariah 12:10"And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.
• Matthew 27:35And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots.
• Mark 15:24And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take.
• Luke 23:33And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.

Commentaries on Psalms 22:16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16For dogs have compassed me - This may refer to the Gentiles, the Roman soldiers, and others by whom our Lord was surrounded in his trial, and at his cross. They pierced my hands and my feet - The other sufferings David, as a type of our Lord, might pass through; but the piercing of the hands and feet was peculiar to our Lord; therefore, this verse may pass for a direct revelavion. Our Lord's hands and feet were pierced when he was nailed to the cross…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16For dogs have compassed me - Men who resemble dogs; harsh, snarling, fierce, ferocious. See Philemon 3:2, note; and Revelation 22:15, note. No one can doubt that this is applicable to the Redeemer. The assembly of the wicked have enclosed me - That is, they have surrounded me; they have come around me on all sides so that I might not escape. So they surrounded the Redeemer in the garden of Gethsemane when they arrested him and bound him; so they…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 11-21Verses 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. The very manner of Christ's death is described, though not in use among the Jews. They pierced his hands and his feet, which were nailed to the accursed tree, and his whole body was left so to hang as to suffer the most severe pain and torture. His natural force failed, being wasted by the fire of…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16The wild pack of dogs represents aggressive and dishonest people.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. Evildoers are well described as dogs, which, in the East, herding together, wild and rapacious, are justly objects of great abhorrence. The last clause has been a subject of much discussion (involving questions as to the genuineness of the Hebrew word translated "pierce)" which cannot be made intelligible to the English reader. Though not quoted in the New Testament, the remarkable aptness of the description to the facts of the Saviour's history…Read the comment

Topics related to Psalms 22:16

• Afflictions and Adversities
• Jesus, the Christ
• Persecution

In the dictionaries

• Aijeleth Shahar
• Beast
• Dog
• Hind
• Poetry
• Shoot
• Silent
• Worm
• Accommodation
• Assembly

Commentaries on Psalms 22

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• The Treasury of David
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings