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.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and 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;

Context of Psalms 22:16

14My life is poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax, melting within me. 15My strength has dried up like sunbaked clay. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have laid me in the dust and left me for dead. My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs; an evil gang closes in on me. They have pierced my hands and feet. 17I can count all my bones. My enemies stare at me and gloat. 18They divide my garments among themselves and throw dice for my clothing.

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 abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help?
• Psalms 59:6They come out at night, snarling like vicious dogs as they prowl the streets.
• Matthew 7:6“Don’t waste what is holy on people who are unholy. Don’t throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you.
• Philippians 3:2Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved.
• Revelation 22:15Outside the city are the dogs—the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie.
• Luke 11:53As Jesus was leaving, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees became hostile and tried to provoke him with many questions.
• Psalms 86:14O God, insolent people rise up against me; a violent gang is trying to kill me. You mean nothing to them.
• Jeremiah 12:6Even your brothers, members of your own family, have turned against you. They plot and raise complaints against you. Do not trust them, no matter how pleasantly they speak.
• Matthew 26:57Then the people who had arrested Jesus led him to the home of Caiaphas, the high priest, where the teachers of religious law and the elders had gathered.
• Mark 15:16The soldiers took Jesus into the courtyard of the governor’s headquarters (called the Praetorium) and called out the entire regiment.
• Luke 22:63The guards in charge of Jesus began mocking and beating him.
• Luke 23:4Pilate turned to the leading priests and to the crowd and said, “I find nothing wrong with this man!”
• Zechariah 12:10“Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on the people of Jerusalem. They will look on me whom they have pierced and mourn for him as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for him as for a firstborn son who has died.
• Matthew 27:35After they had nailed him to the cross, the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice.
• Mark 15:24Then the soldiers nailed him to the cross. They divided his clothes and threw dice to decide who would get each piece.
• Luke 23:33When they came to a place called The Skull, they nailed him to the cross. And the criminals were also crucified—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