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Psalm 22:16-18
New Catholic Bible
Psalm 22:16-18
New Catholic Bible
16 My mouth is as dry as clayware,
and my tongue sticks to my jaw;[a]
you have laid me down in the dust of death.
17 A pack of dogs surrounds me;
a band of evildoers is closing in on me.
They have pierced my hands and my feet;[b]
18 I can count all my bones.[c]
They stare at me and gloat;
Footnotes
- Psalm 22:16 My mouth . . . jaw: see Jn 19:28 (“I thirst”). The dust of death: the netherworld, domain of the dead; the author is using the language of his day, as in Mesopotamian descriptions of the netherworld (see Job 7:9, 21).
- Psalm 22:17 Pierced my hands and my feet: his limbs are wounded by the dogs as he seeks to fend off their attacks (see also Isa 53:5; Zec 12:10; Jn 19:34). Although the phrase finds its complete fulfillment in Christ’s crucifixion, it is not expressly used by the evangelists in the Passion account.
- Psalm 22:18 I can count all my bones: this could also be translated as “I must display all my bones.” The meaning is that one is attacked and stripped of his garments (see v. 19).
