# Psalm 22.16 and the inspiration of Hebrew Vowel Points



## PointyHaired Calvinist (Feb 21, 2010)

For those who insist the Hebrew vowel points are inspired, what do you do with Psalm 22.16?

KJV - For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. 

NASB - For dogs have surrounded me; A band of evildoers has encompassed me; They pierced my hands and my feet. 

Hebrew - כִּי סְבָבוְּנִי כְּלָבִים עֲדַת מְרֵעִים הִקִּיפוְּנִי כָּאֲרִי יָדַי וְרַגְלָי

Complete Jewish Bible - Dogs are all around me, a pack of villains closes in on me like a lion [at] my hands and feet. 

Now as I understand, the Hebrew vowel points say "Like a lion", as the CJB translates. If the Hebrew vowel points _are_ inspired, what do Christians do with this passage? "Like a lion" makes no sense, and the apostles quote "pierced" (as in the Greek - no arguments on whether there is an LXX or not).


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## MW (Feb 21, 2010)

Where do the apostles quote "pierced?"


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## PointyHaired Calvinist (Feb 21, 2010)

armourbearer said:


> Where do the apostles quote "pierced?"


 
Yikes! I thought it was in the gospels somewhere, but other parts of Psalm 22 are and I could have sworn I remembered it there. I stand corrected.

So which is right, pierced or lion?


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## CharlieJ (Feb 21, 2010)

According to a very long NET Bible note, the "like a lion" is correct and the NT never quotes this verse. Also, some Hebrew manuscripts do read "pierced," so there is a textual issue.

Here is a relevant portion of the NET note:

Heb "like a lion, my hands and my feet." This reading is often emended because it is grammatically awkward, but perhaps its awkwardness is by rhetorical design. Its broken syntax may be intended to convey the panic and terror felt by the psalmist. The psalmist may envision a lion pinning the hands and feet of its victim to the ground with its paws (a scene depicted in ancient Near Eastern art), or a lion biting the hands and feet. The line has been traditionally translated, "they pierce my hands and feet," and then taken as foreshadowing the crucifixion of Christ. Though Jesus does appropriate the language of this psalm while on the cross … the NT does not cite this verse in describing the death of Jesus.


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## MW (Feb 21, 2010)

PointyHaired Calvinist said:


> So which is right, pierced or lion?


 
I think J. A. Alexander is correct to reconcile the two: "'Like the lion (they have wounded) my hands and feet.' The point of comparison would then be the infliction of sharp wounds in those parts of the body, an idea common to the habits of the lion, and to the usages of crucifixion."


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