Psalms 22:17 - Pierced or "Like A Lion"
A young Jewish woman, whom I will call Sarah, recently asked me to explain Psalms 22:17 after a Christian missionary told her it foretold Jesus’ crucifixion.
I explained to Sarah that millions of Christian Bibles have mistranslated this passage, and missionaries usually quote it out of context to read: “Dogs have surrounded me; evil people have encompassed me; they pierced my hands and feet.”
By mistranslating the Hebrew word כָּאֲרִי (ka’ ari) as “pierced,” the Christian translation evokes the imagery of the crucifixion, and since Jesus is the most well-known figure associated with this form of execution, it is often assumed that the passage refers to him.
However, the word כָּאֲרִי (ka’ari) means “like a lion,” and the verse should be translated correctly as “Dogs have surrounded me; evil people have encompassed me; like a lion at my hands and feet.”
In context, this makes perfect sense because the Book of Psalms frequently compares King David’s enemies to wild animals.
In fact, earlier in verse 14 of this Psalm, David describes his enemies as “A tearing and roaring lion, who encompass him as it says in I Samuel 23:26, “David made haste to get away for fear of Saul, for Saul and his men ‘encompassed’ David and his men.”
I was able to help Sarah by sharing the correct meaning of this verse and demonstrating the necessity to read passages in context and with an accurate translation to understand them correctly.
I also prepared for Sarah a complete explanation of this verse titled “The Truth About Psalms 22:17” that can be viewed at https://jewsforjudaism.org/kno...
Thank you and Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Bentzion Kravitz
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