Psalms 22:13

Psa 22:13 They gaped upon me [with] their mouths, [as] a ravening and a roaring lion.

Ver. 13. They gaped upon me with their mouths] As if they would have swallowed me up at a bit, like so many lycanthropi, or savage cannibals.

As a ravening and a roaring lion] Rapiens et rugiens leo, licet non sit mos boum rapere, Bulls do not use to raven though they roar (Kimchi); but the malignities of all fierce and fell creatures are to be found in cruel persecutors. Would any man take the Church’s picture? saith Luther; then let him paint a silly poor maid sitting in a wood or wilderness, compassed about with hungry lions, wolves, bulls, boars, and bears, and with all manner of cruel and harmful beasts, and in the midst of a great many furious men, or rather monsters, assaulting her every moment and minute; for this is her condition in the world.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

14. (Psa 22:13). They have opened upon me their mouth, a lion tearing and roaring. The tropical nature of the language is evinced by the entire change of figure in this verse. The same persons who before were bulls of Bashan now appear as a ravening and roaring lion. There is no need of supplying a particle of comparison, the absence of which in both these verses, by substituting metaphor for simile, adds greatly to the life of the description.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 13. They gaped upon me] They were fiercely and madly beat on my destruction.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(13) Ravening.—Literally, tearing in pieces. (Comp. Lam_2:15-16; Lam_3:10.)

Roaring.—Comp. Amo_3:4.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13. They gaped &c.] R.V., they gape upon me with their mouths (Lam_2:16; Lam_3:46); like a lion roaring as it prepares to spring upon its prey (Psa_7:2).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They gaped upon me with their mouths,.... Either by way of derision and contempt, Job 16:10; or belching out blasphemy against him, or rather, with the greatest vehemency, crying out "Crucify him, crucify him", Luk 23:21; and this they did

as a ravening and roaring lion, when it has got its prey and rejoices, Amo 3:4; and being in such hands, and encompassed about with such enemies, as Christ was in the garden, in the high priest's hall, and in Pilate's judgment hall, is a third reason or argument used by him with God his Father, to be near to him and not far from him.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

They gaped upon me with their mouths - Margin, as in Hebrew, “opened their mouths against me.” That is, they opened their mouths wide as if they would devour me, as a lion does when he seizes upon his prey. In Psa 22:7 they are represented as “opening” the mouth for another purpose - that of derision or scorn; here they are described as if they were fierce and wild beasts ready to fall upon their prey.

As a ravening and roaring lion - The word “ravening” means “voraciously devouring,” and the allusion in the Hebrew word is to the lion as he tears his prey - טרף ṭâraph - rending it in pieces to devour it. All this is designed to denote the greediness with which the enemies of the Redeemer sought his life.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Partly to affright me, and principally to tear and devour me, as the following metaphor explains it. Otherwise it might be understood of their crying out with loud and earnest voices, that he might be condemned and put to death.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 13. They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. Like hungry cannibals they opened their blasphemous mouths as if they were about to swallow the man whom they abhorred. They could not vomit forth their anger fast enough through the ordinary aperture of their mouths, and therefore set the doors of their lips wide open like those who gape. Like roaring lions they howled out their fury, and longed to tear the Saviour in pieces, as wild beasts raven over their prey. Our Lord's faith must have passed through a most severe conflict while he found himself abandoned to the tender mercies of the wicked, but he came off victorious by prayer; the very dangers to which he was exposed being used to add prevalence to his entreaties.

Ver. 13. A helpless infant, or a harmless lamb, surrounded by furious bulls, and hungry lions, aptly represented the Saviour encompassed by his insulting and bloody persecutors. Thomas Scott, 1747-1821.

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

13. They gaped upon—This was not in scorn, like the shooting “out the lip” of Psa_22:7; but an act simply of brutal ferocity, the parallel to which is the rending and roaring lion of the next line.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They gaped upon me with their mouths. One metaphor is superseded by another. Fierce and threatening as bulls, the adversaries are ravenous as lions. They "gape with their mouths," eager to devour, ready to spring on the prey and crush it in their monstrous jaws. As a ravening and a roaring lion. The tumult and noise made by those who demanded our Lord"s death are noted by the evangelist, perisswv ekrazon yorubov ginetai . (Mat_27:23, Mat_27:24)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Great bulls Mighty kingdoms.

the mighty ones of Bashan That too is an expression of the bulls of Bashan, which are fat.

encompassed me Heb. כתרוני. They encompassed me like a crown (כתר), which encompasses the head.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Bulls have surrounded me: – This is the trouble that is near at hand, that bulls have compassed me – a figure for lusty and powerful and wicked enemies. The interpretation of (רבים is)

mighty (ones): – that is, great in strength. So also

strong ones of Bashan: – Bashan is a district in the land of Israel, a district of fat and rich pasture, and the cattle that feed there are fat and strong. He compares the wicked enemies with them. And so it says (Amos 4:1) in a figure “kine of Bashan” with reference to the women who oppress the poor, who crush the needy.

have beset me around (כתרוני): – equivalent to have surrounded me; just as the crown (כתר) surrounds (encircles) the head. And so we have (Judges 20:43): “they beset (כתרו) Benjamin around.”

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.