Psalms 22:17

Psa 22:17 I may tell all my bones: they look [and] stare upon me.

Ver. 17. I may tell all my bones] Now especially, when stretched out upon the cross, Quando pendens extentus erat in ligno, saith Austin. Derident maciem meam, saith Kimchi.

They look and stare upon me] Aspiciunt, id est, despiciunt, ut Son 1:6, saith Kimchi, they feed their eyes and passions with my misery, as Luk 23:35. This απιχαιρεκακια is the devil’s disease, and declareth a devilish disposition, sc. for a man to make himself merry in other men’s misery.

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.

Psa 22:17-21. I may tell all my bones — Theodoret observes, that when Christ was extended, and his limbs distorted, on the cross, it might be easy for a spectator literally to tell all his bones. They — Namely, my enemies; look and stare at me — With delight and complacency, at my calamities, and I am a spectacle to earth and heaven. They part my garments among them — This also cannot be applied to David, without a strained and unprecedented metaphor, but was literally fulfilled in Christ, Mat 27:35; Joh 19:24. Deliver my soul from the sword — That is, from the rage and violence of mine enemies, as the next clause explains it, and, as the sword is often to be taken in Scripture. My darling — Hebrew, my one, or only one, namely, his soul, as he now said, which he so terms, because it was very dear to him, or because it was left alone, and destitute of friends and helpers. From the power of the dog — “The ravening fury of the dog,” says Dr. Horne, “the lion, and the unicorn, or oryx, (a fierce and untameable creature of the stag kind,) is made use of to describe the rage of the devil, and his instruments, whether spiritual or corporeal. From all these Christ supplicates the Father for deliverance. How great need have we to supplicate for the same through him!”

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18. (Psa 22:17). I tell all my bones (while) they look and stare upon me. The pronoun of the last clause is expressed in Hebrew, which removes the ambiguity of the construction, by shewing that the subject of the following verbs is not the bones of the preceding clause, but something more remote, namely, the sufferer's enemies and persecutors. The ambiguity of the English word tell corresponds to that of the Hebrew, which means both to number and to relate, to count and to recount. Some suppose, not improbably, that this verse presents the sufferer as stripped by his enemies, and looking with grief and wonder at his own emaciation, while they gaze at it with delight, as the Hebrew phrase implies. See below, on Psa 27:13.

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

22:17-18 I can count all my bones: The psalmist’s enemies have utterly shamed him by taking his garments. Jesus also suffered this disgrace (see Matt 27:35). • stare at me and gloat: Enemies make the psalmist the object of their scorn (see Pss 35:24, 26; 38:16; 55:3; cp. 59:10). • throw dice: Literally cast lots. The casting of lots was sometimes a way for godly people to find God’s direction (Lev 16:8; Num 27:21; Acts 1:24-26). Here, the lots are thrown simply as a game of chance. The soldiers threw dice for Jesus’ clothing after the crucifixion (Matt 27:35; Mark 15:24; Luke 23:34; John 19:24).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

His emaciated frame, itself an item of his misery, is rendered more so as the object of delighted contemplation to his enemies. The verbs, "look" and "stare," often occur as suggestive of feelings of satisfaction (compare Psa 27:13; Psa 54:7; Psa 118:7).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 17. I may tell all my bones] This may refer to the violent extension of his body when the whole of its weight hung upon the nails which attached his hands to the transverse beam of the cross. The body being thus extended, the principal bones became prominent, and easily discernible.

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

17. I will number. The Hebrew word עצמות, atsmoth which signifies bones, is derived from another word, which signifies strength; and, therefore, this term is sometimes applied to friends, by whose defense we are strengthened, or to arguments and reasons which are, as it were, the sinews and the strength of the defense of a cause. Some, therefore, put this meaning upon the passage, — I will profit nothing by reckoning up all my arguments in self-vindication; for my enemies are fully determined to destroy me by some means or other, whether fair or foul, without having any regard to the dictates of justice. Others explain it thus: Although I should gather together all the aids which might seem to be capable of affording me succor, they would avail me nothing. But the exposition which is more generally received seems to me to be also the more simple and natural, and, therefore, I embrace it the more readily. It is this - that David complains that his body was so lean and wasted, that the bones appeared protruding from all parts of it; for he adds immediately after, that his enemies took pleasure in seeing him in so pitiable a condition. Thus the two clauses of the verse are beautifully connected together. The cruelty of his enemies was so insatiable, that beholding a wretched man wasted with grief, and as it were pining away, they took pleasure in feeding their eyes with so sad a spectacle.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

17. I may tell] i.e. I can count. He is reduced to a living skeleton. Cp. Job_33:21.

they look &c.] While they—they gaze &c. The original expresses the malicious delight with which these monsters of cruelty feast their eyes upon the sorry spectacle.

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.

I may tell all my bones,.... For what with the stretching out of his body on the cross, when it was fastened to it as it lay on the ground, and with the jolt of the cross when, being reared up, it was fixed in the ground, and with the weight of the body hanging upon it, all his bones were disjointed and started out; so that, could he have seen them, he might have told them, as they might be told by the spectators who were around him; and so the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions render it, "they have numbered all my bones"; that is, they might have done if: the Targum is, "I will number all the scars of my members", made by the blows, scourges, and wounds he received;

they look and stare upon me; meaning not his bones, but his enemies; which may be understood either by way of contempt, as many Jewish interpreters explain it: so the Scribes and elders of the people, and the people themselves, looked and stared at him on the cross, and mocked at him, and insulted him; or by way of rejoicing, saying, "Aha, aha, our eye hath seen", namely, what they desired and wished for, Psa 35:21; a sight as was enough to have moved an heart of stone made no impression on them; they had no sympathy with him, no compassion on him, but rejoiced at his misery: this staring agrees with their character as dogs.

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

I may tell all my bones - That is, I may count them. They are so prominent, so bare, that I can see them and count their number. The idea here is that of emaciation from continued suffering or from some other cause. As applied to the Redeemer, it would denote the effect of long protracted suffering and anxiety on his frame, as rendering it crushed, weakened, emaciated. Compare the notes at Isa 52:14; Isa 53:2-3. No one can prove that an effect such as is here referred to may not have been produced by the sufferings of the Redeemer.

They look and stare upon me - That is, either my bones - or, my enemies that stand around me. The most obvious construction would refer it to the former - to his bones - as if they stood out prominently and stared him in the face. Rosenmuller understands it in the latter sense, as meaning that his enemies gazed with wonder on such an object. Perhaps this, on the whole, furnishes the best interpretation, as there is something unnatural in speaking of a man’s own bones staring or gazing upon him, and as the image of his enemies standing and looking with wonder on one so wretched, so crushed, so broken, is a very striking one. This, too, will better agree with the statement in Isa 52:14, “Many were astonished at thee;” and Isa 53:2-3, “He hath no form nor comeliness, and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him;” “we hid, as it were, our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” It accords also better with the statement in the following verse; “they,” that is, the same persons referred to, “part my garments amoung them.”

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

I may tell all my bones; partly through my leanness, caused by excessive grief, which is much more credible of Christ than of David; and partly by my being stretched out upon the cross.

They look and stare upon me, to wit, with delight and complacency in my calamities, as this phrase is used, Psa 35:21; 37:34; 54:7; 59:10; Oba 1:12. Compare Luk 23:35.

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

Ver. 17. So emaciated was Jesus by his fastings and sufferings that he says,

I may tell all my bones. He could count and recount them. The posture of the body on the cross, Bishop Horne thinks, would so distend the flesh and skin as to make the bones visible, so that they might be numbered. The zeal of his Father's house had eaten him up; like a good soldier he had endured hardness. Oh that we cared less for the body's enjoyment and ease and more for our Father's business! It were better to count the bones of an emaciated body than to bring leanness into our souls.

They look and stare upon me. Unholy eyes gazed insultingly upon the Saviours's nakedness, and shocked the sacred delicacy of his holy soul. The sight of the agonizing body ought to have ensured sympathy from the throng, but it only increased their savage mirth, as they gloated their cruel eyes upon his miseries. Let us blush for human nature, and mourn in sympathy with our Redeemer's shame. The first Adam made us all naked, and therefore the second Adam became naked that he might clothe our naked souls.

Ver. 17. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. The skin and flesh were distended by the posture of the body on the cross, that the bones, as through a thin veil, became visible, and might be counted. George Horne.

Ver. 17. I may tell all my bones. For, as the first Adam by his fall, lost the robe of innocence, and thenceforth needed other garments, so the second Adam vouchsafed to be stripped of his earthly vestments, to the end it might hereafter be said to us, "Bring forth the first robe, and put it on him." Lu 15:22. Gerhohus, quoted by J. M. Neale.

Ver. 17. They look and stare upon me. Sensitively conscious of his condition upon the cross, the delicate feelings of the holy Saviour were sorely pained by the gaze of the multitude. With impudent face they looked upon him. To view him better they halted as they walked. With deliberate insolence they collected in groups, and made their remarks to each other on his conduct and appearance. Mocking his naked, emaciated, and quivering body, they "looked and stared upon him." John Stevenson.

Ver. 17. They look and stare upon me. Oh, how different is that look which the awakened sinner directs to Calvary, when faith lifts up her eye to him who agonized, and bled, and died, for the guilty! And what gratitude should perishing men feel, that from him that hangs upon the accursed tree there is heard proceeding the inviting sound, "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth, for I am God, and besides me there is none else." John Morison.

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

17. I may tell all my bones—In Psa_22:14 : “All my bones are out of joint.” The protrusion of the bones, so that one could count them, is not merely the effect of a wasting suffering. but of violent and unnatural treatment, as the crucifixion.

They look and stare upon me—They closely watch me. Compare the watching of Jesus, Mat_27:36-54. The idea of satisfaction is also suggested. They feast their eyes upon me. They behold me not only with indifference, but are regaled at the sight of my misery.

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

I may tell all my bones. Our Lord"s active life and simple habits would give him a spare frame, while the strain of crucifixion would accentuate and bring into relief every point of his anatomy. He might thus, if so minded, "tell all his bones." They look and stare upon me. (comp. Luk_23:35, "And the people stood beholding

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

May tell - By my being stretched out upon the cross.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

like a lion, my hands and feet As though they are crushed in a lion’s mouth, and so did Hezekiah say (in Isa. 38:13): “like a lion, so it would break all my bones.”

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.

For there have surrounded me: – They are the enemies, and I am in the midst of them like one who is surrounded by

dogs: – from whom there is no way of escape. And (the clause) For dogs have surrounded me is to be explained after a figurative manner; and the metaphorical interpretation is

The assembly of evil-doers have encircled me like a lion my hands and my feet: – for they have encircled me like the lion which makes a circuit with his tail in the forest, and no creature which sees that circle moves out thence for fear of the lion and the terror he inspires, but they fold their hands and their feet, and the lion finds his prey in the midst of his circle. So we in exile are in the midst of a circle from which we cannot emerge lest we fall into the hand of the spoilers; for if we should escape from the power of the Mohammedans we should fall into the power of the uncircumcised, and so we fold our hands and feet and stand fearful and terror-stricken before them; for we have no power either to escape on foot or to fight with our hands. Behold, it is just as if our hands and feet were in fetters!

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.