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Psalm 22:12-16
New Catholic Bible
Psalm 22:12-16
New Catholic Bible
12 Do not remain aloof from me,
for trouble is near
and no one can help me.
13 [a]Many bulls[b] are encircling me;
fierce bulls of Bashan are closing in on me.
14 They open wide their mouths against me
like ravening and roaring lions.
15 My strength is trickling away like water,
and all my bones are dislocated.
My heart[c] has turned to wax
and melts within me.
16 My mouth is as dry as clayware,
and my tongue sticks to my jaw;[d]
you have laid me down in the dust of death.
Footnotes
- Psalm 22:13 Around the beleaguered man there arises a wave of hostility; he experiences in his flesh the whole of human sorrow. The images are delusive, and the cries become pathetic. Here is a man whose life is being taken away.
- Psalm 22:13 Bulls . . . lions . . . dogs: these are metaphors for the enemies. Bashan: a land east of the Jordan that was noted for its good pasturage and the size and quality of its animals (see Deut 32:14; Ezek 39:18; Am 4:1).
- Psalm 22:15 Bones . . . heart: his combination of “bones” and “heart” (see note on Ps 4:8) was used to refer to the whole person (body and spirit) (see Ps 102:4; Prov 14:30; 15:30; Isa 66:14).
- 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).
