Psalms 22:17

22:17 I can count ¹  all my bones;

my enemies ²  are gloating over me in triumph. ³ 

Psalms 32:3

32:3 When I refused to confess my sin, ⁴ 

my whole body wasted away, ⁵ 

while I groaned in pain all day long.

Psalms 34:20

34:20 He protects ⁶  all his bones; ⁷ 

not one of them is broken. ⁸ 

Psalms 51:8

51:8 Grant me the ultimate joy of being forgiven! ⁹ 

May the bones ¹⁰  you crushed rejoice! ¹¹ 

Psalms 109:18

109:18 He made cursing a way of life, ¹² 

so curses poured into his stomach like water

and seeped into his bones like oil. ¹³ 

Psalms 141:7

141:7 As when one plows and breaks up the soil, ¹⁴ 

so our bones are scattered at the mouth of Sheol.

[22:17]  ¹ tn The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 17-18 draw attention to the progressive nature of the action.

[22:17]  ² tn Heb “they.” The masculine form indicates the enemies are in view. The referent (the psalmist’s enemies) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:17]  ³ tn Heb “they gaze, they look upon me.”

[32:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “when I was silent.”

[32:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “my bones became brittle.” The psalmist pictures himself as aging and growing physically weak. Trying to cover up his sin brought severe physical consequences.

[34:20]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew participial form suggests such protection is characteristic.

[34:20]  ⁸ tn That is, he protects the godly from physical harm.

[34:20]  ⁹ sn Not one of them is broken. The author of the Gospel of John saw a fulfillment of these words in Jesus’ experience on the cross (see John 19:31-37), for the Roman soldiers, when they saw that Jesus was already dead, did not break his legs as was customarily done to speed the death of crucified individuals. John’s use of the psalm seems strange, for the statement in its original context suggests that the Lord protects the godly from physical harm. Jesus’ legs may have remained unbroken, but he was brutally and unjustly executed by his enemies. John seems to give the statement a literal sense that is foreign to its original literary context by applying a promise of divine protection to a man who was seemingly not saved by God. However, John saw in this incident a foreshadowing of Jesus’ ultimate deliverance and vindication. His unbroken bones were a reminder of God’s commitment to the godly and a sign of things to come. Jesus’ death on the cross was not the end of the story; God vindicated him, as John goes on to explain in the following context (John 19:38-20:18).

[51:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “cause me to hear happiness and joy.” The language is metonymic: the effect of forgiveness (joy) has been substituted for its cause. The psalmist probably alludes here to an assuring word from God announcing that his sins are forgiven (a so-called oracle of forgiveness). The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request. The synonyms “happiness” and “joy” are joined together as a hendiadys to emphasize the degree of joy he anticipates.

[51:8]  ¹¹ sn May the bones you crushed rejoice. The psalmist compares his sinful condition to that of a person who has been physically battered and crushed. Within this metaphorical framework, his “bones” are the seat of his emotional strength.

[51:8]  ¹² tn In this context of petitionary prayer, the prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive, expressing the psalmist’s wish or request.

[109:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “he put on a curse as [if it were] his garment.”

[109:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and it came like water into his inner being, and like oil into his bones.” This may refer to this individual’s appetite for cursing. For him cursing was as refreshing as drinking water or massaging oneself with oil. Another option is that the destructive effects of a curse are in view. In this case a destructive curse invades his very being, like water or oil. Some who interpret the verse this way prefer to repoint the vav (ו) on “it came” to a conjunctive vav and interpret the prefixed verb as a jussive, “may it come!”

[141:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “like splitting and breaking open in the earth.” The meaning of the statement and the point of the comparison are not entirely clear. Perhaps the psalmist is suggesting that he and other godly individuals are as good as dead; their bones are scattered about like dirt that is dug up and tossed aside.