Psalms 22:7

22:7 All who see me taunt ¹  me;

they mock me ²  and shake their heads. ³ 

Psalms 22:13

22:13 They ⁴  open their mouths to devour me ⁵ 

like a roaring lion that rips its prey. ⁶ 

Psalms 22:17

22:17 I can count ⁷  all my bones;

my enemies ⁸  are gloating over me in triumph. ⁹ 

[22:7]  ¹ tn Or “scoff at, deride, mock.”

[22:7]  ² tn Heb “they separate with a lip.” Apparently this refers to their verbal taunting.

[22:7]  ³ sn Shake their heads. Apparently this refers to a taunting gesture. See also Job 16:4; Ps 109:25; Lam 2:15.

[22:13]  ⁴ tn “They” refers to the psalmist’s enemies, who in the previous verse are described as “powerful bulls.”

[22:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “they open against me their mouth[s].” To “open the mouth against” is a Hebrew idiom associated with eating and swallowing (see Ezek 2:8; Lam 2:16).

[22:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “a lion ripping and roaring.”

[22:17]  ⁷ tn The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 17-18 draw attention to the progressive nature of the action.

[22:17]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “they gaze, they look upon me.”