Psalms 22:9-13

22:9 Yes, you are the one who brought me out ¹  from the womb

and made me feel secure on my mother’s breasts.

22:10 I have been dependent on you since birth; ² 

from the time I came out of my mother’s womb you have been my God. ³ 

22:11 Do not remain far away from me,

for trouble is near and I have no one to help me. ⁴ 

22:12 Many bulls ⁵  surround me;

powerful bulls of Bashan ⁶  hem me in.

22:13 They ⁷  open their mouths to devour me ⁸ 

like a roaring lion that rips its prey. ⁹ 

[22:9]  ¹ tn Or “the one who pulled me.” The verb is derived from either גָחָה (gakhah; see HALOT 187 s.v. גחה) or גִּיחַ (giyakh; see BDB 161 s.v. גִּיחַ) and seems to carry the nuance “burst forth” or “pull out.”

[22:10]  ² tn Heb “upon you I was cast from [the] womb.”

[22:10]  ³ tn Heb “from the womb of my mother you [have been] my God.”

[22:11]  ³ tn Heb “and there is no helper.”

[22:12]  ⁴ sn The psalmist figuratively compares his enemies to dangerous bulls.

[22:12]  ⁵ sn Bashan, located east of the Jordan River, was well-known for its cattle. See Ezek 39:18; Amos 4:1.

[22:13]  ⁵ tn “They” refers to the psalmist’s enemies, who in the previous verse are described as “powerful bulls.”

[22:13]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “a lion ripping and roaring.”