Psalm 22

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Augustine3

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I have a question for my Jewish friends. What did David mean by this Psalm specifically his hands and feet being pierced and his garments being divided?
 
Instead of “They have pierced (caru) my hands and feet,” the present Hebrew text is much more ambiguous, “Like a lion (cari), they are at my hands and feet.” (source)
 
Augustine3 said:
I have a question for my Jewish friends. What did David mean by this Psalm specifically his hands and feet being pierced and his garments being divided?
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Thanks for your answers. What I meant was what did David mean when he wrote this psalm? I don’t recall his hands and feets being pierced nor his garments divided. So what did he mean during the time he wrote this?

God bless,
 
Augustine3 said:
Thanks for your answers. What I meant was what did David mean when he wrote this psalm? I don’t recall his hands and feets being pierced nor his garments divided. So what did he mean during the time he wrote this?

God bless,
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Well, in the literal level it is a symbolic description about how the character portrayed by the psalmist is in dire straits and is just sinking into death. The “afflicted one”'s suffering is vividly portrayed: his enemies (represented by the wild animals) sink in and assault him physically and mentally (the servant being mauled/pierced by his enemies, who then make sport of his clothes), leaving him in a critical, half-dead state (represented by the poured-out water and the dry potsherd), calling out in anguish and despair.

I don’t think we should think that the details are all literal. I mean, the author also describes himself as “a worm, and no man,” but that doesn’t mean that the psalmist was literally an invertebrate! 😃
 
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