39

EXEGETICAL BRIEF:
THEY PIERCED MY HANDS
AND MY FEET (PSALM 22: 17).

ne of the most interesting and significant textual variants in the

O Old Testament occurs in Psalm 22:17 (22:16 in English). The
Hebrew text reads:
T, nto D’inp rni> d,3‘?? 'sazip 17
The NIV translates:
16 For dogs have surrounded me;
a band of evil men has encircled me,
they have pierced my hands and feet.
The critical words are the last three words of the verse. In trans­
lating, “they pierced my hands and feet,” the NIV is adopting a differ­
ent reading than the Masoretic text, which reads, “like the lion CHfcO)
my hands and my feet.” A number of Greek and Hebrew manuscripts
lend support to the reading preferred by the NIV.
Because of the importance of this passage we will take a more
detailed look at the textual evidence.
1) The readings and TO, found in a few Hebrew manu­
scripts, are 3rd plural perfects from verbal roots “IfcO or “TD,
which mean “they pierce” or “they dig.” The difficulty with
these readings is that the verb here translated “pierce” is
usually spelled H“D, and it usually refers to digging more
than to piercing. Even in Psalm 40:7 this verb appears to
refer to the digging out or the opening of the ears, not to the
piercing of the ear described in Exodus 21:6.
2) The Septuagint reading djpu^av also means “they pierce” or
“they dig.” This understanding is followed by the Syriac, the
Old Latin, and the Vulgate (foderunt). The rendering of
Aquila’s first edition, fjcFxwav (they disfigure), also appears to
support this reading.
3) Jewish revisions of the Septuagint by Aquila and Sym-
machus read “they bind” (eirebr\(jav and Sqaai). Jerome sup­
ports this reading in his Psalterium iuxta Hebraeos, which
reads vinxerunt (they bind). An alternate reading in the
Psalterium iuxta Hebraeos is fixerunt (they fasten [to the
cross]). These renderings seem to be a guess, an attempt to
find an appropriate verb with “hands and feet.”
4) A solution which retains the consonants is to repoint
these consonants as a plural participle of "IfcO, (either as the
40 EXEGETICAL BRIEF: THEY PIERCED MY HANDS

construct 'HfcO or as the absolute with omission the final □),

“they are piercing my hands and feet.”
5) The Masoretic reading is supported by a Greek manuscript
from the Cairo Genizeh (wg Aewv).
6) The Targum seems to be collating both readings, “they bite
like a lion” (tfntO jn ] TOJ).
It is significant that all the ancient versions agree that the word in
question is a verb form. Only the pointing of the Masoretic text adopts
the reading as a noun, “lion.” This reading, which eliminates any possi­
bility of a reference to crucifixion, was finalized long after Christ ful­
filled this prophecy. It is possible that polemics between Christians
and Jews had an influence on the Masoretes’ pointing of this word.
Luther believed that the text had been distorted by Jewish inter­
preters to deny the messianic implications. The reading “like a lion”
may, however, simply be a misunderstanding of a difficult text, which
was suggested by the mention of attacking animals in the context.
Many modern translations either follow the Masoretic text or
emend the text in some other way to avoid any possible implication of
crucifixion. The New RSV, for example, renders “My hands and feet
have shriveled.” The modern critics’ prejudice against messianic
prophecy may be reflected in the statement of the Theological Dictio­
nary of the Old Testament that HID may mean bind only in Psalm
22:17 (VII, p 305).
Psalm 22:17 may be one of the comparatively rare cases in which
other versions preserve a better reading than the standard Hebrew
text. If we accept the NIV translation, the verse is a striking descrip­
tion of the process of crucifixion. The combination “hands and feet” is
very specific. It is difficult to imagine why this wording would be cho­
sen to describe the wounds inflicted by a lion. This unusual combina­
tion lends support to the traditional claim that we have here an allu­
sion to Jesus’ crucifixion. It is noteworthy, however, that this passage
is not cited as messianic in the New Testament although several
other verses of this psalm are.
John F. Brug
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