Bible Strands
Psalms 22:13
They open their jaws against me like lions that roar and maul.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist speaks from a position of physical collapse and encirclement by hostile forces. The description follows the imagery of surrounding bulls and immediately precedes the account of disjointed bones and melting heart.
The words — The Hebrew פָּצוּ (pa.Tzu, "they have opened") and שֹׁאֵג (sho.'Eg, "roaring") frame the violence of the attackers. Their פִּי־הֶם (pi.-hem, "their mouths") act like a lion's jaws that tear and roar.
The thread — This lion metaphor appears in 1 Peter 5:8 as a picture of spiritual adversary, while the gaping mouths echo the mockery in Psalms 35:21 and Job 16:10. The imagery bridges physical assault and hostile opposition across the biblical text.
Why it lands — The verse demands recognition of the psalmist's vulnerability against coordinated aggression. It calls the reader to observe how physical collapse and hostile mockery are portrayed as simultaneous realities.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.
Cross-references
- 1 Peter 5:8 Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
- Psalms 35:21 They gape at me and say, “Aha, aha! Our eyes have seen!”
- Job 16:10 They open their mouths against me and strike my cheeks with contempt; they join together against me.
- Psalms 17:12 like a lion greedy for prey, like a young lion lurking in ambush.
- Lamentations 2:16 All your enemies open their mouths against you. They hiss and gnash their teeth, saying, “We have swallowed her up. This is the day for which we have waited. We have lived to see it!”
- Lamentations 3:46 All our enemies open their mouths against us.
- Matthew 26:3 At that time the chief priests and elders of the people assembled in the courtyard of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas,
- Matthew 26:59 Now the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were seeking false testimony against Jesus in order to put Him to death.
- Psalms 7:2 or they will shred my soul like a lion and tear me to pieces with no one to rescue me.
- Psalms 22:7 All who see me mock me; they sneer and shake their heads: