Bible Strands
Psalms 22:16
For dogs surround me; a band of evil men encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — A suffering individual addresses God in the midst of physical collapse and hostile encirclement. The flanking verses (22:15, 22:17) confirm bodily failure and onlookers who gloat.
The words — Two Hebrew verbs of encircling are stacked: סְבָבוּ (seva.vu, "they have surrounded") and הִקִּיפוּ (hi.ki.fu, "they have encircled"), the second in the Hiphil stem intensifying the siege. The repetition is not redundancy; it is the pressure of the crowd.
The thread — The piercing of hands and feet is picked up in the crucifixion narrative (Matthew 27:35) and in the prophetic piercing language of Zechariah 12:10, which John 19:37 applies to Jesus.
Why it lands — The verse names the body parts precisely — hands, feet — refusing to let the suffering remain generic. It asks the reader to hold that specificity without smoothing it into a lesson.
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
For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.
Cross-references
- John 19:37 And, as another Scripture says: “They will look on the One they have pierced.”
- Zechariah 12:10 Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.
- Matthew 27:35 When they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments by casting lots.
- John 20:25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands, and put my finger where the nails have been, and put my hand into His side, I will never believe.”
- John 19:23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they divided His garments into four parts, one for each soldier, with the tunic remaining. It was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
- John 19:34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out.
- Mark 15:24 And they crucified Him. They also divided His garments by casting lots to decide what each of them would take.
- Luke 23:33 When they came to the place called The Skull, they crucified Him there, along with the criminals, one on His right and the other on His left.
- John 20:27 Then Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe.”
- Psalms 22:20 Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of wild dogs.