Bible Strands
Psalms 22:21
Save me from the mouth of the lion; at the horns of the wild oxen You have answered me!
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses God while enduring imminent physical threat, immediately after requesting deliverance from the sword and wild dogs. This utterance marks the pivot from private suffering to the vow of public proclamation in the following verse.
The words — The imperative ה֭וֹשִׁיעֵ/נִי (Ho.o.shi.'e./ni) literally means "save me," and עֲנִיתָֽ/נִי ('a.ni.Ta./ni) declares "you have answered me." These verbs establish a grammatical sequence where the present cry for rescue is grounded in a past divine response.
The thread — The lion imagery reappears in 1 Peter 5:8 as a descriptor of the devil's predatory activity, while the wild ox motif recalls Numbers 23:22's account of God's deliverance. The psalmist's plea for rescue parallels the Lord's strengthening presence described in 2 Timothy 4:17.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to recognize that deliverance precedes and enables public worship. It demands a direct attribution of survival to God's intervention rather than to human resilience or circumstance.
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
Save me from the lion’s mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.
Cross-references
- 2 Timothy 4:17 But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message would be fully proclaimed, and all the Gentiles would hear it. So I was delivered from the mouth of the lion.
- 1 Peter 5:8 Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
- Numbers 23:22 God brought them out of Egypt with strength like a wild ox.
- John 14:30 I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming, and he has no claim on Me.
- Acts 4:27 In fact, this is the very city where Herod and Pontius Pilate conspired with the Gentiles and the people of Israel against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed.
- Isaiah 34:7 And the wild oxen will fall with them, the young bulls with the strong ones. Their land will be drenched with blood, and their soil will be soaked with fat.
- John 8:59 At this, they picked up stones to throw at Him. But Jesus was hidden and went out of the temple area.
- Deuteronomy 33:17 His majesty is like a firstborn bull, and his horns are like those of a wild ox. With them he will gore the nations, even to the ends of the earth. Such are the myriads of Ephraim, and such are the thousands of Manasseh.”
- Acts 5:30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging Him on a tree.
- Job 39:9 Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Will he stay by your manger at night?