spin wrote:
So, not a trace of physical harm to the narrator is displayed in the lament section on Psalm 22. God hasn't really abandoned him. He has just had a lapse of faith, but once he has worked through it, he is ready to acknowledge "the Lord is my shepherd."
As to verse 16 and "like a lion", I don't know. Using it as a descriptor of the way the group of evil doers encircle the narrator works for me, but that may just be another case of modern eisegesis. The hands and legs can go with being able to count his bones, but, as I said, I don't know: the evidence seems in the at "like a lion" is the closest we can get to an original text. The verse has been problematic since antiquity and no christian cultural theft of Hebrew literature will change that.
JW:
If you read the Psalms here as they were intended, as a related group of pleas/laments, rather than a Christian proof-text, then 17 has already introduced the lion and how lions threaten:
17
1 Hear the right, O Jehovah, attend unto my cry; Give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.
2 Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; Let thine eyes look upon equity.
3 Thou hast proved my heart; thou hast visited me in the night; Thou hast tried me, and findest nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.
4 As for the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the ways of the violent.
5 My steps have held fast to thy paths, My feet have not slipped.
6 I have called upon thee, for thou wilt answer me, O God: Incline thine ear unto me, [and] hear my speech.
7 Show thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them that take refuge [in thee ]From those that rise up [against them].
8 Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
9 From the wicked that oppress me, My deadly enemies, that compass me about.
10 They are inclosed in their own fat: With their mouth they speak proudly.
11 They have now compassed us in our steps; They set their eyes to cast [us] down to the earth.
12 He is like a lion that is greedy of his prey, And as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.
13 Arise, O Jehovah, Confront him, cast him down: Deliver my soul from the wicked by thy sword;
14 From men by thy hand, O Jehovah, From men of the world, whose portion is in [this] life, And whose belly thou fillest with thy treasure: They are satisfied with children, And leave the rest of their substance to their babes.
15 As for me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with [beholding] thy form.
JW:
Seems to be a lot of parallels here with 22. I don't think it's coincidental. The lion is used for poetic comparison, threatening with its trademark roar. When we get to 22 the author has already indicated the what and how of "like a lion", threatening by roaring ("With their mouth they speak proudly"). "Like a lion" is suggestive of a verb rather than a noun. Having the hands and feet threatened seems literally odd but parallels from a figurative standpoint with "hands" and "feet".
Joseph
Psalm 22:17, Hebrew Text, "Like A Lion". Determining Who's Original And Who's Lion? Nahal Hever Fragment