For many dogs have encompassed me: the council of the malignant hath besieged me. They have dug my hands and feet.
כִּ֥י סְבָב֗וּנִי כְּלָ֫בִ֥ים עֲדַ֣ת מְ֭רֵעִים הִקִּיפ֑וּנִי כָּ֝אֲרִ֗י יָדַ֥י וְרַגְלָֽי׃
12 Church Fathers comment on this verse · 13 commentaries
In prophetic words, Christ describes the humiliation inherent in His suffering. He refers to His body, laid low upon the cross, with His hands and feet affixed to the timber. The dogs have encircled Me, and many have come around Me, yelping not for the sake of truth, but for their traditions. A throng of the unrighteous has surrounded Me, driving nails through My hands and My feet.
I am the servant of the Lord, dedicated to His will. My hands and feet will be examined. This refers to the nails that pierced Him during the crucifixion.
The multitude of the unrighteous overwhelmed me. Following his mention of the Jews, he refers to the Gentile multitude, as it was the Jews who turned Him over to the Gentiles. Thus, the prophecy maintains the sequence of events. He aptly identifies the Jews as oxen and the Gentiles as dogs, as it is written: ‘It is not good to take away the bread of a child and give it to a dog’ (Matthew 15:26). Yet, after enduring their trials, those who once were regarded as dogs, through faith, have been elevated to the status of sons, while those who were treated as sons have taken on the label of dogs; for they acted like dogs and grew fierce against the Lord. Blessed Paul warns them, ‘Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation’ (Philippians 3:2).
And the prophetic message, having referred to them as dogs, states, ‘the hosts of the wicked have surrounded Me.’ It further details the extent of their actions: My hands and My feet have been pierced. This is evident and clear even to the most obstinate. For we find in the holy Gospel, the Lord Himself speaking to His sacred disciples, ‘See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself’ (Luke 24:39). He also showed Thomas the marks of the nails and the wound from the spear (John 20:27).
The Jews are referred to as oxen in this context, as Theodoret explains, because they were bound by the burden of the law, much like oxen or bulls, even though they transgressed it. The term "dogs" represents the Roman Gentile soldiers, viewed as unclean and exhibiting the same lack of decency associated with dogs. In this regard, Christ addressed the Canaanite woman, a Gentile, by saying it is not appropriate to take the children's bread and give it to the dogs (Matt. 15:26). The oppressive forces of the wicked have surrounded me. A multitude of envious Jews has laid hold of me. They have pierced my hands and my feet with nails. After enduring suffering, the former dogs were elevated to the status of sons through faith; conversely, those once regarded as sons were labeled dogs due to their hostility toward the Lord, resembling the nature of dogs.
Moreover, through another prophet it is stated, ‘They pierced my hands and my feet; they cast lots for my garments.’ Nothing of this nature occurred to David, the king and prophet who uttered these words. Instead, it was Jesus Christ who was stretched upon the cross and crucified by the Jews, who opposed Him and denied Him as the Messiah. Concurrently, as the prophet proclaimed, ‘They mocked Him and placed Him on the judgment seat, demanding, “Render a judgment for us.”’ The phrase ‘They pierced my hands and my feet’ refers to the nails that were driven into His hands and feet during the crucifixion. Following His execution, those responsible for His death cast lots for His garments and shared them among themselves. The details of these events can be discerned from the records compiled under Pontius Pilate.
David or Christ? Moreover, another prophet expresses it this way: They pierced my hands and my feet, and they cast lots for my garments (Psalm 22:17, 19). Such events did not occur to David, the anointed king and prophet who conveyed this message—rather, it was Jesus Christ who was outstretched and crucified by the Jews who opposed Him, denying His identity as the Messiah. Simultaneously, just as the prophet foretold, they reviled Him during His trial, challenging Him to judge them. The phrase, They pierced my hands and my feet, refers to the nails that were driven into His hands and feet during the crucifixion; after His death, those responsible for His execution cast lots for His garments and divided them among themselves. The truth of this matter can be discerned from the records established under Pontius Pilate.
Salvation through the act of sacrifice The body of our Lord and Savior, which was crucified and pierced, has provided us with eternal fruit. We can boldly proclaim that God endured suffering in human form and that God gave His life for our redemption. The esteemed Father Augustine eloquently teaches us, “It is long acknowledged that man must face death. However, to counter this reality, something unprecedented has occurred—God has died.” Similarly, Paul expresses this truth when he states that we proclaim Christ who was crucified (1 Cor 1:23).
To counter any confusion, as some misguided individuals might assert, he emphasizes that He embodies both God’s power and wisdom; for what seems foolish to God is wiser than humanity, and what appears weak to God is stronger than mankind (1 Cor 1:24-25). To those who do not believe, the notion that the Son of God could be crucified and laid to rest appears trivial and absurd. Yet, it was God’s pleasure to employ the folly of preaching to bring salvation to believers (1 Cor 1:21); for the incarnation of our Lord represents an unparalleled pinnacle of grace, a priceless gift, and a profound mystery. From this event, salvation may arise for those who think rightly, while for those with distorted understanding, it leads to destruction.
In Psalm 22, verse 17, the phrase ‘they pierced my hands and my feet’ serves as a significant prophetic declaration, maintained in the text of the seventy translators. The current Hebrew rendition uses כארי, meaning ‘like a lion,’ instead of כארו, meaning ‘pierced.’ This discrepancy, due to the compelling nature of the wording and its implication, suggests a distortion of the original text. It raises suspicions of deliberate alteration by those who, in their attempts to undermine the prophetic evidence of the Lord’s crucifixion, sought to obscure its profound meaning.
This is a mysterious experience of the repentant David and at the same time a clear prophecy of the sufferings of Christ. All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution (2 Timothy 3:12), says the Apostle Paul. When King David sinned, no demons appeared to him, but he lost his peace.
The malevolent horde encircled Him, as the leaders of the Jewish people, including the scribes, chief priests, and Pharisees, stirred up the crowd to call for His blood, bringing condemnation upon themselves and their descendants. These are the very individuals to whom the prophet Isaiah referred as dogs: senseless dogs that are unable to bark (Isaiah 56:10). Although it was their responsibility to safeguard the spiritual flock of the Lord, akin to faithful shepherd dogs, they failed to fulfill this role, instead driving the sheep into desolation, embodying the cry, A multitude of dogs surrounded me, a multitude of wicked ones encircled me.
All who mimic their actions today, who blaspheme in a similar manner and lash out against the Anointed One of God, are similarly categorized among them. They share a character closely aligned with the wicked soldiers who condemned and humiliated the Son of God. Indeed, all who insult the Body of Christ, which is His Church, and strive to wound His hands, His feet, and His very essence are counted among this group.
The initial verse has been addressed earlier; the subsequent verses pertain to Christ’s crucifixion and, to some extent, to David as well. If anyone asserts that David was never affixed to a cross, this can be readily clarified. David expresses his anguish through figurative language, indicating that he felt as though he had been forcibly restrained by his adversaries, akin to being affixed to a tree through the immobilization of his hands and feet. Such figurative expressions are frequently found in Scripture, as we will observe further on.
The execution was carried out only at this point. “All three crosses were laid on the ground,” states Farrar, “with the cross of Jesus, which was undoubtedly higher than the others, positioned in the center for increased mockery.” Yet, terms such as tollere, agere, ferre, dare, insultare, insalire, ascendere, salire - in crucem, crucem statuere, which have been used by various authors to signify the crucifixion, clearly indicate that the condemned were affixed to crosses that were already upright, indicating that there was a necessity to erect the cross prior to the act of crucifixion itself.
Josephus Flavius cites a case involving Eleazar, a young man who was pardoned from death by crucifixion after his cross was already stationed—pointing again to the typical procedure of fixing the cross. Similarly, Cicero notes that with custom considered, the Mamertini fixed the cross after constructing the city. Notably, the testimonies of St. Cyprian, Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom, Augustine, and Nonnus all affirm that Christ was crucified upon a pre-erected cross. While there are instances of those who were executed being nailed to a cross laid flat, as seen in martyr accounts, these serve as exceptions rather than the norm for Roman executions. Before executing the sentence, the principal instrument of capital punishment was raised and secured, which was a procedure that required only a brief period. A few soldiers hastily dug three holes and, concurrently, others may have been stripping the condemned of their clothing. The humiliation associated with this method was compounded by the fact that those being crucified were completely unclothed. Artemidorus states, "they are crucified naked." This brutal practice was the standard, with the exception of the Carthaginian Carthalo, who was, as Justin accounts, crucified adorned. The Gospel records in Matthew 27:35, Mark 15:24, Luke 23:34, and John 19:23-24 explicitly indicate that the garments of the Lord Jesus were also taken from Him. Thus, artistic portrayals of Christ on the cross still dressed are fundamentally inaccurate from a historical perspective. However, it remains unclear whether all of Christ’s garments were entirely removed. Early Church writers had various interpretations regarding the crucifixion of Christ. Some indicate that He retained a loincloth, as mentioned in the Acts of Pilate. The term γυμνός, referring to the crucified, does not negate the possibility of a covering. Similarly, the practice of stoning in Jewish customs often meant that the body of the condemned would not be fully exposed. Perhaps, as to heighten the horrific agony of the cross and furnish further opportunity for scorn, a crown of thorns was placed upon the Lord's brow. Even though the depiction of Christ’s cross is often exaggerated in art, raising the body of a living individual to the height necessary for crucifixion demanded considerable effort and equipment. Ladders were essential for access, with two executioners climbing and using ropes to elevate Him while those below assisted. Once raised, He would first sit upon a small wooden support affixed to the cross, and then His arms would extend along this crossbar, being bound there with ropes. These bindings suggest that the two criminals flanking Jesus may not have been nailed, but restrained instead, a claim supported by some artistic depictions of Calvary. However, no ancient records affirm this. In Egypt, it was indeed customary for the executed to be bound rather than nailed. At this vital moment, when He could stabilize Himself on the cross, the most excruciating part came: large iron nails were thrust into the center of His hands, driven into the wood with force. Simultaneously, those positioned below secured His feet to the vertical post. They may have stacked His feet one atop the other, inserting a single nail through both, or they could have employed two nails, each piercing a separate foot. It is unequivocal that Christ's crucifixion followed the same customary process, though we lack definitive knowledge regarding the number of nails used on His feet. This ambiguity is compounded by differing claims among Church Fathers. Gregory of Nazianzus describes the Lord's cross as a "three-nailed tree," suggesting a single nail for both feet, while Nonnus similarly refers to the feet of the Crucified being “folded together.” Conversely, Gregory of Tours states that four nails—two for the hands and two for the feet—were commonly used. St. Cyprian also asserts the use of four nails during the crucifixion, having witnessed several executions during the early Church persecutions. Despite disagreements on specifics, all these Fathers agree that at Christ's crucifixion, both His hands and feet were affixed to the cross. Further support comes from Justin, Tertullian, Hilary, and Ephrem the Syrian, especially with regard to Psalm 21:17 being literally fulfilled in Christ’s suffering. Thus, the Son of God willingly became a sacrifice for humanity's transgressions, crucified along with the most notorious criminals, and positioned between them for added contempt. As seen in the Gospel of Nicodemus, the robber on Christ's right is referred to as Dismas, with the other named Gestas. Yet, at the moment of crucifixion, rather than cries of despair, what emanated from the Lord's lips was a gentle plea for mercy for those who were executing Him: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do,” reflecting the profound grace of His heart, as noted in Luke 23:34. For the division of garments, see John 19:23-24.
Like ravenous beasts, the cruel Jews rend asunder the honor of Christ with their blasphemies, assaulting His divine dignity. Concerning the offspring of wickedness, it is written: All the chief priests and elders of the people convened against Jesus to conspire against Him (Matthew 27:1). This passage reveals that the pure hands of the Savior were affixed to the cross because they refused to acknowledge His works, and His feet were nailed due to His zeal and toil for their redemption, for which the Jews failed to express gratitude.
Passages read together with this verse.
THEOSIS