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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 22:11-21

In these verses we have Christ suffering and Christ praying, by which we are directed to look for crosses and to look up to God under them. I. Here is Christ suffering. David indeed was often in trouble, and beset with enemies; but many of the particulars here specified are such as were never true of David, and therefore must be appropriated to Christ in the depth of his humiliation. 1. He is here deserted by his friends: Trouble and distress are near, and there is none to help, none to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 22:17

I may tell all my bones ,.... For what with the stretching out of his body on the cross, when it was fastened to it as it lay on the ground, and with the jolt of the cross when, being reared up, it was fixed in the ground, and with the weight of the body hanging upon it, all his bones were disjointed and started out; so that, could he have seen them, he might have told them, as they might be told by the spectators who were around him; and so the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 22:18

They part my garments among them ,.... Such as died the death of the cross were crucified naked F8 Vid Lipsium de Cruce, l. 2. c. 7. p. 81. , and their clothes were the perquisites of the executioners; there were four soldiers concerned in the crucifixion of Christ, and these parted his garments into four parts, and everyone took his part; and cast lots on my vesture ; which was a seamless coat, wove from the top to the bottom; and therefore, not willing to rend it, they cast lots... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 22:19

But be not thou far from me, O Lord ,.... See Gill on Psalm 22:11 ; O my strength ; Christ as God is the mighty God, the Almighty; as Mediator, he is the strength of his people; but, as man, God is his strength; he is the man of his right hand, whom he has made strong for himself, and whom he has promised his arm shall strengthen, Psalm 80:17 ; and therefore he addresses him in this manner here, saying, haste thee to help me ; his help was alone in God his strength; there were... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 22:20

Deliver my soul from the sword ,.... Wicked men, whose tongues were as a sharp sword, reproaching and blaspheming him, and bearing false witness against him; and crying out, "Crucify him, crucify him", Luke 23:21 ; see Psalm 17:12 ; or any instrument of violence, as the iron bar with which the legs of the malefactors crucified with him were broken, which he escaped; and the spear which pierced his side, after he had commended his soul or spirit into the hands of his Father; or a violent... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 22:21

Save me from the lion's mouth ,.... Either the devil, who is as a roaring lion, whom Christ overcame both in the garden and on the cross, and destroyed him and his works; or all his wicked enemies, especially the most powerful of them, who were in greatest authority, as the chief priests and elders; so rulers and civil magistrates, who are cruel and unmerciful, are compared to lions, Proverbs 28:15 ; for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns ; some read this as a prayer... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 22:17

I may tell all my bones - This may refer to the violent extension of his body when the whole of its weight hung upon the nails which attached his hands to the transverse beam of the cross. The body being thus extended, the principal bones became prominent, and easily discernible. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 22:18

They part my garments - This could be true in no sense of David. The fact took place at the crucifixion of our Lord. The soldiers divided his upper garment into four parts, each soldier taking a part; but his tunic or inward vestment being without seam, woven in one entire piece, they agreed not to divide, but to cast lots whose the whole should be. Of this scripture the Roman soldiers knew nothing; but they fulfilled it to the letter. This was foreseen by the Spirit of God; and this is a... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 22:19

Be not thou far from me - In the first verse he asks, Why hast thou forsaken me? Or, as if astonished at their wickedness, Into what hands hast thou permitted me to fall? Now he prays, Be not far from me. St. Jerome observes here, that it is the humanity of our blessed Lord which speaks to his divinity. Jesus was perfect man; and as man he suffered and died. But this perfect and sinless man could not have sustained those sufferings so as to make them expiatory had he not been supported by... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 22:20

Deliver my soul from the sword - Deliver נפשי naphshi , my life; save me alive, or raise me again. My darling - יחידתי yechidathi , my only one. The only human being that was ever produced since the creation, even by the power of God himself, without the agency of man. Adam the first was created out of the dust of the earth; that was his mother; God was the framer. Adam the second was produced in the womb of the virgin; that was his mother. But that which was conceived in her was... read more

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