Psalms 22:15

"My strength is dried up like a potsherd;

And my tongue cleaveth to my jaws;

And thou hast brought me into the dust of death.

For dogs have compassed me:

A company of evil-doers have enclosed me;

They pierced my hands and my feet."

"Strength is dried up ... tongue cleaveth to my jaws" (Psalms 22:15). These words speak eloquently of the Saviour's thirst upon the cross, to alleviate which there was no effort whatever, except that of a Roman soldier who offered him, from his daily rations, a little sour wine on a sponge (Matthew 27:48).

"Thou hast brought me into the dust of death" (Psalms 22:15). This emphasizes the truth that we are here dealing with an execution, not some kind of a disease.

"The dogs have compassed me" (Psalms 22:16). Who are the dogs? Like the Bulls of Bashan, these dogs were not animals at all. The genius of Hebrew poetry in which the thought is repeated in parallel lines makes it abundantly clear that the "dogs" here are "a company of evil-doers," namely, the blood-thirsty priests of the Sanhedrin, who by suborned testimony, political intimidation, and mob violence achieved the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. No better example of dogs ever existed.

"They pierced my hands and my feet" (Psalms 22:16). We shall not delve into the question of the rendition "pierced" as it appears here. Unbelievers, of course, would accept any other rendition available if they could find one; but as Addis admitted, all other renditions make no sense at all. "It is impossible to give any satisfactory explanation."[13]

The translators of the LXX, some quarter of a millennium before Christ was born, properly translated the disputed word here as "pierced," and theirs was certainly an unbiased translation. As Leupold stated, "This rendition can safely be retained; it is the one statement that most certainly identifies the form of death here as that by crucifixion."[14]

The most astounding and ridiculous comment on this piercing of the hands and the feet of Jesus which we have ever encountered is that of the usually dependable Dummelow, who wrote:

"`They pierced my hands and my feet.' The reference is still to the dogs who snap at the exposed parts (such as hands and feet) when they attack (during the crucifixion)."[15]

Apparently, Dummelow did not understand Hebrew poetry, or the fact that with a band of soldiers presiding over the crucifixion, no dogs would have been allowed to participate in it. Furthermore, literal dogs neither would have or could have "pierced" Jesus' hands and feet. A Roman cross always elevated the victim above the earth and well out of the reach of any dog. Furthermore, dogs never pierce their victims, they mutilate and tear them. Dummelow's impossible comment points up the desperation of the radical critics trying vainly to avoid the necessity of admitting predictive prophecy.