They open their mouths wide against me, lions tearing prey and roaring.
Parallel Translations
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They open their mouths wide against me, lions tearing prey and roaring.
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They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.
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(22-14) They open wide their mouth against me, as a ravening and a roaring lion.
Cross-references (13)
Passages linked to Psalms 22:13 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Peter 5:8 Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
- Psalms 35:21 Yes, they opened their mouth wide against me. They said, “Aha! Aha! Our eye has seen it!”
- Job 16:10 They have gaped on me with their mouth. They have struck me on the cheek reproachfully. They gather themselves together against me.
- Psalms 17:12 He is like a lion that is greedy of his prey, as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.
- Lamentations 2:16 All your enemies have opened their mouth wide against you. They hiss and gnash their teeth. They say, “We have swallowed her up. Certainly this is the day that we looked for. We have found it. We have seen it.”
- Lamentations 3:46 “All our enemies have opened their mouth wide against us.
- Matthew 26:3-4 Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people were gathered together in the court of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas. They took counsel together that they might take Jesus by deceit, and kill him.
- Matthew 26:59-65 Now the chief priests, the elders, and the whole council sought false testimony against Jesus, that they might put him to death; and they found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses came forward, and said, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.’ ” The high priest stood up, and said to him, “Have you no answer? What is this that these testify against you?” But Jesus held his peace. The high priest answered him, “I adjure you by the living God, that you tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said it. Nevertheless, I tell you, after this you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of the sky.” Then the high priest tore his clothing, saying, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Behold, now you have heard his blasphemy.
- Psalms 7:2 lest they tear apart my soul like a lion, ripping it in pieces, while there is no one to deliver.
- Psalms 22:7 All those who see me mock me. They insult me with their lips. They shake their heads, saying,
- Psalms 22:21 Save me from the lion’s mouth! Yes, you have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen.
- Psalms 35:17 Lord, how long will you look on? Rescue my soul from their destruction, my precious life from the lions.
- Ezekiel 22:27-28 Her princes within it are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain. Her prophets have plastered for them with whitewash, seeing false visions, and divining lies to them, saying, ‘The Lord Yahweh says,’ when Yahweh has not spoken.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (10 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 22:13 They gaped upon me [with] their mouths,…
Psa 22:13 They gaped upon me [with] their mouths, [as] a ravening and a roaring lion.
Ver. 13. They gaped upon me with their mouths] As if they would have swallowed me up at a bit, like so many lycanthropi, or savage cannibals.
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As a ravening and a roaring lion] Rapiens et rugiens leo, licet non sit mos boum rapere, Bulls do not use to raven though they roar (Kimchi); but the malignities of all fierce and fell creatures are to be found in cruel persecutors. Would any man take the Church’s picture? saith Luther; then let him paint a silly poor maid sitting in a wood or wilderness, compassed about with hungry lions, wolves, bulls, boars, and bears, and with all manner of cruel and harmful beasts, and in the midst of a great many furious men, or rather monsters, assaulting her every moment and minute; for this is her condition in the world.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Partly to affright me, and principally to tear and…
Partly to affright me, and principally to tear and devour me, as the following metaphor explains it. Otherwise it might be understood of their crying out with loud and earnest voices, that he might be condemned and put to death.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain They gaped upon me with their mouths,.... Either by…
They gaped upon me with their mouths,.... Either by way of derision and contempt, Job 16:10; or belching out blasphemy against him, or rather, with the greatest vehemency, crying out "Crucify him, crucify him", Luk 23:21; and this they did
as a ravening and roaring lion, when it has got its prey and rejoices, Amo 3:4; and being in such hands, and encompassed about with such enemies, as Christ was in the garden, in the high priest's hall, and in Pilate's judgment hall, is a third reason or argument used by him with God his Father, to be near to him and not far from him.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 13. They gaped upon me] They were fiercely…
Verse 13. They gaped upon me] They were fiercely and madly beat on my destruction.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain They gaped upon me with their mouths - Margin,…
They gaped upon me with their mouths - Margin, as in Hebrew, “opened their mouths against me.” That is, they opened their mouths wide as if they would devour me, as a lion does when he seizes upon his prey. In Psa 22:7 they are represented as “opening” the mouth for another purpose - that of derision or scorn; here they are described as if they were fierce and wild beasts ready to fall upon their prey.
As a ravening and roaring lion - The word “ravening” means “voraciously devouring,” and the allusion in the Hebrew word is to the lion as he tears his prey - טרף ṭâraph - rending it in pieces to devour it. All this is designed to denote the greediness with which the enemies of the Redeemer sought his life.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 13. They gaped upon—This was not in scorn, like…
13. They gaped upon—This was not in scorn, like the shooting “out the lip” of Psa_22:7; but an act simply of brutal ferocity, the parallel to which is the rending and roaring lion of the next line.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 13. They gaped &c.] R.V., they gape upon me…
13. They gaped &c.] R.V., they gape upon me with their mouths (Lam_2:16; Lam_3:46); like a lion roaring as it prepares to spring upon its prey (Psa_7:2).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (13) Ravening.—Literally, tearing in pieces. (Comp. Lam_2:15-16; Lam_3:10.)
(13) Ravening.—Literally, tearing in pieces. (Comp. Lam_2:15-16; Lam_3:10.)
Roaring.—Comp. Amo_3:4.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain They gaped upon me with their mouths. One metaphor…
They gaped upon me with their mouths. One metaphor is superseded by another. Fierce and threatening as bulls, the adversaries are ravenous as lions. They "gape with their mouths," eager to devour, ready to spring on the prey and crush it in their monstrous jaws. As a ravening and a roaring lion. The tumult and noise made by those who demanded our Lord"s death are noted by the evangelist, perisswv ekrazon yorubov ginetai . (Mat_27:23, Mat_27:24)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 13. They gaped upon me with their mouths,…
Ver. 13. They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. Like hungry cannibals they opened their blasphemous mouths as if they were about to swallow the man whom they abhorred. They could not vomit forth their anger fast enough through the ordinary aperture of their mouths, and therefore set the doors of their lips wide open like those who gape. Like roaring lions they howled out their fury, and longed to tear the Saviour in pieces, as wild beasts raven over their prey. Our Lord's faith must have passed through a most severe conflict while he found himself abandoned to the tender mercies of the wicked, but he came off victorious by prayer; the very dangers to which he was exposed being used to add prevalence to his entreaties.
Ver. 13. A helpless infant, or a harmless lamb, surrounded by furious bulls, and hungry lions, aptly represented the Saviour encompassed by his insulting and bloody persecutors. Thomas Scott, 1747-1821.
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.