Like a Lion

The Hebrew root word kara describes tearing. Ari is a lion. The RSVCE does not translate it as “like a lion,” but penetrates the deeper meaning of the verse by expressing what the lion does. Ps 22:16 “… a company of evildoers encircle me; they have pierced my hands and feet …” We may conclude also that it was done roughly, as a lion would do.

The Torah’s original Hebrew did not have nikud, vowels, so its exact meaning is ambiguous. The Jewish Publication Society Tanakh acknowledges the ambiguity by translating it, Ps 22:16 “… like lions [they maul] my hands and feet.”

When confronted by ambiguity, Catholic exegesis, like Jewish exegesis, looks at the larger context. We hear Jesus cry out from the Cross, Ps 22:1 “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” We know that He was reminding the Jews gathered below the Cross of Ps 22:18 “…they divide my garments among them, and for my raiment they cast lots.” They were seeing King David’s prophecy fulfilled. Mt 27:35 “And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots …” And so, realizing that Psalm 22 is a prophecy of the Messiah, we can conclude that the meaning of ki-ari in this context is “pierced.” Jesus was telling the Jews beneath the Cross, in a way they could understand and believe, that He was the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies.

This is further strengthened when we realize that the Jews beneath the Cross who heard Jesus’ final words, “Father, into Thy hands I commit my spirit,” recognized it as a quotation from Ps 31:5 “Into thy hand I commit my spirit.” They would silently have recited the rest of that verse. Ps 31:5 “Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.”

Jewish exegesis of course resists the idea of “pierced,” with its obvious implication of Jesus’ pierced hands and feet. Fair enough. Because the original Hebrew is ambiguous, Catholics can accept that there is a difference of understanding, but not that we have objectively mis-translated the phrase.