*Psalm 22:16: “Like a Lion” or “They Pierced”?*
_How One Letter Changed the Meaning of Messiah’s Hands and Feet_
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### *The Problem in Every English Bible*
*Psalm 22:16* is quoted in the New Testament more than any other Psalm. But your Bible footnote says something odd.
*ESV*: _“they have pierced my hands and feet”_
*Footnote*: _Hebrew “like a lion”_
*Why the disagreement?* Because the Hebrew text doesn’t say “pierced.” It says:
*Masoretic Text [MT]*:
*כִּי סְבָבוּנִי כְּלָבִים... כָּאֲרִי יָדַי וְרַגְלָי*
_“For dogs have surrounded me... like a lion my hands and my feet.”_
*“Like a lion my hands and my feet”* isn’t a sentence. What does a lion do? The Hebrew has no verb. The grammar is broken.
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### *What the Ancient World Read*
Long before the Masoretic Text was finalized in 900 AD, translators saw something different:
**Version** **Date** **Reading**
**Septuagint [LXX]** 250 BC **ὤρυξαν** “they dug/gouged my hands and feet”
**Peshitta ** 2nd c. AD **ܒܙܥܘ** “they pierced my hands and feet”
**Vulgate ** 400 AD **Foderunt** “they dug my hands and feet”
[Syriac][Latin]
*Not one ancient version says “like a lion.”* All three say “pierced” or “dug.” Jerome, who translated the Vulgate from Hebrew, specifically rejected “like a lion” because his Hebrew manuscripts didn’t read that way.
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### *The Dead Sea Scrolls Settle It*
In 1961, archaeologists found *5/6HevPs* at Nahal Hever — a Hebrew Psalm scroll from ∼50 AD.
*Line 11 reads: כארו ידי ורגלי*
That’s not *כָּאֲרִי* _ka’ari_ “like a lion.”
That’s *כראו* _ka’aru_ “they pierced.”
*The difference is one letter.* In 1st century Hebrew script, *ו* _vav_ and *י* _yod_ are identical. A scribe changed *כראו* → *כארי* with one pen stroke.
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### *Hebrew כרה vs Aramaic כרא*
So what does *כראו* mean? Two options:
#### *1. Hebrew כרה* _karah_ “to dig”
*Psalm 7:15*: _karah shachat_ “he dug a pit”
*Psalm 40:6*: _aznayim karita li_ “ears you dug for me” = “opened”
*3mp form*: *כָּרוּ* _karu_ “they dug” → spelled *כרו*
*Problem*: The scroll has *כארו*. Hebrew כרה has no *א* _aleph_. To get from *כרו* to *כארו*, a scribe would have to insert a random aleph. That doesn’t happen.
#### *2. Aramaic כרא* _kera’_ “to pierce, bore through”
*Targum Isaiah 51:9*: _kerit yat Rahav_ “you pierced Rahab”
*Targum 2 Kings 18:21*: _yikra’ kaf_ “it will pierce the hand”
*3mp form*: *כְּאֲרוּ* _ke’aru_ “they pierced” → spelled *כראו*
*This matches 5/6HevPs exactly: כראו.* Same letters. Same meaning. Violent, bodily piercing — not digging wells.
*Verdict*: The original was Aramaic *כראו* “they pierced.” Not Hebrew *כרה* “they dug,” and not *כָּאֲרִי* “like a lion.”
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### *How “Like a Lion” Was Born*
*Step 1*: Original text *כראו ידי ורגלי* “they pierced my hands and my feet”
*Step 2*: 1st–2nd century scribe miscopies *ו→י*: *כארי*
*Step 3*: Masoretes ∼900 AD see *כארי*. No Hebrew verb _kari_ exists. They add vowels: *כָּאֲרִי* “like a lion.”
*Result*: The messianic reading is gone. The grammar is broken. But the text is “safe.”
This matches other post-70 AD edits:
*Psalm 110:5*: MT _Adonai_ replaced original _YHWH_
*Psalm 68:30*: MT changed letters to hide “tribute to Yah”
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### *Why This Matters*
*1. The Grammar Works Again*
*כראו ידי ורגלי* = “they pierced my hands and feet.” Verb + object. Clean Hebrew syntax.
*כָּאֲרִי ידי ורגלי* = “like a lion my hands and feet.” No verb. Broken.
*2. The Prophecy Is Clear*
*Zechariah 12:10*: _ve-hibbitu elay et asher daqaru_ “they will look on me, whom they pierced”
*John 20:25*: Thomas — “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails...”
*Psalm 22:16*, restored: *כראו ידי ורגלי* “they pierced my hands and my feet”
Written 1,000 years before crucifixion was invented.
*3. Loanwords Are Normal*
Psalm 22 uses other Aramaisms. *Job, Daniel, Ezra* switch to Aramaic mid-book. David ruled Aramean territory. *כראו* is a loanword, like _imma_ “mother” in modern Hebrew.
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### *The Bottom Line*
**Reading** **Spelling** **Source** **Meaning**
**MT Today** **כָּאֲרִי** Masoretic vowel pointing “like a lion” — broken grammar
**DSS Original** **כראו** 5/6HevPs, 50 AD “they pierced” — Aramaic
**Hebrew כרה** **כרו** Standard Hebrew “they dug” — wrong letters, wrong sense
*The scroll evidence, the ancient versions, and the grammar all point one way:*
*Psalm 22:16 originally read כראו ידי ורגלי — “they pierced my hands and my feet.”*
*One letter — ו→י — turned a prophecy of Messiah’s crucifixion into a zoology lesson about lions.*
*The vav doesn’t belong. The pierced hands do.*
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_For reference: Photo of 5/6HevPs line 11, column B, shows כארו clearly. LXX, Peshitta, and Vulgate confirm the reading predates Christianity. The Masoretic change postdates it._
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