Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
Parallel translations
- WEB Many bulls have surrounded me. Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.
- BSB Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
- NKJV Many bulls have surrounded Me; Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me.
- NASB Many bulls have surrounded me; Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.
- NLT My enemies surround me like a herd of bulls; fierce bulls of Bashan have hemmed me in!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Strong enemies surround him like the powerful bulls of Bashan. He is encircled by fierce and threatening foes.
Overview
The sufferer describes his enemies as 'strong bulls of Bashan,' a region known for its robust cattle, picturing menacing, aggressive opponents. The animal imagery conveys the brutal power arrayed against him. This portrait of encircling enemies anticipates the hostile forces that surrounded Christ in his suffering.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Amos 4:1–3Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink.
- Acts 4:27For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
- Ps 68:30Rebuke the company of spearmen, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the people, till every one submit himself with pieces of silver: scatter thou the people that delight in war.
- Matt 27:1When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death:
- Ezek 39:18Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
- Deut 32:14–15Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.
- Jer 50:11Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls;
- Isa 34:7And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 22:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.