I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me.
Parallel translations
- WEB I can count all of my bones. They look and stare at me.
- KJV I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.
- BSB I can count all my bones; they stare and gloat over me.
- NASB I can count all my bones. They look, they stare at me;
- NLT I can count all my bones. My enemies stare at me and gloat.
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
The sufferer is so wasted by anguish that his bones are visible, while enemies gloat over him. It depicts profound humiliation and exposure.
Overview
In this psalm of lament David describes extreme physical and emotional distress, surrounded by hostile onlookers who stare at his suffering rather than show compassion. The New Testament presents Psalm 22 as a vivid foreshadowing of the crucifixion, where Christ was stripped, exposed, and mocked by spectators. The verse reminds us that the Savior entered fully into human shame and helplessness on our behalf.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Luke 23:35The people stood watching. The rulers with them also scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others. Let him save himself, if this is the Christ of God, his chosen one!”
- Job 33:21His flesh is so consumed away, that it can’t be seen. His bones that were not seen stick out.
- Luke 23:27A great multitude of the people followed him, including women who also mourned and lamented him.
- Matt 27:39–41Those who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads,
- Isa 52:14Just as many were astonished at you (his appearance was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men),
- Mark 15:29–32Those who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads, and saying, “Ha! You who destroy the temple, and build it in three days,
- Ps 102:3–5For my days consume away like smoke. My bones are burned as a torch.
- Matt 27:36and they sat and watched him there.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 22:17 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.