Save me from the lion’s mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.
Parallel translations
- WEB Save me from the lion’s mouth! Yes, from the horns of the wild oxen, you have answered me.
- BSB Save me from the mouth of the lion; at the horns of the wild oxen You have answered me!
- NKJV Save Me from the lion’s mouth And from the horns of the wild oxen! You have answered Me.
- NASB Save me from the lion’s mouth; From the horns of the wild oxen You answer me.
- NLT Snatch me from the lion’s jaws and from the horns of these wild oxen.
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 prayer for rescue from lion and wild oxen suddenly turns to confidence: 'you have answered me.' Faith breaks through into assurance of being heard.
Overview
David completes his catalog of fierce foes with the lion's mouth and the horns of wild oxen, images of overwhelming danger. Remarkably the verse ends with a note of answered prayer, marking the turning point of the psalm from lament to praise. This shift foreshadows the movement from the cross to the vindication and resurrection of Christ, who was heard by the Father and raised in triumph.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- 2 Tim 4:17Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.
- 1 Pet 5:8Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
- John 14:30Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.
- 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,
- Num 23:22God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn.
- John 8:59Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
- 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.
- Acts 5:30–32The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.
- Deut 33:17His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.
- Job 39:9–10Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib?
- Luke 22:53When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 22:21 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.