He protects all his bones; not one of them will be broken.
Parallel translations
- WEB He protects all of his bones. Not one of them is broken.
- KJV He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.
- NKJV He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken.
- NASB He protects all his bones, Not one of them is broken.
- NLT For the Lord protects the bones of the righteous; not one of them is broken!
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
God protects all the bones of the righteous so that not one is broken.
Overview
David assures that God carefully guards his people, picturing complete protection. The New Testament applies 'not one of them is broken' to Christ on the cross, whose legs were not broken (John 19:36). Thus this verse points beyond David to the protected body of the Lord himself.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- John 19:36Now these things happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of His bones will be broken.”
- Ps 35:10All my bones will exclaim, “Who is like You, O LORD, who delivers the afflicted from the aggressor, the poor and needy from the robber?”
- Ps 91:12They will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
- Dan 6:22–24My God sent His angel and shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, for I was found innocent in His sight, and I have done no wrong against you, O king.”
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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 34:20 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
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