Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Dexter Garnier <dgarnier AT sohncom.org>]

I'm a lurker since the mid '90's, a retired mailman with no more than a
reading knowledge of BH, but I'm wondering if anyone who has read the
following article could comment on its merits and/or problems:

JBL VOLUME 123, No. 4 Winter 2004, pp 637­648
"Psalm 22:17: Circling around the Problem Again"
KRISTIN M. SWENSON

It's available for SBL members at:

http://www.sbl-site.org/publications/publications_journals_jbl.aspx?

Url for specific article (after login) at:

http://www.sbl-site.org/Publications/JBL/JBL1234.pdf

Here is a snippet of the article (hope including this quote is ok) which
follows a brief introduction:

"An important criterion for any interpretation is that it make sense, a
point that David Kimhchi stressed in the twelfth century and that Brent
Strawn echoed in the twenty-first. I propose another solution to the problem
of Ps 22:17, a reading that accepts the consonantal text of the MT but
simply divides the verse differently. The result is a sensible text that
fits with the structure of its greater context, is in agreement with the
dominant imagery (portrayed in metaphor and simile), and sustains the
prevalent tone of this first part of Ps 22. Following a brief review first
of earlier proposals that were complicated by the association of Ps 22 with
Jesus¹ crucifixion, and then of the several recent attempts to solve the
problem of Ps 22:17, I proffer my interpretation. I explain both why my
reading seems to be a good one and how it addresses the problems of similar
interpretations."

She ultimately arrives at this translation:

"Dogs surround me, a pack of wicked ones.
Like a lion, they circumscribe [HIQ.IPU.NI (sic?)] my hands and feet."

Apologies if this approach/article has already been discussed and I missed
it.

Back to lurking,
Dexter Garnier