Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Steve Miller" <smille10 AT sbcglobal.net>]

> From: f kenneth greifer Sent: Saturday, December 05, 2009 10:15 PM
> To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: [b-hebrew] prosthetic aleph in Psalm 22:17
> 
> 
> Steve,
> 
> I think in Psalm 22 the writer first said he is a worm and not a man.
> Worms don't have hands, feet, or bones. Later he might have said "dogs
> have surrounded me , companies of evildoers have surrounded me like a
> lion, my hands and my feet I will count, all of my bones they will see."
> As a lion, he has hands, feet, and bones. This possibility is a little
> different and would require the writer to be a little witty. I have heard
> that people thousands of years ago also had the ability to be witty and
> not just modern people, so maybe this quote is an example of this. Of
> course, this is a controversial idea to some people who think ancient
> people only wrote simple sentences like me.
> 
> 
> Kenneth Greifer
>
[Steve Miller] Hi Kenneth,
I think the meaning of "I am a worm and not a person" is to describe how he
is being put to shame, in contrast to our fathers, who trusted in the Lord
and were not put to shame. They even took away his clothing. A worm is the
lowest form of animal life.

The way you have translated it, I think it makes more sense to understand
"like a lion" to modify "surrounded" and not "me". They surrounded me like a
lion would. I don't think it could mean that I am like a lion.

I think moving "my hands and my feet" to next verse to be the object of
asapar is smart. Asapar in the piel, like it is here, does not mean "count".
It means "retell" or "expound". I don't think, "I expound my hands and feet"
(or "I count my hands and feet") makes sense, but it could if it refers to
some future event that hasn't been fulfilled yet, and would make sense when
we see it fulfilled. "All of my bones they will see" would mean that he
would be cut open in such a way so that all his bones are visible.

The Bible is very witty with a purpose: to convey a deeper mystery, to hide
something until the appointed time. I think this part of the Psalm is witty.


Sincerely,
-Steve Miller
Detroit
www.voiceInWilderness.info
They shall come, and they shall declare
to a people to be born,
reveal His righteousness.
This deed which the Lord has done
they'll retell to everyone
that He may all peoples bless. (Psalm 22:31)