SwedishChef,
If you choose not to see the strong similarities between what is written in Psalm 22 and Jesus' execution, there's nothing I can do about it.
I never said I didn't see similarities. There are clear similarities: The gospel writers invented them to make the scripture sound like a prophecy. Unfortunately, the scripture never claims to be a prophecy, nor does it ever refer to the messiah. It's a wonder you don't also put faith in the quatrains of Nostradomus or the Bible Code if you believe these to be prophecies.
Just in case you didn't know, Rem. Crucifixion ivolved nailing one's hands and feet to a cross. Why did David specifically mention his hands and feet?
Who knows? Maybe because dogs bite hands and feet? How doe we even know that 'feet' are not being used in the euphamistic sense (referring to the genitals) like in other scriptures? The truth is that the passage bears absolutely no resemblance to a crucifixion. The only way the imagery of the crucifixion is imagined is when it is forced into the interpretation by reverse engineering a 'prophecy'.
Here is some good information about this scripture:
http://www.infidels.org/library/magazines/tsr/1996/1/1unpro96.html
Absurdity in the claim that the reference to pierced hands and feet in this psalm was a prophecy about Jesus becomes even more evident when the obscurity of the statement is considered. A footnote in many reference Bibles will point out that use of the word *pierce* in Psalm 22:16 follows the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate versions but that the original word is pointed in the Hebrew Masoretic text to read *lion*, and despite the loss of an important prophecy-fulfillment text some English translations recognize the uncertainty of the text. The REB and NEB, for example, render the statement like this: "Hounds are all about me; a band of ruffians rings me round, and they have bound me hand and foot." The GNB says, "A gang of evil men is around me; like a pack of dogs they close in on me; they tear at my hands and feet." This translation has a footnote to point out that the last statement in the Hebrew reads, "Like a lion, they tear at my hands and feet." Some reference Bibles also have footnotes to indicate that the latter statement may mean, "They tie my hands and feet," as the REB and NEB actually translate it.
So, really, there is no clear allusion to the crucifixion here.
Here is another verse which mentions piercing.
Zechariah 12:10 "And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn."
I like that! Any scripture that has the word 'pierced' in it all of a sudden turns into a prophecy about the coming messiah. First off, there is no indication within the scripture that this is a messianic prophecy. It is quite clear from the context of this scripture that it is talking about a contemporary event. Observe the verses leading up to part you quoted:
This is the word of the LORD concerning Israel. The LORD , who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the spirit of man within him, declares: 2
"I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. 3 On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves. 4 On that day I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness," declares the LORD . "I will keep a watchful eye over the house of Judah, but I will blind all the horses of the nations. 5
Then the leaders of Judah will say in their hearts, 'The people of Jerusalem are strong, because the LORD Almighty is their God.'
6 "On that day I will make the leaders of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will consume right and left all the surrounding peoples, but Jerusalem will remain intact in her place. 7 "The LORD will save the dwellings of Judah first, so that the honor of the house of David and of Jerusalem's inhabitants may not be greater than that of Judah. 8 On that day the LORD will shield those who live in Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the Angel of the LORD going before them. 9
On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem.
If this chapter is to be taken as prophecy, then how does this apply. The Roman Empire certainly wasn't destroyed at the time of the crucifixion. If these parts of the chapter are not to be taken literally or as messianic prophecy, why should the two verses that immediately follow? Not once is there any declaration within the chapter that this scripture has anything to do with the messiah or the future time of the messiah. Could you kindly point out where that made clear through the scriptures? You cannot, because this messianic prophecy is nothing more than wishful thinking.
Instead of copying and pasting your favorite bible 'scholars', perhaps you should spend more time reading context.
rem
