GOD EXAMINEDPsalm 22 in Every Language תְּהִלִּים כ״ב · כָּאֲרוּ יָדַי
The "pierced" psalm · the proof it is pre-Christ · and what it said in each tongue
⚡ In one breath
Psalm 22 describes a crucifixion — pierced hands and feet, mockers wagging their heads, bones out of joint, soldiers casting lots for the clothing — written 500 years before crucifixion was invented. It is dated before Christ by the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Greek Septuagint, and the "pierced" reading is the majority ancient reading across Hebrew, Greek, Syriac and Latin — the later Hebrew "like a lion" is the outlier.
🔑The proof — Psalm 22 is pre-Christ
The short version; the full 11-step proof is linked below.
- Dated pre-Christ. 4QPsf (Qumran, found 1952) carries Psalm 22 in a hand of ~50 BCE; the Nahal Hever Psalms scroll (~50 CE) carries v.16 with the verb כארו "pierced/dug." The Greek Septuagint (~2nd c. BCE) reads ὤρυξαν "they dug/pierced." All three predate or bracket Christ.
- It reads like an eyewitness of the cross. v.1 "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Jesus' cry); v.7–8 mockers wag their heads; v.14 bones out of joint; v.16 pierced hands & feet; v.18 "they divide my garments… cast lots" — enacted at Golgotha (John 19:24). It even paints Christ as the crimson worm (תּוֹלַעַת, v.6) — see the Psalm 22 crucifixion study.
- Transmission ~99.7%. Across ~1,000 years the psalm agrees ~99.7% word-for-word; the entire "pierced vs lion" dispute is one Hebrew letter (waw vs yod).
Go deeper The full 11-step proof & witness map · the earliest Psalm 22 fragments (images + transcriptions) · the crucifixion portrait study.
🗣️What Psalm 22:16 said — language by language
The crux: "they pierced my hands and my feet." Real text where it could be sourced; honest notes where it couldn't.
Hebrewthe original — and its one-letter forkOriginal
Dead Sea Scrolls — Nahal Hever (~50 CE), the earliest Hebrew of v.16
כָּאֲרוּ יָדַי וְרַגְלָי
kāʾărû yāday wə-raglāy
"they pierced / dug my hands and my feet" — a verb, ending in waw (ו).
Masoretic (medieval, ~925–1008 CE)
כָּאֲרי יָדַי וְרַגְלָי
kā-ʾărî yāday wə-raglāy
"like a lion, my hands and my feet" — ending in yod (י); grammatically broken (no verb).
Greek — Septuagint (Psalm 21:17)pre-Christian Jewish translationIndependent
Ps 21:17 [=22:16]
ὤρυξαν χεῖράς μου καὶ πόδας
ōryxan cheiras mou kai podas
"they dug / bored through my hands and feet." — agrees with the Dead Sea verb, against the medieval "like a lion."
Syriac — Peshittatranslated from the HebrewIndependent*
Ps 22:16 (script not sourced — reading only)
…bazʿū … (root bz‘, "to pierce / bore through")
"…they pierced my hands and my feet." — agrees with the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Greek.
Latin — Vulgatetwo versions, which split hereInd. / daughter
Gallican Psalter (from the Greek) — Ps 21:17
foderunt manus meas et pedes meos
"they pierced / dug my hands and my feet" — foderunt = Greek ὤρυξαν (a daughter of the Greek).
iuxta Hebraeos (Jerome, from the Hebrew) — Ps 22:17
vinxerunt manus meas et pedes meos
"they bound my hands and my feet" (later editions: fixerunt, "fastened"). — the honest outlier (see note).
🌍…and onward across three continents (daughters of the Greek)
These descend from the Septuagint, so they carry its "pierced/dug" reading — the same reading spreading across the world.
| Language | From | Translated | Region (continent) | Carries at 22:16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old Latin (Vetus Latina) | Greek | 2nd–3rd c. CE | Rome · Carthage (Eur/Afr) | "they pierced/dug" |
| Coptic (Sahidic/Bohairic) | Greek | 3rd–4th c. CE | Egypt (Africa) | "they pierced/dug" |
| Ethiopic (Geʿez) | Greek | 4th–6th c. CE | Aksum (Africa) | "they pierced/dug" |
| Armenian | Greek (+Syriac) | 5th c. CE | Armenia (Asia) | "they pierced/dug" |
| Georgian | Armenian/Greek | 5th c. CE | Georgia (Asia) | "they pierced/dug" |
| Old Church Slavonic | Greek | 9th–10th c. CE | Slavic lands (Europe) | "they pierced/dug" |
| Arabic | Greek/Syriac/Hebrew | 9th–10th c. CE | Mid-East · N. Africa | "they pierced/dug" |
The honest scorecard on "pierced"
"Pierced / dug" is the majority ancient reading: the Dead Sea Nahal Hever scroll (Hebrew, ~50 CE), the Greek Septuagint (~2nd c. BCE), the Syriac Peshitta, the Latin Gallican Psalter, and every daughter version all carry it. The isolated outliers are the medieval Masoretic "like a lion" (a one-letter difference, waw vs yod, in a clause that then has no verb) and — honestly — Jerome's from-Hebrew Latin "bound." So the fair claim is not "every version says pierced," but: "pierced" is the oldest and most widely attested reading, and it is demonstrably pre-Christian (Greek + Dead Sea), so it was never a Christian invention. One further caution: the Nahal Hever scribe also misspelled "my hands," a reminder to hold the reading firmly but not triumphally.
Psalm 22 in Every Language · GodExamined.com
Text sources: Sefaria (Hebrew), Elpenor (LXX), Vulgate (biblehub), Peshitta studies; variant data per "They have pierced my hands and my feet" (Wikipedia) & TorahResource. Manuscript dates per DJD & standard references. Syriac script not reproduced (reading given honestly). Companion: the Verifying-the-Chapters proof & the Psalm 22 fragments study. Local study document.
Text sources: Sefaria (Hebrew), Elpenor (LXX), Vulgate (biblehub), Peshitta studies; variant data per "They have pierced my hands and my feet" (Wikipedia) & TorahResource. Manuscript dates per DJD & standard references. Syriac script not reproduced (reading given honestly). Companion: the Verifying-the-Chapters proof & the Psalm 22 fragments study. Local study document.