what did the first rabbinic bible have in psalm 22:16
AI Overview
The first printed Rabbinic Bible (
Mikraot Gedolot, printed by Daniel Bomberg in Venice in 1517) featured the Masoretic Text in
Psalm 22:16, which read
"ka'ari" (כארי), meaning
"like a lion" (translating to "Like a lion, my hands and my feet" or "They bound my hands and feet like a lion"). [
1,
2,
3]
This famously caused a historical dispute. A Jewish proofreader working for the Christian printer Bomberg originally allowed the Hebrew text to be printed with the variant
"ka'aru" (כארו), meaning
"they pierced/dug". However, he later forced Bomberg to change the plate back to "like a lion," declaring that no faithful Jew would purchase a Bible containing the Christian-leaning "pierced" reading. [
1]
You can read more about the historical debate over this verse in the
BYU Studies Article on Psalm 22:16. [
1,
2]
3 sites
- A Few Remarks on the Problem of Psalm 22:16
Sep 28, 2015 — Psalm 22: An Overview. Psalm 22 is a lament psalm in three sections; the first two describe the miserable situation the psalmist f...
Is That in the Bible?
- In Psalm 22:16, where did the phrase "they pierced my hands and ...
Jan 7, 2026 — Ka'aru doesn't mean anything, but it could be a misspelling of karu (כרו without the extra aleph), which means "dug". Neither of t...
Reddit·r/AcademicBiblical
- The Psalm 22:16 Controversy - BYU Studies
The Jewish translators of the Greek Septuagint in Alexandria, Egypt, about 200 BC surely had no idea what textual arguments they w...
BYU Studies
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