Psalms 22 · Verse 12

Psalms 22:12

Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
Psalms 22:12, King James Version

Psalms 22:12 in other translations

BSBMany bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
WEBMany bulls have surrounded me. Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.
ASVMany bulls have compassed me; Strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
YLTMany bulls have surrounded me, Mighty ones of Bashan have compassed me,
DARBYMany bulls have encompassed me; Bashan's strong ones have beset me round.
BBEA great herd of oxen is round me: I am shut in by the strong oxen of Bashan.
WebsterMany bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.

What does Psalms 22:12 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 22:12-13
12-13. His enemies, with the vigor of bulls and rapacity of lions, surround him, eagerly seeking his ruin. The force of both figures is greater without the use of any particle denoting comparison.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 12 Many bulls have compassed me - The bull is the emblem of brutal strength, that gores and tramples down all before it. Such was Absalom, Ahithophel, and others, who rose up in rebellion against David; and such were the Jewish rulers who conspired against Christ. Strong bulls of Bashan - Bashan was a district beyond Jordan, very fertile, where they were accustomed to fatten cattle, which became, in consequence of the excellent pasture, the largest, as well as the fattest, in the country. See Calmet. All in whose hands were the chief power and influence became David's enemies; for Absalom had stolen away the hearts of all Israel. Against Christ, the chiefs both of Jews and Gentiles were united.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Psalms 22:11-21

In these verses we have Christ suffering, and Christ praying; by which we are directed to look for crosses, and to look up to God under them. The very manner of Christ's death is described, though not in use among the Jews. They pierced his hands and his feet, which were nailed to the accursed tree, and his whole body was left so to hang as to suffer the most severe pain and torture. His natural force failed, being…

Read the full comment on Psalms 22:11-21 →

Psalms 22:12 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

סְ֭בָבוּנִיSe.va.vu.nithey have surrounded meH5437
פָּרִ֣יםpa.RimbullsH6499
רַבִּ֑יםra.BimmanyH7227
אַבִּירֵ֖י'a.bi.Reimighty [bulls] ofH47
בָשָׁ֣ןva.ShanBashanH1316
כִּתְּרֽוּנִי\׃ki.te.Ru.nithey have encircled meH3803

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Psalms 22:12

  • Amos 4:1-3

    Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink. The Lord God hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks. And ye shall go out at the breaches, every cow at that which is before her; and ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the Lord.

  • Acts 4:27

    For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,

  • Psalms 68:30

    Rebuke the company of spearmen, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the people, till every one submit himself with pieces of silver: scatter thou the people that delight in war.

  • Matthew 27:1

    When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death:

  • Deuteronomy 32:14-15

    Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape. But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

  • Ezekiel 39:18

    Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.

  • Jeremiah 50:11

    Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls;

  • Isaiah 34:7

    And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Many.
68:30; Jer 50:11
strong.
De 32:14,15; Isa 34:7; Eze 39:18; Am 4:1-3; Mt 27:1; Ac 4:27

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Psalms 22:11

    Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.

  • Psalms 22:12

    Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.

  • Psalms 22:13

    They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.

Read all of Psalms 22

Psalms 22:12 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Hanme rodeado muchos toros; fuertes toros de Basán me han cercado.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Ne te tiens pas loin de moi, car la détresse est proche, car il n’y a personne qui secoure.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Viele Farren haben mich umgeben, Stiere von Basan mich umringt;