The Meaning of Psalms 22:17 Explained

Psalms 22:17

KJV: I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.

YLT: I count all my bones -- they look expectingly, They look upon me,

Darby: I may count all my bones. They look, they stare upon me;

ASV: I may count all my bones; They look and stare upon me.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

I may tell  all my bones:  they look  [and] stare  upon me. 

What does Psalms 22:17 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 22:16-31 - The Testimony Of The Delivered
In the middle of Psalms 22:21 there is a remarkable change from the plaintive to the triumphant: supplication and entreaty break out into exultation; hope saves the broken harp from the hands of despair, restrings it, and extracts from it strains to which angels, on their way home to God, are constrained to listen.
He who had said, Thou hearest not, Psalms 22:2, confesses that all the while God has been hearing and helping. Now Jesus will join the saints in psalms of praise. See John 17:26 (will make it known) and Hebrews 2:12. Man may abhor a worm, but God uses worms to thresh mountains, Isaiah 41:14-15.
In the closing verses there is a sure forecast of the effects of the death on the Cross not only upon the Jews, but also upon the ends of the earth, that is, the Gentiles. The usurper shall be dethroned, Psalms 22:28; resurrection shall be accomplished, Psalms 22:29; and a spiritual seed shall satisfy the Redeemer's travail, Psalms 22:30. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 22

1  David complains in great discouragement
9  He prays in great distress
23  He praises God

What do the individual words in Psalms 22:17 mean?

I can count all My bones They look [and] stare at Me
אֲסַפֵּ֥ר כָּל־ עַצְמוֹתָ֑י הֵ֥מָּה יַ֝בִּ֗יטוּ יִרְאוּ־ בִֽי

אֲסַפֵּ֥ר  I  can  count 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Imperfect, first person common singular
Root: סָפַר 
Sense: to count, recount, relate.
עַצְמוֹתָ֑י  My  bones 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural construct, first person common singular
Root: עֶצֶם 
Sense: bone, essence, substance.
יַ֝בִּ֗יטוּ  look 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: נָבַט  
Sense: to look, regard.
יִרְאוּ־  [and]  stare 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: רָאָה 
Sense: to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider.
בִֽי  at  Me 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular