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NASB | Psalm 22:16 For dogs have surrounded me; A band of evildoers has encompassed me; They pierced my hands and my feet. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Psalm 22:16 For [a pack of] dogs have surrounded me; A gang of evildoers has encircled me, They pierced my hands and my feet. [Is 53:7; John 19:37] |
Subject: Does Psalms 22 stand up to the skeptics? |
Bible Note: Part ONE: She said they said: 4. In most of the other translations, it is unclear who does the piercing--the dogs or evil men who have the speaker encircled. If dogs, then biting would have done it. If men, then with what? Swords, knives, spears? He said: 4. It is pretty obvious that David was not writing about literal dogs, but that the term is a description for his pursuers. Go tell your friends what a metaphor is. She said: You have made an assumption. Of course, my friends know David was using metaphor and simile. But then, I, too, made an assumption. I assumed that it was understood that most people who read the Psalms know them to be metaphorical. It was a given, self-evident, axiomatic—but evidently not. I plan to be more careful in the future, so condescendence (acting with an air of superiority) might be avoided. She said they said: 5. It seems apparent that the speaker is on the ground, either prone or at best, in a crouching defensive position. Nothing suggests that the speaker is up a tree, on a cross, etc He said: 5. Irrelevant to it being prophetic. Psalms are POETRY, and poetry employs figures of speech, metaphor, and other literary techniques. Saying that "you lay me in the dust of death" does not necessarily mean that he was laid in literal dust. Did your opponents in this debate ever take high-school English. Knowing our educational system as an insider, I am afraid that they just may have... She said: What is now irrelevant is that the friends did “not” know about metaphor. Clearly that was my faulty assumption that the reader of these questions would understand. As for my opponents ever taking “high-school” English, they are wondering why you chose to place a hyphen between high and school. Also, they are curious as to why, when you apparently have asked a question, you chose not to use a question mark at the end of the sentence. Finally, they observe that you end your last sentence with three periods, when four are necessary for proper grammar. She said they said: 6. There is no "hammer and nail" connection. He said: 6. Not necessary for it to be a prophecy. Many prophetic Psalms, including some Messianic ones, describe a current situtaion (in this case, that of David) as well as have a future implication as well. Again, this is a poetic prophecy, not a play-by-play to the last detail of all that is going to happen on the day it predicts. She said: Then, it is perfectly correct that a prophecy be supported by a sentence, whether or not it’s in or out of context? And “implication” is acceptable? Of course, implication is a far cry from being definitive. In fact, if a prophecy is to be supported, or proved, by implication only, then no wonder prophecies are controversial. No wonder it takes a biblical scholar, an expert, a spirit-laden reader to really understand the import of a sentence or idea, no matter the context. We lay believers have little chance, since we must depend on the interpretative abilities of others. (By the way, my assumption is that “situataion” is a typo) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- She said they said: 7. The piercing could have been caused by bites of the various metaphors and similes of animals. He said: 7. I hope someone else wrote this sentence, because the sentence itself makes no sense. Bitten by metaphors? Okay... She said: No, that “someone” was I, guilty as charged. Although I do agree it is written awkwardly, it's not a far intellectual reach to understand the premise, i.e., that if the animals are metaphors, then their bites would be metaphorical, also. (Just wonder if your question couldn’t have been asked in ten other, kinder ways, without the condescending, three-period-instead-four “Okay…” Part one |