The Meaning of Psalms 22:21 Explained

Psalms 22:21

KJV: Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.

YLT: Save me from the mouth of a lion: -- And -- from the horns of the high places Thou hast answered me!

Darby: Save me from the lion's mouth. Yea, from the horns of the buffaloes hast thou answered me.

ASV: Save me from the lion's mouth; Yea, from the horns of the wild-oxen thou hast answered me.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Save  me from the lion's  mouth:  for thou hast heard  me from the horns  of the unicorns. 

What does Psalms 22:21 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 22:21 mean?

Save Me from the mouth lion's and from the horns of the wild oxen You have answered Me
ה֭וֹשִׁיעֵנִי מִפִּ֣י אַרְיֵ֑ה וּמִקַּרְנֵ֖י רֵמִ֣ים עֲנִיתָֽנִי

ה֭וֹשִׁיעֵנִי  Save  Me 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperative, masculine singular, first person common singular
Root: יָשַׁע 
Sense: to save, be saved, be delivered.
מִפִּ֣י  from  the  mouth 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: פֶּה  
Sense: mouth.
אַרְיֵ֑ה  lion's 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: אֲרִי 
Sense: lion.
וּמִקַּרְנֵ֖י  and  from  the  horns 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-m, Noun, fdc
Root: קֶרֶן 
Sense: horn.
רֵמִ֣ים  of  the  wild  oxen 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: רְאֵם  
Sense: probably the great aurochs or wild bulls which are now extinct.
עֲנִיתָֽנִי  You  have  answered  Me 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, second person masculine singular, first person common singular
Root: לְעַנּׄות 
Sense: to answer, respond, testify, speak, shout.