The oldest copy of Psalm 22 ever found says "they dug my hands and feet." One tiny letter tells the story.

Psalm 22 describes a man whose hands and feet are pierced. In most printed Hebrew Bibles today, the key word reads "like a lion," which leaves the sentence with no verb. But the Greek translation made by Jewish scholars before Christ reads "they dug." And the oldest Hebrew copy of the psalm ever found, from a cave near the Dead Sea, reads "they dug" too. The difference is a single letter, and the two letters look almost the same.

THE SHORT VERSION
1

Psalm 22:16 in most Hebrew Bibles today reads "like a lion my hands and feet".

2

The Greek translation from before Christ reads "they dug".

3

The oldest Hebrew copy ever found reads "they dug" as well. One letter makes the difference.

The verse

Around 1000 BC, David wrote the psalm Jesus quoted from the cross. Halfway through, the man in the psalm is surrounded:

"For many dogs have encompassed me; the council of the malignant hath besieged me. They have dug my hands and feet."

Psalm 21:17 (22:16 in most Bibles)

Hands and feet, dug through. That is what nails do.

Like a lion

Open most printed Hebrew Bibles today, and that verse reads differently. The key word is ka'ari, which means "like a lion."

That leaves the sentence as: the council of the malignant has besieged me, like a lion my hands and my feet. There's no verb. Nothing happens to the hands and feet at all.

They dug

Long before Jesus was born, Jewish scholars translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek. That translation, the Septuagint, was made in the centuries before Christ. At this verse, it reads:

"ōryxan cheiras mou kai podas." They dug my hands and my feet.

The Greek translators were reading a Hebrew copy older than any we had. And they read a verb.

One letter

Here is the difference, written in Hebrew:

TWO ENDINGS, ONE LETTER APART
"Like a lion" is ka'ari, ending in the letter yod. In Hebrew, כארי "They dug" is ka'aru, ending in the letter vav. In Hebrew, כארו

Yod is a small hook. Vav is the same hook with a longer stroke down. Written by hand, in ink, on animal skin, the two are easy to confuse.

The scroll

Then the caves by the Dead Sea gave up their scrolls. From a cave at Nahal Hever came a fragment of the Psalms, copied around AD 50 to 68. It is the oldest surviving copy of this verse in Hebrew.

It reads ka'aru. They dug.

The oldest Hebrew copy and the oldest translation agree. David wrote that they would dig through his hands and feet.

What happened

Thomas wouldn't believe until he saw "in his hands the print of the nails." Jesus answered, "Put in thy finger hither, and see my hands" (John 20:25 and 27). To the others he said, "See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself" (Luke 24:39).

Two verses later in the same psalm comes, "They parted my garments amongst them; and upon my vesture they cast lots" (Psalm 21:19). At the cross, the soldiers did exactly that (Matthew 27:35).

Why this is a big deal

The most direct prophecy of the nails in the whole Bible hangs on one letter. And the oldest witnesses we have, a Greek translation from before Christ and a Hebrew scroll from the first century, both read it the same way Christians always have.

A thousand years before the cross, David wrote that they would dig through the Messiah's hands and feet. The oldest copy says so.

Keep exploring

Prophecies David described the crucifixion 1,000 years before it happened. Understanding the Bible In 1947, shepherds found Bible scrolls a thousand years older than any copy anyone had. They matched. Archaeology Isaiah foretold the crucifixion. We have a copy from 125 BC that matches ours almost letter perfect. Archaeology Archaeologists found the heel bone of a man crucified in Jesus' time, with the iron nail still through it.
Check it yourself: sources
  1. Psalm 21:17 and 21:19 (22:16 and 22:18 in most Bibles), Douay-Rheims Bible. Link
  2. The Septuagint, Psalm 21:17, "ōryxan cheiras mou kai podas".
  3. The Nahal Hever Psalms scroll (5/6HevPs), fragment 11, around AD 50 to 68. Link
  4. John 20:25 and 20:27, Luke 24:39 and Matthew 27:35, Douay-Rheims Bible.

Bible text: Douay-Rheims. Last updated 18 October 2026.