Psalms 22:12

“They that sit in the gate speak against me, etc.] The princes, magistrates, and judges, who sat in the gates of cities, heard and tried causes, and executed judgment there; the elders of the city; (see <080401>Ruth 4:1 <250514>Lamentations 5:14 <380816>Zechariah 8:16); the civil rulers among the Jews are meant; and also their ecclesiastical ones, the Scribes and Pharisees that sat in Moses’s seat; though some think men of lower characters are designed, idle persons that saunter about, and sit in gateways, and corners of streets, and in marketplaces; spending their time, like the Athenians, in hearing and telling of news, and prating about this and the other person, and their affairs; but the…”

“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.”

“Bulls - Wicked and violent, and potent enemies; for such are so called, Eze 39:18; Amo 4:1. Of Bashan - As the cattle there bred were, and therefore fierce and furious. Psalms 22:14”

“22:12-18 The psalmist returns to expressing his anguish and suffering (see 22:1-2, 6-8). His trouble comes from human beings who act like beasts. 22:12 Bashan, a region known for its herds and vegetation, produced strong bulls (68:30).”

“Many: Psa 68:30; Jer 50:11 strong: Deu 32:14, Deu 32:15; Isa 34:7; Eze 39:18; Amo 4:1-3; Mat 27:1; Act 4:27 Psalms 22:13”

“(Heb.: 22:13-14)Looking back upon his relationship to God, which has existed from the earliest times, the sufferer has become somewhat more calm, and is ready, in Psa 22:13, to describe his outward and inner life, and thus to unburden his heart. Here he calls his enemies פּרים, bullocks, and in fact אבּירי בּשׁן (cf. Psa 50:13 with Deu 32:14), strong ones of Bashan, the land rich in luxuriant oak forests and fat pastures (בשׁן = buthne, which in the Beduin dialect means rich, stoneless meadow-land, vid., Job S. 509f.; tr. ii. pp. 399f.) north of Jabbok extending as far as to the borders of Hermon, the land of Og and afterwards of Manasseh ( Num 30:1). They are so called on account of their…”