I have a good question

[Lord Herdsetk]

How come we often translate certain verses from the Old Testament into prophecies concerning the New Testament?

I know that sounds kind of obvious if you're a Christian, but let me give it some context.

Take Pslams 22 for example. I read this on its own, so that may explain a lot.....but here we go

David is speaking or writing down about being or someone being crucified and mocked. How do we interpret this as him prophesying? Someone give me some context here about why he would be talking about such things seemingly out of nowhere.

Also, it does mention something about the strength of a unicorn. At first i couldn't help but smirk and picture a unicorn shooting rainbows out at the metaphorical lion, but I know the term unicorn used here is supposed to be referring to some kind of ox. If someone could please explain the ox/cattle's significance in David's time, please do so. It's not as important as the first question, but it would help me not think of the other unicorn when i read the scripture

 

[Sketcher]

How come we often translate certain verses from the Old Testament into prophecies concerning the New Testament?

I know that sounds kind of obvious if you're a Christian, but let me give it some context.

Take Pslams 22 for example. I read this on its own, so that may explain a lot.....but here we go

David is speaking or writing down about being or someone being crucified and mocked. How do we interpret this as him prophesying? Someone give me some context here about why he would be talking about such things seemingly out of nowhere.

That wasn't a slam-dunk prophesy so much as Jesus, a Jew, quoting Scripture in a manner common to Jews who suffered. Dr. Michael Brown, a Jewish Christian, expounds on this further in his works.

“Actually, Psalm 22 is the prayer of a righteous sufferer, brought down to the jaws of death and then rescued and raised up by God in answer to prayer, a glorious testimony to be recounted through the ages. As such, it applies powerfully to Jesus the Messiah, the ideal righteous sufferer, surrounded by hostile crowds, beaten, mocked, crucified, and seemingly abandoned by man and God, but delivered from death itself and raised from the dead by the power of God, a story now celebrated around the globe. That’s why he quoted words from this psalm with reference to himself when he hung on the cross. How strikingly they apply to him! What is also interesting is that some of the great Rabbinic commentators – including Rashi – interpreted the psalm as a prophecy of Israel’s future suffering and exile, not as the story of David’s past suffering. Not only so, but a famous Rabbinic midrash composed about 1200 years ago said that David spoke of the Messiah’s sufferings in Psalm 22. We can therefore say with confidence that the application of this psalm to the death and resurrection of the Messiah is in keeping with the clear meaning of the text.” (See Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus, vol. 3, pp. 117-122.)​

Also, it does mention something about the strength of a unicorn. At first i couldn't help but smirk and picture a unicorn shooting rainbows out at the metaphorical lion, but I know the term unicorn used here is supposed to be referring to some kind of ox. If someone could please explain the ox/cattle's significance in David's time, please do so. It's not as important as the first question, but it would help me not think of the other unicorn when i read the scripture

Please tell me what verse and translation you were using. I don't recall any verses about unicorns.

 

[Lord Herdsetk]

It was in the KJV, verse 21. I accidentally posted this in the teen forum first (which i kindly received a warning for) and clarified it there, I forgot to come back here and fix that as well. The NIV does show that it David was talking about a type of one horned oxen.

As for how it relates to Christ, that's very interesting. Prophesy or no, psalms 22 is scarily accurate of Jesus's death (and suffering). The important thing is that it was written well before Christ's time.

I'll be honest with everyone here, I'm not a strong christian. I'm very much on the fence in many regards, even with some of the basics. I'm not looking to disprove the Bible nor to prove it, I'm just looking for the truth here. I was raised as a christian so i'd like christianity to be true(to be more precise, God and Jesus to be real and who they are taught to be to be real), but i'll let it speak for itself.

If anyone can give me some more verses that deal with prophesies that relate to things happening to today or the end times, i'd greatly appreciate it.

 

[Sketcher]

I'm seeing plural horns on those oxen when I read verse 21 in multiple translations. In any case, the ox is a symbol of strength - in this case, a very strong enemy.

 

[Lord Herdsetk]

Hm....so how did the KJV get unicorn out of ox? I know KJ's resources were limited compared to nowaday's translators, but still it seems like they would have caught that. I know that the animals are not meant to be taken literally, that they often symbolize something else, but i'm still interested in how this translation error was made. I haven't really heard of a unicorn dominating an animal with its physical prowess =p