Judah Himango (a messianic Jew, aka Christian) wrote (in 2014) "This answer suggested Christian bibles mistranslate Psalm 22. However, the Dead Sea Scrolls, written before the time of Jesus, contain the very translation Christians use. See here: torahresource.com/EnglishArticles/Ps22.16.pdf." This is incorrect. The Dead Sea Scrolls do not contain the "very translation Christians use." They confirm the Jewish translation of "like a lion."
There are two fragments containing Psalms 22:17[16] in the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS). 4QPs-f; known as the Qumran MS, does not have the word in question.
In the second fragment, found at Nahal Hever (HHev/Se 4 (Ps); known as the Bar Kochba MS, the word is preserved. Christians claim it is "pierced" -- and this is 100% incorrect.
The word claimed to be pierced by Christians in this psalm is כָּרוּ karu -- which actually translates to "they dug" -- and is not the word for "pierced." So "they dug my hands and feet"??
This verb is never used in the sense of "pierce"; it means to dig (excavate) in the ground. "Pierce" would be a completely different verb.
The word כָּרוּ karu ("they dug") occurs in T'hillim 57:7 and 119:85, as well as in Yirm'yahu 18:20 and 18:22, but nowhere in T'hillim, chapter 22. This form is past tense, 3rd person masculine singular: the full conjugation is
∙ כָּרִֽיתִי kariti "I dug" (B'réshιt 50:5)
∙ כָּרִֽיתָ karita "you [m.sing.] dug" (T'hillim 40:7)
∙ כָּרִית karit "you [f.sing.] dug"
∙ כָּרָה karah "he dug" (T'hillim 7:16, Divrei Hayamim Beit 16:14)
∙ כָּרְתָה kar'tah "she dug"
∙ כָּרִֽינוּ karinu "we dug"
∙ כְּרִיתֶם k'riy'tem "you [m.pl.] dug"
∙ כְּרִיתֶן k'riy'ten "you [f.pl.] dug"
∙ כָּרוּ karu "they dug"
But the Christians have an even bigger problem. The DSS scroll fragment containing this word does NOT have the word כָּרוּ karu ("they dug").
The word they claim actually does not exist in the Hebrew language. Those who claim the word 'karu' has an alef in it are being dishonest. There is no such word in the Hebrew language, nor is there a root of a verb that spells "kaf-alef-resh" in the Hebrew language.
The fragment HHev/Se 4 (Ps) shows the Hebrew letters (kaf), (aleph), (resh), and what appears to be a somewhat elongated letter (yod), which some perceive to be the letter (vav).[3] Thus, the reading of this word would be either (ka'ari) or (ka'aru), respectively.
Although the latter of these two renditions of the term has been the focus of much controversy and discussion, it is a fact that no root verb exists which contains the letter (aleph) in it, conjugated in this fashion (3rd-person, plural masculine gender, past tense), with the meaning of they pierced, as rendered in most Christian translations.
Without the letter (aleph), and using, for the moment, the argument that the last letter [the elongated (yod)] is a (vav), the word would be (karu), for which the Hebrew root verb is (karah), [to] dig [in dirt], such as digging a ditch (e.g., Ps 57:7). In other words, (karu) has the meaning [they] dug [in dirt]. This verb is never used in the context of piercing, either literally or metaphorically, in any of its 15 applications in the Hebrew Bible.
The fragment has caused debate because it contains an elongated letter (yod) that resembles the letter (vav). Since the word (ka'aru) does not exist in the Hebrew language, the most plausible explanation is that such discrepancy in the fragment is simply a case of scribal variation (or error).
Rabbi Tovia Singer wrote an excellent article about this issue -- with images of the fragment. http://outreachjudaism.org/crucifixion-psalm/
