What the texts say. In the Masoretic text the line reads ka’ari yaday ve-ragelay, “like a lion, my hands and my feet.” The sentence has no verb, which is why the 1917 Jewish Publication Society version supplies one: “like a lion, they are at my hands and my feet.” The Septuagint (Psalm 21:17 in its numbering) reads ōryxan, “they dug,” and Brenton renders it “they pierced my hands and my feet.” The Latin psalter has foderunt, “they dug,” and the Douay-Rheims follows: “They have dug my hands and feet.” The Greek reading is not in doubt (Very Strong).
The other ancient witnesses. Later Jewish Greek translators also read a verb here, though not “pierce”: Aquila is reported to have rendered it “disfigured” in one edition and “bound” in another, and Symmachus “bound.” A Psalms fragment from Nahal Hever, published in 2000, is reported to spell the word ka’aru, with a final letter that would make it a plural verb; a small number of medieval Hebrew manuscripts are reported to have that spelling too. But the meaning of such a verb is itself disputed, and the same fragment has other spelling oddities. So the scrolls do not simply prove “pierced” (Debated).
What scholars say. Some, like Peter Craigie, judge that the Masoretic reading can scarcely be original as it stands and propose a verb. Others, like Brent Strawn, defend “like a lion,” pointing out that lions already appear in the psalm (verses 13 and 21). Christian and Jewish scholars are found on both sides. It is fair to say that the Masoretic line is grammatically hard (Strong) and that the original wording is uncertain (Debated). It is not fair to accuse either Jewish or Christian copyists of forgery on this evidence.
What the Orthodox Church reads. The Orthodox Church sings the Psalter in the Septuagint, so its psalm says that they dug, or pierced, his hands and feet. The Church reads Psalm 22 as a prayer of Christ in his Passion, as the Gospels do: Christ cries its first verse from the Cross (Matthew 27:46), and St John sees its words about the garments fulfilled (John 19:24).
How translations handle it. The KJV, NKJV, ESV, NIV and the RSV Catholic Edition read “pierced,” most with a note that the Hebrew reads “like a lion.” The NRSVUE reads “they bound my hands and feet” and notes that the Hebrew is uncertain. The Reina-Valera 1909 reads horadaron, “they pierced.”
What it does and does not change. The crucifixion of Christ is attested throughout the New Testament; it does not depend on this line. The New Testament never quotes this particular line. What is at stake is how explicit the psalm is about the manner of Christ’s suffering, not whether he suffered. The psalm’s connection to the Passion stands on the Lord’s own use of it.