“Strong bulls of Bashan”
Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. (Psalm 22:12 BSB)
What it sounds like today
An odd, specific mention of cattle from a certain region.
The cultural key
The geography is the point a modern reader misses. Bashan, the fertile highland east of the Jordan, was proverbial for its rich grazing land and the massive, powerful cattle it produced. So 'strong bulls of Bashan' is not a random zoological note but a stock image for the most formidable kind of enemy: brutish, thick-necked, well-fed aggressors who surround the helpless like a menacing herd. Amos uses the same shorthand to skewer the pampered, oppressive women of Samaria as 'cows of Bashan' (Amos 4:1), and Bashan's cattle are elsewhere a byword for choice, fattened strength (Deuteronomy 32:14). David, encircled by mockers as he suffers, pictures his tormentors as these hulking Bashan bulls closing in, an image of overwhelming, animal hostility. Knowing Bashan's reputation turns the line from a puzzling detail into a vivid picture of powerful predators.
Recovered meaning
'Bulls of Bashan' draws on that region's fame for huge, well-fed cattle to picture David's enemies as brutish, powerful oppressors closing in on him. It is a stock image for menacing, thick-necked aggressors, not a literal herd.