Luke 18:13

18:13 The tax collector, however, stood ¹  far off and would not even look up ²  to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, be merciful ³  to me, sinner that I am!’ ⁴ 

Leviticus 26:40-41

26:40 However, when ⁵  they confess their iniquity and their ancestors’ iniquity which they committed by trespassing against me, ⁶  by which they also walked ⁷  in hostility against me ⁸  26:41 (and I myself will walk in hostility against them and bring them into the land of their enemies), and ⁹  then their uncircumcised hearts become humbled and they make up for ¹⁰  their iniquity,

Leviticus 26:1

Exhortation to Obedience

26:1 “‘You must not make for yourselves idols, ¹¹  so you must not set up for yourselves a carved image or a pillar, and you must not place a sculpted stone in your land to bow down before ¹²  it, for I am the Lord your God.

Leviticus 8:1

Ordination of the Priests

8:1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: ¹³ 

Leviticus 8:1

Ordination of the Priests

8:1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: ¹⁴ 

Job 33:27-28

33:27 That person sings ¹⁵  to others, ¹⁶  saying:

‘I have sinned and falsified what is right,

but I was not punished according to what I deserved. ¹⁷ 

33:28 He redeemed my life ¹⁸ 

from going down to the place of corruption,

and my life sees the light!’

Job 36:8-10

36:8 But if they are bound in chains, ¹⁹ 

and held captive by the cords of affliction,

36:9 then he reveals ²⁰  to them what they have done, ²¹ 

and their transgressions,

that they were behaving proudly.

36:10 And he reveals ²²  this ²³  for correction,

and says that they must turn ²⁴  from evil.

Psalms 25:11

25:11 For the sake of your reputation, ²⁵  O Lord,

forgive my sin, because it is great. ²⁶ 

Psalms 32:3-5

32:3 When I refused to confess my sin, ²⁷ 

my whole body wasted away, ²⁸ 

while I groaned in pain all day long.

32:4 For day and night you tormented me; ²⁹ 

you tried to destroy me ³⁰  in the intense heat ³¹  of summer. ³²  (Selah)

32:5 Then I confessed my sin;

I no longer covered up my wrongdoing.

I said, “I will confess ³³  my rebellious acts to the Lord.”

And then you forgave my sins. ³⁴  (Selah)

Psalms 51:3-5

51:3 For I am aware of ³⁵  my rebellious acts;

I am forever conscious of my sin. ³⁶ 

51:4 Against you – you above all ³⁷  – I have sinned;

I have done what is evil in your sight.

So ³⁸  you are just when you confront me; ³⁹ 

you are right when you condemn me. ⁴⁰ 

51:5 Look, I was guilty of sin from birth,

a sinner the moment my mother conceived me. ⁴¹ 

Proverbs 23:13

23:13 Do not withhold discipline from a child;

even if you strike him with the rod, he will not die.

Matthew 3:6

3:6 and he was baptizing them ⁴²  in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.

Matthew 3:1

The Ministry of John the Baptist

3:1 In those days John the Baptist came into the wilderness ⁴³  of Judea proclaiming,

Matthew 1:8-10

1:8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Uzziah, 1:9 Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 1:10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, ⁴⁴  Amon the father of Josiah,

[18:13]  ¹ tn Grk “standing”; the Greek participle has been translated as a finite verb.

[18:13]  ² tn Grk “even lift up his eyes” (an idiom).

[18:13]  ³ tn The prayer is a humble call for forgiveness. The term for mercy (ἱλάσκομαι, Jilaskomai) is associated with the concept of a request for atonement (BDAG 473-74 s.v. 1; Ps 51:1, 3; 25:11; 34:6, 18).

[18:13]  ⁴ tn Grk “the sinner.” The tax collector views himself not just as any sinner but as the worst of all sinners. See ExSyn 222-23.

[26:40]  ⁵ tn Heb “And.” Many English versions take this to be a conditional clause (“if…”) though there is no conditional particle (see, e.g., NASB, NIV, NRSV; but see the very different rendering in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 190). The temporal translation offered here (“when”) takes into account the particle אָז (’az, “then”), which occurs twice in v. 41. The obvious contextual contrast between vv. 39 and 40 is expressed by “however” in the translation.

[26:40]  ⁶ tn Heb “in their trespassing which they trespassed in me.” See the note on Lev 5:15, although the term is used in a more technical sense there in relation to the “guilt offering.”

[26:40]  ⁷ tn Heb “and also which they walked.”

[26:40]  ⁸ tn Heb “with me.”

[26:41]  ⁹ tn Heb “or then,” although the LXX has “then” and the Syriac “and then.”

[26:41]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and then they make up for.” On the verb “make up for” see the note on v. 34 above.

[26:1]  ¹¹ sn For the literature regarding the difficult etymology and meaning of the term for “idols” (אֱלִילִם, ’elilim), see the literature cited in the note on Lev 19:4. It appears to be a diminutive play on words with אֵל (’el, “god, God”) and, perhaps at the same time, recalls a common Semitic word for “worthless, weak, powerless, nothingness.” Snaith suggests a rendering of “worthless godlings.”

[26:1]  ¹² tn Heb “on.” The “sculpted stone” appears to be some sort of stone with images carved into (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 181, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 449).

[8:1]  ¹³ sn Lev 8 is the fulfillment account of the ordination legislation recorded in Exod 29, and is directly connected to the command to ordain the tabernacle and priesthood in Exod 40:1-16 as well as the partial record of its fulfillment in Exod 40:17-38.

[8:1]  ¹⁴ sn Lev 8 is the fulfillment account of the ordination legislation recorded in Exod 29, and is directly connected to the command to ordain the tabernacle and priesthood in Exod 40:1-16 as well as the partial record of its fulfillment in Exod 40:17-38.

[33:27]  ¹⁵ tc The verb יָשֹׁר (yashor) is unusual. The typical view is to change it to יָשִׁיר (yashir, “he sings”), but that may seem out of harmony with a confession. Dhorme suggests a root שׁוּר (shur, “to repeat”), but this is a doubtful root. J. Reider reads it יָשֵׁיר (yasher) and links it to an Arabic word “confesses” (ZAW 24 [1953]: 275).

[33:27]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “to men.”

[33:27]  ¹⁷ tn The verb שָׁוָה (shavah) has the impersonal meaning here, “it has not been requited to me.” The meaning is that the sinner has not been treated in accordance with his deeds: “I was not punished according to what I deserved.”

[33:28]  ¹⁸ sn See note on “him” in v. 24.

[36:8]  ¹⁹ tn Dhorme thinks that the verse is still talking about kings, who may be in captivity. But this diverts attention from Elihu’s emphasis on the righteous.

[36:9]  ²⁰ tn The verb נָגַד (nagad) means “to declare; to tell.” Here it is clear that God is making known the sins that caused the enslavement or captivity, so “reveal” makes a good interpretive translation.

[36:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “their work.”

[36:10]  ²² tn The idiom once again is “he uncovers their ear.”

[36:10]  ²³ tn The revelation is in the preceding verse, and so a pronoun must be added to make the reference clear.

[36:10]  ²⁴ tn The verb שׁוּב (shuv, “to turn; to return”) is one of the two major words in the OT for “repent” – to return from evil. Here the imperfect should be obligatory – they must do it.

[25:11]  ²⁵ tn Heb “name.” By forgiving the sinful psalmist, the Lord’s reputation as a merciful God will be enhanced.

[25:11]  ²⁶ sn Forgive my sin, because it is great. The psalmist readily admits his desperate need for forgiveness.

[32:3]  ²⁷ tn Heb “when I was silent.”

[32:3]  ²⁸ tn Heb “my bones became brittle.” The psalmist pictures himself as aging and growing physically weak. Trying to cover up his sin brought severe physical consequences.

[32:4]  ²⁹ tn Heb “your hand was heavy upon me.”

[32:4]  ³⁰ tc Heb “my [?] was turned.” The meaning of the Hebrew term לְשַׁד (lÿshad) is uncertain. A noun לָשָׁד (lashad, “cake”) is attested in Num 11:8, but it would make no sense to understand that word in this context. It is better to emend the form to לְשֻׁדִּי (lÿshuddiy, “to my destruction”) and understand “your hand” as the subject of the verb “was turned.” In this case the text reads, “[your hand] was turned to my destruction.” In Lam 3:3 the author laments that God’s “hand” was “turned” (הָפַךְ, hafakh) against him in a hostile sense.

[32:4]  ³¹ tn The translation assumes that the plural form indicates degree. If one understands the form as a true plural, then one might translate, “in the times of drought.”

[32:4]  ³² sn Summer. Perhaps the psalmist suffered during the hot season and perceived the very weather as being an instrument of divine judgment. Another option is that he compares his time of suffering to the uncomfortable and oppressive heat of summer.

[32:5]  ³³ tn The Hiphil of ידה normally means “give thanks, praise,” but here, as in Prov 28:13, it means “confess.”

[32:5]  ³⁴ tn Heb “the wrongdoing of my sin.” By joining synonyms for “sin” in this way, the psalmist may be emphasizing the degree of his wrongdoing.

[51:3]  ³⁵ tn Heb “know.”

[51:3]  ³⁶ tn Heb “and my sin [is] in front of me continually.”

[51:4]  ³⁷ tn Heb “only you,” as if the psalmist had sinned exclusively against God and no other. Since the Hebrew verb חָטָא (hata’, “to sin”) is used elsewhere of sinful acts against people (see BDB 306 s.v. 2.a) and David (the presumed author) certainly sinned when he murdered Uriah (2 Sam 12:9), it is likely that the psalmist is overstating the case to suggest that the attack on Uriah was ultimately an attack on God himself. To clarify the point of the hyperbole, the translation uses “especially,” rather than the potentially confusing “only.”

[51:4]  ³⁸ tn The Hebrew term לְמַעַן (lÿma’an) normally indicates purpose (“in order that”), but here it introduces a logical consequence of the preceding statement. (Taking the clause as indicating purpose here would yield a theologically preposterous idea – the psalmist purposely sinned so that God’s justice might be vindicated!) For other examples of לְמַעַן indicating result, see 2 Kgs 22:17; Jer 27:15; Amos 2:7, as well as IBHS 638-40 §38.3.

[51:4]  ³⁹ tn Heb “when you speak.” In this context the psalmist refers to God’s word of condemnation against his sin delivered through Nathan (cf. 2 Sam 12:7-12).

[51:4]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “when you judge.”

[51:5]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “Look, in wrongdoing I was brought forth, and in sin my mother conceived me.” The prefixed verbal form in the second line is probably a preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive), stating a simple historical fact. The psalmist is not suggesting that he was conceived through an inappropriate sexual relationship (although the verse has sometimes been understood to mean that, or even that all sexual relationships are sinful). The psalmist’s point is that he has been a sinner from the very moment his personal existence began. By going back beyond the time of birth to the moment of conception, the psalmist makes his point more emphatically in the second line than in the first.

[3:6]  ⁴² tn Grk “they were being baptized by him.” The passive construction has been rendered as active in the translation for the sake of English style.

[3:1]  ⁴³ tn Or “desert.”

[1:10]  ⁴⁴ tc ᾿Αμώς (Amws) is the reading found in the earliest and best witnesses (א B C [D^luc] γ δ θ ˹ 33 pc it sa bo), and as such is most likely original, but this is a variant spelling of the name ᾿Αμών (Amwn). The translation uses the more well-known spelling “Amon” found in the Hebrew MT and the majority of LXX mss. See also the textual discussion of “Asa” versus “Asaph” (vv. 7-8); the situation is similar.