Job 15:15

15:15 If God places no trust in his holy ones, 1 

if even the heavens 2  are not pure in his eyes,

Job 25:5

25:5 If even the moon is not bright,

and the stars are not pure as far as he is concerned, 3 

Psalms 51:7

51:7 Sprinkle me 4  with water 5  and I will be pure; 6 

wash me 7  and I will be whiter than snow. 8 

Hebrews 13:21

13:21 equip you with every good thing to do his will, working in us 9  what is pleasing before him through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever. 10  Amen.

1 tn Eliphaz here reiterates the point made in Job 4:18.

2 sn The question here is whether the reference is to material “heavens” (as in Exod 24:10 and Job 25:5), or to heavenly beings. The latter seems preferable in this context.

3 tn Heb “not pure in his eyes.”

4 tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.

5 tn Heb “cleanse me with hyssop.” “Hyssop” was a small plant (see 1 Kgs 4:33) used to apply water (or blood) in purification rites (see Exod 12:22; Lev 14:4-6, 49-52; Num 19:6-18. The psalmist uses the language and imagery of such rites to describe spiritual cleansing through forgiveness.

6 tn After the preceding imperfect, the imperfect with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates result.

7 tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.

8 sn I will be whiter than snow. Whiteness here symbolizes the moral purity resulting from forgiveness (see Isa 1:18).

9 tc Some mss (C P Ψ 6 629* 630 1505 pm latt syh) read ὑμῖν (Jumin, “in you”) here, but ἡμῖν (Jhmin) has stronger external support (Ì46 א A Dvid K 0243 0285 33 81 104 326 365 629c 1175 1739 1881 pm syp co). It is also more likely that ἡμῖν would have been changed to ὑμῖν in light of the “you” which occurs at the beginning of the verse than vice versa.

10 tc ‡ Most mss (א A [C*] 0243 0285 33 1739 1881 Ï latt) include the words “and ever” here, but the shorter reading (supported by Ì46 C3 D Ψ 6 104 365 1505 al) is preferred on internal grounds. It seemed more likely that scribes would assimilate the wording to the common NT doxological expression “for ever and ever,” found especially in the Apocalypse (cf., e.g., 1 Tim 1:17; 2 Tim 4:18; Rev 4:9; 22:5) than to the “forever” of Heb 13:8. Nevertheless, a decision is difficult here. NA27 places the phrase in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.