2 Samuel 24:10

24:10 David felt guilty ¹  after he had numbered the army. David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly by doing this! Now, O Lord, please remove the guilt of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”

2 Samuel 24:1

David Displeases the Lord by Taking a Census

24:1 The Lord’s anger again raged against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go count Israel and Judah.” ² 

2 Samuel 15:24-25

15:24 Zadok and all the Levites who were with him were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. When they positioned the ark of God, Abiathar offered sacrifices until all the people had finished leaving ³  the city.

15:25 Then the king said to Zadok, “Take the ark of God back to the city. If I find favor in the Lord’s sight he will bring me back and enable me to see both it and his dwelling place again.

2 Samuel 15:30

15:30 As David was going up the Mount of Olives, he was weeping as he went; his head was covered and his feet were bare. All the people who were with him also had their heads covered and were weeping as they went up.

Job 7:20

7:20 If ⁴  I have sinned – what have I done to you, ⁵ 

O watcher of men? ⁶ 

Why have you set me as your target? ⁷ 

Have I become a burden to you? ⁸ 

Job 33:27

33:27 That person sings ⁹  to others, ¹⁰  saying:

‘I have sinned and falsified what is right,

but I was not punished according to what I deserved. ¹¹ 

Psalms 32:3-5

32:3 When I refused to confess my sin, ¹² 

my whole body wasted away, ¹³ 

while I groaned in pain all day long.

32:4 For day and night you tormented me; ¹⁴ 

you tried to destroy me ¹⁵  in the intense heat ¹⁶  of summer. ¹⁷  (Selah)

32:5 Then I confessed my sin;

I no longer covered up my wrongdoing.

I said, “I will confess ¹⁸  my rebellious acts to the Lord.”

And then you forgave my sins. ¹⁹  (Selah)

Psalms 51:4

51:4 Against you – you above all ²⁰  – I have sinned;

I have done what is evil in your sight.

So ²¹  you are just when you confront me; ²² 

you are right when you condemn me. ²³ 

Proverbs 25:12

25:12 Like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold, ²⁴ 

so is a wise reprover to the ear of the one who listens. ²⁵ 

Proverbs 28:13

28:13 The one who covers ²⁶  his transgressions will not prosper, ²⁷ 

but whoever confesses them and forsakes them will find mercy. ²⁸ 

Luke 15:21

15:21 Then ²⁹  his son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven ³⁰  and against you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ ³¹ 

Acts 2:37

The Response to Peter’s Address

2:37 Now when they heard this, ³²  they were acutely distressed ³³  and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “What should we do, brothers?”

Acts 2:1

The Holy Spirit and the Day of Pentecost

2:1 Now ³⁴  when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.

Acts 1:8-10

1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts ³⁵  of the earth.” 1:9 After ³⁶  he had said this, while they were watching, he was lifted up and a cloud hid him from their sight. 1:10 As ³⁷  they were still staring into the sky while he was going, suddenly ³⁸  two men in white clothing stood near them

[24:10]  ¹ tn Heb “and the heart of David struck him.”

[24:1]  ² sn The parallel text in 1 Chr 21:1 says, “An adversary opposed Israel, inciting David to count how many warriors Israel had.” The Samuel version gives an underlying theological perspective, while the Chronicler simply describes what happened from a human perspective. The adversary in 1 Chr 21:1 is likely a human enemy, probably a nearby nation whose hostility against Israel pressured David into numbering the people so he could assess his military strength. See the note at 1 Chr 21:1.

[15:24]  ³ tn Heb “crossing from.”

[7:20]  ⁴ tn The simple perfect verb can be used in a conditional sentence without a conditional particle present (see GKC 494 §159.h).

[7:20]  ⁵ sn Job is not here saying that he has sinned; rather, he is posing the hypothetical condition – if he had sinned, what would that do to God? In other words, he has not really injured God.

[7:20]  ⁶ sn In the Bible God is often described as watching over people to protect them from danger (see Deut 32:10; Ps 31:23). However, here it is a hostile sense, for God may detect sin and bring it to judgment.

[7:20]  ⁷ tn This word is a hapax legomenon from the verb פָּגָע (paga’, “meet, encounter”); it would describe what is hit or struck (as nouns of this pattern can indicate the place of the action) – the target.

[7:20]  ⁸ tn In the prepositional phrase עָלַי (’alay) the results of a scribal change is found (these changes were called tiqqune sopherim, “corrections of the scribes” made to avoid using improper language about God). The prepositional phrase would have been עָלֶךָ (’alekha, “to you,” as in the LXX). But it offended the Jews to think of Job’s being burdensome to God. Job’s sin could have repercussions on him, but not on God.

[33:27]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to men.”

[33:27]  ¹¹ 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.”

[32:3]  ¹² tn Heb “when I was silent.”

[32:3]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “your hand was heavy upon me.”

[32:4]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn The Hiphil of ידה normally means “give thanks, praise,” but here, as in Prov 28:13, it means “confess.”

[32:5]  ¹⁹ 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.

[51:4]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ 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]  ²² 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]  ²³ tn Heb “when you judge.”

[25:12]  ²⁴ sn This saying is another example of emblematic parallelism; the first half is the simile, and the second half makes the point from it: A wise rebuke that is properly received is of lasting value. The rebuke in the ear of an obedient student is like ornaments of fine jewelry.

[25:12]  ²⁵ tn The “ear of the listener” refers to the obedient disciple, the one who complies with the reproof he hears. Cf. KJV, ASV, NAB “an obedient ear.”

[28:13]  ²⁶ tn The Hebrew participles provide the subject matter in this contrast. On the one hand is the person who covers over (מְכַסֶּה, mÿkhasseh) his sins. This means refusing to acknowledge them in confession, and perhaps rationalizing them away. On the other hand there is the one who both “confesses” (מוֹדֶה, modeh) and “forsakes” (עֹזֵב, ’ozev) the sin. To “confess” sins means to acknowledge them, to say the same thing about them that God does.

[28:13]  ²⁷ sn The verse contrasts the consequences of each. The person who refuses to confess will not prosper. This is an understatement (a figure of speech known as tapeinosis); the opposite is the truth, that eventually such a person will be undone and ruined. On the other hand, the penitent will find mercy. This expression is a metonymy of cause for the effect – although “mercy” is mentioned, what mercy provides is intended, i.e., forgiveness. In other passages the verb “conceal” is used of God’s forgiveness – he covers over the iniquity (Ps 32:1). Whoever acknowledges sin, God will cover it; whoever covers it, God will lay it open.

[28:13]  ²⁸ sn This verse is unique in the book of Proverbs; it captures the theology of forgiveness (e.g., Pss 32 and 51). Every part of the passage is essential to the point: Confession of sins as opposed to concealing them, coupled with a turning away from them, results in mercy.

[15:21]  ²⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[15:21]  ³⁰ sn The phrase against heaven is a circumlocution for God. 1st century Judaism tended to minimize use of the divine name out of reverence.

[15:21]  ³¹ sn The younger son launches into his confession just as he had planned. See vv. 18-19.

[2:37]  ³² tn The word “this” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[2:37]  ³³ tn Grk “they were pierced to the heart” (an idiom for acute emotional distress).

[2:1]  ³⁴ tn Grk “And” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style does not.

[1:8]  ³⁵ tn Or “to the ends.”

[1:9]  ³⁶ tn Grk “And after.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[1:10]  ³⁷ tn Grk “And as.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[1:10]  ³⁸ tn Grk “behold.”