Psalms 32:5

32:5 Then I confessed my sin;

I no longer covered up my wrongdoing.

I said, “I will confess ¹  my rebellious acts to the Lord.”

And then you forgave my sins. ²  (Selah)

Psalms 38:18

38:18 Yes, ³  I confess my wrongdoing,

and I am concerned about my sins.

Leviticus 26:40-41

26:40 However, when ⁴  they confess their iniquity and their ancestors’ iniquity which they committed by trespassing against me, ⁵  by which they also walked ⁶  in hostility against me ⁷  26:41 (and I myself will walk in hostility against them and bring them into the land of their enemies), and ⁸  then their uncircumcised hearts become humbled and they make up for ⁹  their iniquity,

Nehemiah 9:2

9:2 Those truly of Israelite descent ¹⁰  separated from all the foreigners, ¹¹  standing and confessing their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors. ¹² 

Job 33:27

33:27 That person sings ¹³  to others, ¹⁴  saying:

‘I have sinned and falsified what is right,

but I was not punished according to what I deserved. ¹⁵ 

Proverbs 28:13

28:13 The one who covers ¹⁶  his transgressions will not prosper, ¹⁷ 

but whoever confesses them and forsakes them will find mercy. ¹⁸ 

Luke 15:18-21

15:18 I will get up and go to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned ¹⁹  against heaven ²⁰  and against ²¹  you. 15:19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me ²²  like one of your hired workers.”’ 15:20 So ²³  he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way from home ²⁴  his father saw him, and his heart went out to him; ²⁵  he ran and hugged ²⁶  his son ²⁷  and kissed him. 15:21 Then ²⁸  his son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven ²⁹  and against you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ ³⁰ 

[32:5]  ¹ tn The Hiphil of ידה normally means “give thanks, praise,” but here, as in Prov 28:13, it means “confess.”

[32:5]  ² 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.

[38:18]  ³ tn Or “for.” The translation assumes that כִּי (ki) is asseverative here.

[26:40]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “and also which they walked.”

[26:40]  ⁷ tn Heb “with me.”

[26:41]  ⁸ tn Heb “or then,” although the LXX has “then” and the Syriac “and then.”

[26:41]  ⁹ tn Heb “and then they make up for.” On the verb “make up for” see the note on v. 34 above.

[9:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the seed of Israel.”

[9:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “sons of a foreigner.”

[9:2]  ¹² tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 9, 16, 23, 32, 34, 36).

[33:27]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “to men.”

[33:27]  ¹⁵ 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.”

[28:13]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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.

[15:18]  ¹⁹ sn In the confession “I have sinned” there is a recognition of wrong that pictures the penitent coming home and “being found.”

[15:18]  ²⁰ sn The phrase against heaven is a circumlocution for God.

[15:18]  ²¹ tn According to BDAG 342 s.v. ἐνωπιον 4.a, “in relation to ἁμαρτάνειν ἐ. τινος sin against someone Lk 15:18, 21 (cf. Jdth 5:17; 1 Km 7:6; 20:1).”

[15:19]  ²² tn Or “make me.” Here is a sign of total humility.

[15:20]  ²³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of the son’s decision to return home. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style generally does not.

[15:20]  ²⁴ tn Grk “a long way off from [home].” The word “home” is implied (L&N 85.16).

[15:20]  ²⁵ tn Or “felt great affection for him,” “felt great pity for him.”

[15:20]  ²⁶ tn Grk “he fell on his neck,” an idiom for showing special affection for someone by throwing one’s arms around them. The picture is of the father hanging on the son’s neck in welcome.

[15:20]  ²⁷ tn Grk “him”; the referent (the son) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:21]  ²⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[15:21]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ sn The younger son launches into his confession just as he had planned. See vv. 18-19.