Psalms 51:6

51:6 Look, ¹  you desire ²  integrity in the inner man; ³ 

you want me to possess wisdom. ⁴ 

Exodus 21:14

21:14 But if a man willfully attacks his neighbor to kill him cunningly, ⁵  you will take him even from my altar that he may die.

Numbers 15:27

15:27 “‘If any person ⁶  sins unintentionally, then he must bring a yearling female goat for a purification offering.

Numbers 15:30-31

Deliberate Sin

15:30 “‘But the person ⁷  who acts defiantly, ⁸  whether native-born or a resident foreigner, insults ⁹  the Lord. ¹⁰  That person ¹¹  must be cut off ¹²  from among his people. 15:31 Because he has despised ¹³  the word of the Lord and has broken ¹⁴  his commandment, that person ¹⁵  must be completely cut off. ¹⁶  His iniquity will be on him.’” ¹⁷ 

Numbers 35:31

35:31 Moreover, you must not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death; he must surely be put to death.

Deuteronomy 22:22

22:22 If a man is caught having sexual relations with ¹⁸  a married woman ¹⁹  both the man who had relations with the woman and the woman herself must die; in this way you will purge ²⁰  evil from Israel.

Hosea 6:6

6:6 For I delight in faithfulness, not simply in sacrifice;

I delight ²¹  in acknowledging God, not simply in whole burnt offerings. ²² 

[51:6]  ¹ sn The juxtaposition of two occurrences of “look” in vv. 5-6 draws attention to the sharp contrast between the sinful reality of the psalmist’s condition and the lofty ideal God has for him.

[51:6]  ² tn The perfect is used in a generalizing sense here.

[51:6]  ³ tn Heb “in the covered [places],” i.e., in the inner man.

[51:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “in the secret [place] wisdom you cause me to know.” The Hiphil verbal form is causative, while the imperfect is used in a modal sense to indicate God’s desire (note the parallel verb “desire”).

[21:14]  ⁵ tn The word עָרְמָה (’ormah) is problematic. It could mean with prior intent, which would be connected with the word in Prov 8:5, 12 which means “understanding” (or “prudence” – fully aware of the way things are). It could be connected also to an Arabic word for “enemy” which would indicate this was done with malice or evil intentions (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 270). The use here seems parallel to the one in Josh 9:4, an instance involving intentionality and clever deception.

[15:27]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text hasוְאִם־נֶפֶשׁ אַחַת (vÿ’im-nefesh ’akhat), sometime translated “and if any soul.” But the word describes the whole person, the soul in the body; it refers here to the individual who sins.

[15:30]  ⁷ tn Heb “soul.”

[15:30]  ⁸ tn The sin is described literally as acting “with a high hand” – בְּיָד רָמָה (bÿyad ramah). The expression means that someone would do something with deliberate defiance, with an arrogance in spite of what the Lord said. It is as if the sinner was about to attack God, or at least lifting his hand against God. The implication of the expression is that it was done in full knowledge of the Law (especially since this contrasts throughout with the sins of ignorance). Blatant defiance of the word of the Lord is dealt with differently. For similar expressions, see Exod 14:8 and Num 33:3.

[15:30]  ⁹ tn The verb occurs only in the Piel; it means “to blaspheme,” “to revile.”

[15:30]  ¹⁰ tn The word order in the Hebrew text places “Yahweh” first for emphasis – it is the Lord such a person insults.

[15:30]  ¹¹ tn Heb “soul.”

[15:30]  ¹² tn The clause begins with “and” because the verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. As discussed with Num 9:13, to be cut off could mean excommunication from the community, death by the community, or death by divine intervention.

[15:31]  ¹³ tn The verb בָּזָה (bazah, “to despise”) means to treat something as worthless, to treat it with contempt, to look down the nose at something as it were.

[15:31]  ¹⁴ tn The verb פָּרַר (parar, “to break”) can mean to nullify, break, or violate a covenant.

[15:31]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “soul.”

[15:31]  ¹⁶ tn The construction uses the Niphal imperfect with the modifying Niphal infinitive absolute. The infinitive makes the sentence more emphatic. If the imperfect tense is taken as an instruction imperfect, then the infinitive makes the instruction more binding. If it is a simple future, then the future is certain. In either case, there is no exclusion from being cut off.

[15:31]  ¹⁷ sn The point is that the person’s iniquity remains with him – he must pay for his sin. The judgment of God in such a case is both appropriate and unavoidable.

[22:22]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “lying with” (so KJV, NASB), a Hebrew idiom for sexual relations.

[22:22]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “a woman married to a husband.”

[22:22]  ²⁰ tn Heb “burn.” See note on the phrase “purge out” in Deut 21:21.

[6:6]  ²¹ tn The phrase “I delight” does not appear in the Hebrew text a second time in this verse, but is implied from the parallelism in the preceding line.

[6:6]  ²² sn Contrary to popular misunderstanding, Hosea does not reject animal sacrifice nor cultic ritual, and advocate instead obedience only. Rather, God does not delight in ritual sacrifice without the accompanying prerequisite moral obedience (1 Sam 15:22; Pss 40:6-8; 51:16-17; Prov 21:3; Isa 1:11-17; Jer 7:21-23; Hos 6:6; Mic 6:6-8). However, if prerequisite moral obedience is present, he delights in sacrificial worship as an outward expression (Ps 51:19). Presented by a repentant obedient worshiper, whole burnt offerings were “an aroma pleasing” to the Lord (Lev 1:9, 13).