Psalms 51:7

51:7 Sprinkle me ¹  with water ²  and I will be pure; ³ 

wash me ⁴  and I will be whiter than snow. ⁵ 

Psalms 78:17

78:17 Yet they continued to sin against him,

and rebelled against the sovereign One ⁶  in the desert.

Psalms 78:32

78:32 Despite all this, they continued to sin,

and did not trust him to do amazing things. ⁷ 

Psalms 119:11

119:11 In my heart I store up ⁸  your words, ⁹ 

so I might not sin against you.

[51:7]  ¹ tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.

[51:7]  ² 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.

[51:7]  ³ tn After the preceding imperfect, the imperfect with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates result.

[51:7]  ⁴ tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.

[51:7]  ⁵ sn I will be whiter than snow. Whiteness here symbolizes the moral purity resulting from forgiveness (see Isa 1:18).

[78:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “rebelling [against] the Most High.”

[78:32]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and did not believe in his amazing deeds.”

[119:11]  ¹⁶ tn Or “hide.”

[119:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “your word.” Some medieval Hebrew mss as well as the LXX read the plural, “your words.”