Psalms 51:7-10

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 

51:8 Grant me the ultimate joy of being forgiven! ⁶ 

May the bones ⁷  you crushed rejoice! ⁸ 

51:9 Hide your face ⁹  from my sins!

Wipe away ¹⁰  all my guilt!

51:10 Create for me a pure heart, O God! ¹¹ 

Renew a resolute spirit within me! ¹² 

[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).

[51:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “cause me to hear happiness and joy.” The language is metonymic: the effect of forgiveness (joy) has been substituted for its cause. The psalmist probably alludes here to an assuring word from God announcing that his sins are forgiven (a so-called oracle of forgiveness). The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request. The synonyms “happiness” and “joy” are joined together as a hendiadys to emphasize the degree of joy he anticipates.

[51:8]  ⁷ sn May the bones you crushed rejoice. The psalmist compares his sinful condition to that of a person who has been physically battered and crushed. Within this metaphorical framework, his “bones” are the seat of his emotional strength.

[51:8]  ⁸ tn In this context of petitionary prayer, the prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive, expressing the psalmist’s wish or request.

[51:9]  ¹¹ sn In this context Hide your face from my sins means “Do not hold me accountable for my sins.”

[51:9]  ¹² tn See the note on the similar expression “wipe away my rebellious acts” in v. 1.

[51:10]  ¹⁶ sn The heart is viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s motives and moral character.

[51:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and a reliable spirit renew in my inner being.”