Psalm 51:1-5 – Cleanse Me From My Sin

Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 22 Oct. 2023

Introduction

vs.1-2 The Request For Pardon

    1. Transgression(פֶּשַׁע) means crossing a line you weren’t supposed to cross, like trespassing. It means God said not to do something and you did it anyway.

vs. 3-5 The Problem of Sin

Psalm 51:1-6 Side-by side comparison of versionsA

Vulgate (Ps. 50)B

LXXC
(Ps. 50)

Brenton (Vaticanus)D

KJVE

NAW

Masoretic TxtF

PeshittaG

1 in finem psalmus David 2 cum venit ad eum Nathan propheta quando intravit ad Bethsabee
3 miserere mei Deus secundum [magnam;] misericordiam tuam [et]; secundum multitudi­nem misera­tionum tuarum dele iniquitatem meam

1 Εἰς τὸ τέλος· ψαλμὸς τῷ ΔαυιδH 2 ἐν τῷ ἐλθεῖν πρὸς αὐτὸν Ναθαν τὸν προφήτην, ἡνίκα εἰσῆλθεν πρὸς Βηρσαβεε. 3 Ἐλέησόν με, ὁ θεός, κατὰ τὸ [μέγα] ἔλεός σουI [καὶ] κατὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν οἰκτιρμῶν σου ἐξάλειψον τὸ ἀνόμημά μου·

1 For the end, a Psalm of David, when Na­than the prophet came to him, when he had gone to Bersabee. Have mercy upon me, O God, accor­ding to thy great mercy; [and] ac­cord­ing to the multitude of thy com­passions blot out my trans­gressionXJ.

1 To the chief Musi­cian, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bath­sheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving­kindness: accord­ing unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my trans­gressions.

1 For the concertmaster, a psalm by David, when Na­than the Prophet came to him after he had gone into Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, God, according to your lovingkindness; according to the greatness of your compassions, wipe away my trans­gressions.

(א) לַמְנַצֵּחַ מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד.
(
ב) בְּבוֹא אֵלָיו נָתָן הַנָּבִיא כַּאֲשֶׁר בָּא אֶל בַּת שָׁבַע.K
(
ג) חָנֵּנִיL אֱלֹהִים כְּחַסְדֶּךָM כְּרֹב רַחֲמֶיךָ מְחֵהN פְשָׁעָי.











3
רחם עלי אלהא איך טיבותך [ו]איך סוגאא דרחמיך עטי חטהי

4 amplius lava me ab iniquitate mea et a peccato meo munda me

4 ἐπὶ πλεῖονO πλῦνόν με ἀπὸ τῆς ἀνομίας μου καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας μου καθάρισόν με.

2 Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

2 Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

2 Abundant­ly wash me from my iniquity, indeed from my sin cleanse me,

(ד) הַרְבֵּהP כַּבְּסֵנִי מֵעֲו‍ֹנִי וּמֵחַטָּאתִי טַהֲרֵנִי.

4 אסגא אשׁיגיני מן עולי ומן חטהי דכני

5 quoniam iniquitatem meam ego cognosco et peccatum meum contra me est semper

5 ὅτι τὴν ἀνομίαν μου ἐγὼ γινώσκω, καὶ ἡ ἁμαρτία μου ἐνώπιόν μού ἐστιν διὰ παντόςQ.

3 For X I am con­scious of mine iniqui­ty; and my sin is con­tinually before me.

3 For X I acknow­ledge my transgres­sions: and my sin is ever before me.

3 because, as for me, I know my transgressions, and my sin is in front of me continually.

(ה) כִּי פְשָׁעַי אֲנִי אֵדָע וְחַטָּאתִי נֶגְדִּיR תָמִיד.

5 מטל דסכלותי ידע אנא וחטהי לוקבלי אנון בכלזבן

6 tibi soli peccavi et malum coram te feci ut iusti­ficeris in sermonibus tuis [et] vincas cum iudicaris

6 σοὶ μόνῳ ἥμαρτον καὶ τὸ πονηρὸν ἐνώπιόν σου ἐποίησα, ὅπως ἂν δικαιωθῇς ἐν τοῖς λόγοις σουS [καὶ] νικήσῃς ἐν τῷ κρίνεσθαί σεT.

4 Against thee only have I sin­ned, and done X evil before thee: that thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, [and] might­est overcome when thou art judged.

4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou might­est be justi­fied when thou speak­est, and be clear when thou judgest.

4 It is against You – You in particular that I have sinned and done what is evil in Your eyes, such that You are right when You speak, and You are purely-winsome when You judge.

(ו) לְךָ לְבַדְּךָ U חָטָאתִי וְהָרַע בְּעֵינֶיךָ עָשִׂיתִי לְמַעַן תִּצְדַּק בְּדָבְרֶךָV תִּזְכֶּהW בְשָׁפְטֶךָX.

6 לך בלחודיך חטית ובישׁתא קדמיך עבדת מטל דתזדדק במלתך [ו]תזכאY בדיניך

7 ecce enim in iniquitati­bus concep­tus sum et in peccatis con­cepit me mater mea

7 ἰδοὺ [γὰρ] ἐν ἀνομίαις συνελήμφθην καὶ ἐν ἁμαρτίαις ἐκίσσησέν με ἡ μήτηρ μουZ.

5 [For] behold, I was con­ceived in ini­quities, and in sin[s] did my mother con­ceiveAA me.

5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mo­ther con­ceive me.

5 Hey, it was into iniquity that I was molded and into sin that my mother warmed me up!

(ז) הֵן בְּעָווֹן חוֹלָלְתִּיAB וּבְחֵטְא ACיֶחֱמַתְנִי אִמִּי.

7 מטל דבעולא אתבטנתAD ובחטהא בטנתני אמי


12 Sam. 12:7-12 Then Nathan said to David, "You are that man! Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, 'It was I who anointed you to be king over Israel, and it was I who rescued you from the hand of Saul. I also gave to you the house of your Lord and even the women of your Lord into your embrace, that is, I have given to you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if it were a small thing, I also would have added this, that, and the other to you. Why did you despise the word of Yahweh by doing what is evil in His sight? Uriah the Hittite you have struck down with the sword! Moreover, his wife you have taken for yourself to be a wife while you slaughtered him with the sword of the descendants of Ammon! Now therefore, the sword shall never turn away from your household, in that you despised me and you took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to become your wife.' Thus says Yahweh, 'Here I am, raising up against you an evil out of your own household, and I will take your wives before your eyes and will give them to your fellow, and he will lie down with your wives in the sight of this same sun! As for you, you did it in secret, but I, I will do this thing in the presence of all Israel and in the presence of the sun.'" (NAW)

2Some of the vocabulary and subject matter of this Psalm is more-similar to later prophetic writings (like Isaiah) than to the other psalms of David, so perhaps David’s original version was edited by a prophet after him to the form we have today.

3Exodus 20:13-14, Matthew 6:21-28

4cf. Psalm 25:11 “On account of Your name, Yahweh, even pardon my iniquity, for it is much.” 39:8 “From all my transgressions rescue me...” (NAW)

5Lev. 11-15. cf. Numbers 8, where the consecration of priests included “washing” their clothes.

6Ezekiel 18:20, cf. Gen. 2:17

7Ps. 4:2; 6:3; 9:14; 25:16; 26:11; 27:7; 30:9, 11; 31:10; 41:5, 11; 51:3; 56:2; 57:2; 67:2; 86:3, 16; 119:29, 58, 132; 123:2-3; 142:2

8“Yahweh; be gracious to us! It is for You that we wait! Be their arm for the mornings, yes our salvation in a time of distress!” (Isa. 33:1, NAW)

9cf. 1 Cor. 7:25; 2 Cor. 4:1; 1 Tim. 1:13, and the many passages in with the noun for “grace” such as John 1:14-17.

10“Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” John 16:7-8, NKJV

11נֶגְדִּ֣י תָמִֽיד (this same phrase is also in Psalm 50:8 and 51:3) A. Cohen also suggested that Psalm 32 might also be describing David’s distress of mind and body over this in detail.

12Rom. 3:4 “...As it is written: ‘That You may be justified in Your words, And may overcome when You are judged.’” (NKJV)

AMy original chart includes the NASB, NIV, and ESV, but their copyright restrictions force me to remove them from the publicly-available edition of this chart. (NAW is my translation.) When a translation adds words not in the Hebrew text, but does not indicate it has done so by the use of italics (or greyed-out text), I put the added words in [square brackets]. When one version chooses a wording which is different from all the other translations, I underline it. When a version chooses a translation which, in my opinion, either departs too far from the root meaning of the Hebrew word or departs too far from the grammar form of the original text, I use strikeout. And when a version omits a word which is in the original text, I insert an X. (I also place an X at the end of a word if the original word is plural but the English translation is singular.) I occasionally use colors to help the reader see correlations between the various editions and versions when there are more than two different translations of a given word. The only known Dead Sea Scrolls containing Psalm 51 are 4Q85 Psalmsc (which contains parts of verses 1-3) and 4Q91 Psalms (containing parts of vs. 1-4), both of which date around 50 AD. Where the DSS is legible and reads the same as the MT, the Hebrew text is colored purple. Where the DSS and ancient versions support each other against the MT in such a way that I suspect they are the original reading, I have highlighted them with yellow.

BJerome's Latin Vulgate w/ Deuterocanon using Gallican Psalter, 405 AD. As published electronically by E-Sword.

CThis Greek New Testament (GNT) is the 1904 "Patriarchal" edition of the Greek Orthodox Church. The Robinson-Pierpont Byzantine majority text of the GNT and the Textus Receptus are very similar. The Westcott-Hort, Nestle-Aland, and UBS editions are a slightly-different family of GNTs developed in the modern era as a break from the traditional Greek Bible by compiling just a few of the oldest-known manuscripts, but even so, the practical differences in the text between these two editing philosophies are minimal.

DEnglish translation of the Septuagint by Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton, 1851, “based upon the text of the Vaticanus” but not identical to the Vaticanus. As published electronically by E-Sword.

E1769 King James Version of the Holy Bible; public domain. As published electronically by E-Sword.

FFrom the Wiki Hebrew Bible https://he.wikisource.org/wiki/%D7%A1%D7%A4%D7%A8_%D7%AA%D7%94%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%9D.
DSS text comes from https://downloads.thewaytoyahuweh.com

GThe Leiden Peshitta, Copyright © 2012 by The Peshitta Foundation c/o Leiden University Institute for Religious Studies, as published electronically in BibleWorks.

HAquila: tw nikopoiw melwdhma tou Dauid

ITheodotian supported the LXX, but Aquila uncharacteristically rendered the first verb differently from the MT (δωρησαι = “give”). Symmachus employed the synonym used later in the verse by the LXX (οικτειρον = “have compassion).

JThe neuter accusative form in Greek is spelled the same in plural as it is in singular, so the LXX should be construed as plural in keeping with the MT. Brenton apparently defaulted to the singular without realizing that the context denied that option, even though in another situation it might have been a valid translation.

KGerald Wilson, in the NIV Application Commentary, noted that this is the 4th of the 7 penitential psalms, the others being 6, 32, 38, 102, 130, and 143.
Augustine: “Let them hear that have not fallen, lest they fall; let them hear that have fallen, that they may rise.”

Lcf. 2 Sam .12:22 And David said, "While my newborn was still alive, I fasted and wept because I said, 'Who knows if Yahweh might have mercy and my newborn might live?'” (NAW)

MAlthough Vulgate and Septuagint insert “great” here, the Peshitta, Targum, and DSS do not. The Vulgate and LXX also insert “and” here, and the Peshitta joins them, but the DSS and Targum support the MT without the conjunction. Neither insertion changes the meaning of the statement, however.

NThis verb is used of what God did to sinners by means of the flood of Noah. It is also described in the jealousy test of Numbers 5:23-24 "Then the priest shall write these curses in a book and washNAS,NIV,ESV/blotKJV/scrapeNKJV them off into the water of bitterness.” Then have the woman drink it. Then there’s 2 Kings 21:13 “...I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish...” and Proverbs 30:20 “Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth...” and Isaiah 25:8 “...the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces.” (KJV. All other English versions also render the verb “wipe” in these verses.) and In contemporary English, “blot out” primarily connotes covering a mistake with ink or with paint so as to become no longer readable, although it can mean dabbing with a wet cloth to wash out a stain. The latter appears to be the meaning of this Hebrew verb. Note that the next verb in the next verse is “wash.” (Numbers 34:11 is the most unusual use of this verb: “...and the border shall descend, and shall reach unto the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward” ~KJV)

OSymmachus reduced it to one word, following the MT, pollakiV (“much”).

PThe Masoretic marginal note suggested that instead of this adverbial form “abundantly,” the spelling of this word should be changed to a Hiphil imperative form הֶרֶב (“make abundant”), basically dropping the final he. However, both of the Dead Sea Scrolls of this passage support the Kethib’s adverbial form. The LXX “fully” (and Symmachus “abundantly”), Vulgate “amply,” and Peshitta “completely” also support an adverb instead of a second imperative.
Concerning the verb that follows (
cabas), one of its first uses in the Bible was to describe how the Israelites were to “wash” their clothes before meeting God to receive the 10 Commandments at Mt. Sinai. It also describes all of the purification ceremonies in Leviticus where an unclean person had to wash their clothes. In Numbers, it is part of the consecration of priests to wash their clothes. The root meaning of the word pictures the agitation action of washing. In Jeremiah, the action takes a turn of being applied figuratively to persons to cleanse from sin: Jeremiah 2:22 “Though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me, declares the Lord GOD…” Jeremiah 4:14 “O Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil, that you may be saved. How long shall your wicked thoughts lodge within you?” and then at the end of the Old Testament, we have the prophecy from Malachi 3:2 that the Messiah will be the launderer/the washer-man/the fuller for God’s people: “But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap.” (ESV)

QSymmachus came up with a one-word synonym for “continually” = endelecwV

RCompare with the 4 other instances in the O.T. of this word combined with tamid:
Psalm 16:8 ... שִׁוִּ֬יתִי יְהוָ֣ה לְנֶגְדִּ֣י תָמִ֑ידI have put Yahweh before me continually...”
Psalm 38:18 וּמַכְאוֹבִ֖י נֶגְדִּ֣י תָמִֽיד׃ … “...and my shame is before me continually.”
Psalm 50:8 וְעוֹלֹתֶ֖יךָ לְנֶגְדִּ֣י תָמִֽיד׃ … “...and your whole-burnt-offerings are before me continually.”
‎Isaiah 49:16 חוֹמֹתַ֥יִךְ נֶגְדִּ֖י תָּמִֽיד׃ … “...your walls are before me continually.”

SSymmachus = eneken tou dikaiwqhnai se en toiV logoiV sou (“in order for you to be justified by your words”).

TAquila = uperkriqhV (“judged over”), Symmachus = nikan krinonta (“victoriously judging”?), Q. = same as LXX (“conquering”). Romans 3:4 is an exact quote of the LXX here (at least in the vast majority of Greek New Testament manuscripts, including the Vaticanus. A handful of manuscripts change the last vowel to a similar-sounding dipthong, and that is followed in modern critical Greek New Testaments).

U“chiefly” ~A.R. Faussett

VThe simple Qal stem in the MT “be right” does not support the passive form used in many English translations (“be justified”). The prepositional phrase “in your speaking” in the MT uses an infinitive verb “speaking” (not the noun “word”) prefixed by a temporal beth. However, the LXX and Vulgate translated “justified” as a passive verb followed by noun phrase (“be justified in your words” – note the addition of plurality to “words” – which Symmachus agreed with, although apparently not Aquilla), and the Targum also makes “word” a noun. I am not knowledgeable enough on Syriac grammar to expound on the grammar of the Peshitta here, but Bauscher translated the Peshitta into English as “be just in your word,” and Lamsa as, “be justified in thy reproof.” No one outside of God can make God any more “just/right” than He already is. The NIV attempts to get around this with “proved right” instead of “made right,” although English can use the word “justified” in a self-referential sense when a person is proving to someone else why they were right to do what they did, so, understood in this way, there is no substantial difference in meaning.

WThis verb in the MT means “clean/pure/innocent.” Cf. Proverbs 20:9 “Who can say, ‘I have made my heart clean, I am pure [טהר] from my sin?’” (NKJV) It only occurs a half-dozen other places in the O.T. In Job 15:14 and 25:4, it is in parallel with “righteous” (צדק), Psalm 73:13 puts it in parallel with “innocence” (‎נִקָּי֣וֹן), Isa. 1:16 parallels it with “washing” and “turning away from evil,” and Micah 6:11 contrasts it with “wickedness” and “falsehood/deceit.”
However, the LXX (supported by Symmachus and Theodotian, despite Aquila’s attempt to correct the Greek toward the MT), Vulgate, and Peshitta all read “overcome/conquer/be victorious,” as though the word were perhaps נכה instead of זכה. The DSS is obliterated at this point, so we can’t use it to resolve the dispute. Furthermore, when this verse is quoted in Romans3:4, the LXX of this Psalm is quoted word-for-word, so English versions of Romans 3:4 read “overcome/prevail” instead of “blameless/just/clear.”
A resolution may be found in the Hebrew Union College Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon which lists both “conquer” and “be innocent” as definitions of the root‎
זכי which is the word used in the Targums and Peshitta of this verse. English translators might do well to find a word which means both.
This is also sustained in Hammond’s commentary on this verse, quoted in a footnote in Calvin’s commentary: “[O]rdinarily rendered mundus fuit, clean, or clear, or pure. But this, as the context evinces, must be understood in a forensic sense, as pure is all one with free from guilt; and so there is a second notion of the word for overcoming, meaning that sort of victory which belongs to him that carries the cause in judicature… for he that doth overcome in the suit is fitly said to be cleared or quitted by the law.”

XLXX and Vulgate add a passive indicator “when you are judged,” and it is quoted that way in Romans. But God is not the one in danger of judgment. The Peshitta and Targums support the MT with the active “when you judge.”
G. Wilson noted that this verse pictures God as both accuser (“when you speak”) and judge.

YBauscher = “conquer,” Lamsa = “be triumphant”

ZSymmachus = (idou) eiV adikian wdinhqhn, kai en amartiaiV ekuhse me h mhthr mou. (Same meaning, synonyms underlined.)

AALiddel-Scott defined this Greek word as “crave” not “conceive.”

ABThis word literally means “writhe,” and is occasionally related to birth pangs, but also to “anxious waiting,” “circle dancing,” “hand-made” items, and other actions. Prov. 8:24 contains the only other instance of this verb in the exact same spelling, and it refers to the eternal generation of the Wisdom of God, parallel with the verb נסך (“poured out/installed”).

ACThis is not the usual Hebrew word for “conceive” (הרה). There are only two other passages in the O.T. agreed upon by all to contain this verb, and they are Gen. 30:41, and 31:10, describing the mating and conception of Jacob’s sheep in heat. The BibleWorks search engine adds Gen. 30:38 &39 (describing the same thing), and the E-Sword KJV with Strong’s numbers also adds Deut. 19:6 (a hot-hearted man taking revenge), 1Kings 1:1 (David unable to get warm), and Eccl. 4:11 (Two lying down together keeping warm). BDB defines its root meaning as to “be hot.”

ADThe Syriac word here means “formed.”

9