51:5 Look, I was guilty of sin from birth,
a sinner the moment my mother conceived me. 1
51:7 Sprinkle me 2 with water 3 and I will be pure; 4
wash me 5 and I will be whiter than snow. 6
51:10 Create for me a pure heart, O God! 7
Renew a resolute spirit within me! 8
1 tn Heb “Look, in wrongdoing I was brought forth, and in sin my mother conceived me.” The prefixed verbal form in the second line is probably a preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive), stating a simple historical fact. The psalmist is not suggesting that he was conceived through an inappropriate sexual relationship (although the verse has sometimes been understood to mean that, or even that all sexual relationships are sinful). The psalmist’s point is that he has been a sinner from the very moment his personal existence began. By going back beyond the time of birth to the moment of conception, the psalmist makes his point more emphatically in the second line than in the first.
2 tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.
3 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.
4 tn After the preceding imperfect, the imperfect with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates result.
5 tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.
6 sn I will be whiter than snow. Whiteness here symbolizes the moral purity resulting from forgiveness (see Isa 1:18).
7 sn The heart is viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s motives and moral character.
8 tn Heb “and a reliable spirit renew in my inner being.”