Psalms 51:8

Grant me the ultimate joy of being forgiven! ¹  May the bones ²  you crushed rejoice! ³ 

Job 5:17,18; Ps 6:2,3; Ps 13:5; Ps 30:11; Ps 38:3; Ps 119:81,82; Ps 126:5,6; Isa 57:15-18; Ho 6:1,2; Mt 5:4; Lu 4:18; Ac 2:37-41; Ac 16:29-34

¹ 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.

² 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.

³ tn In this context of petitionary prayer, the prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive, expressing the psalmist’s wish or request.