Psalm 51:7-9 New English Translation
7 Cleanse me[a] with hyssop[b] and I will be pure;[c]
wash me[d] and I will be whiter than snow.[e]
8 Grant me the ultimate joy of being forgiven.[f]
May the bones[g] you crushed rejoice.[h]
9 Hide your face[i] from my sins.
Wipe away[j] all my guilt.
Footnotes
- Psalm 51:7 tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.
- Psalm 51:7 sn “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.
- Psalm 51:7 tn After the preceding imperfect, the imperfect with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates result.
- Psalm 51:7 tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.
- Psalm 51:7 sn I will be whiter than snow. Whiteness here symbolizes the moral purity resulting from forgiveness (see Isa 1:18).
- Psalm 51:8 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.
- Psalm 51:8 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.
- Psalm 51:8 tn In this context of petitionary prayer, the prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive, expressing the psalmist’s wish or request.
- Psalm 51:9 sn In this context Hide your face from my sins means “Do not hold me accountable for my sins.”
- Psalm 51:9 tn See the note on the similar expression “wipe away my rebellious acts” in v. 1.
New English Translation (NET)
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