Psalm 51:7–9

Footnotes

1. 17 The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.
2. 18 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.
3. 19 After the preceding imperfect, the imperfect with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates result.
4. 20 The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.
5. 21 I will be whiter than snow. Whiteness here symbolizes the moral purity resulting from forgiveness (see Isa 1:18).
6. 22 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.
7. 23 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.
8. 24 In this context of petitionary prayer, the prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive, expressing the psalmist’s wish or request.
9. 25 In this context Hide your face from my sins means “Do not hold me accountable for my sins.”
10. 26 See the note on the similar expression “wipe away my rebellious acts” in v. .