Psalm 51:7 kjv
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Psalm 51:7 nkjv
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Psalm 51:7 niv
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Psalm 51:7 esv
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Psalm 51:7 nlt
Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Psalm 51 7 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Gen 8:21 | "for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth..." | Human evil inherent from youth. |
| Job 14:4 | "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? No one!" | Impossibility of self-purity from a fallen source. |
| Job 15:14 | "What is man, that he can be pure? Or he who is born of a woman, that he can be righteous?" | Questions human purity at birth. |
| Ps 58:3 | "The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies." | Innate tendency toward sin from birth. |
| Rom 3:10 | "as it is written: 'None is righteous, no, not one...'" | Universal human sinfulness. |
| Rom 3:23 | "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," | All humanity affected by sin. |
| Rom 5:12 | "Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin...all sinned." | Sin inherited through Adam. |
| Rom 5:19 | "For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners..." | Humanity constituted sinners by Adam's act. |
| Eph 2:1 | "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins..." | Spiritual death due to sin. |
| Eph 2:3 | "among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind." | Born subject to God's wrath due to sin. |
| Isa 6:5 | "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips..." | Awareness of inherent uncleanness. |
| Jer 17:9 | "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" | Deep-seated corruption of the heart. |
| Ps 51:2 | "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!" | Plea for thorough cleansing due to sinfulness. |
| Ps 51:5 | "Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart." | God seeks inner truth, implying sin's inward presence. |
| Ps 51:10 | "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." | Only God can create a new, clean nature. |
| Ezek 36:26-27 | "I will give you a new heart...and put my Spirit within you..." | Promise of internal transformation. |
| John 3:3 | "unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." | Need for spiritual rebirth due to fallen nature. |
| Tit 3:5 | "he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit," | Salvation by divine regeneration, not human works. |
| Heb 9:14 | "how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God." | Christ's blood purifies from the deep defilement of sin. |
| 1 John 1:9 | "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." | Cleansing for confessed sin. |
| Rom 6:6 | "We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin." | Christ's work addressing the body of sin. |
| Gen 6:5 | "The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." | Widespread, inherent wickedness of humanity. |
| Rom 7:18 | "For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out." | Inner struggle with the law of sin. |
| 1 Cor 15:22 | "For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive." | The federal headship of Adam in transmitting sin and death. |
Psalm 51 verses
Psalm 51 7 Meaning
Psalm 51:7 expresses David’s profound recognition of the inherent, pervasive nature of sin from the very beginning of human existence. It is a declaration of his sinful condition from conception and birth, not merely a statement about specific transgressions. This verse establishes the foundation for his urgent plea for divine purification, acknowledging that his fallen nature runs deeper than his conscious acts of sin. It underscores the universal human state of being born into a world corrupted by sin, inheriting a predisposition toward sin, thus requiring God’s radical grace and cleansing.
Psalm 51 7 Context
Psalm 51 is a deeply penitential prayer attributed to King David, written after the prophet Nathan confronted him concerning his grievous sins of adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah (recorded in 2 Sam 12:1-15). The entire chapter reflects David’s profound sorrow, guilt, and brokenness over his transgression against God. Verse 7, specifically, serves to deepen David’s confession by demonstrating that his sinful acts were not merely isolated incidents but stemmed from an inherent, corrupted nature that existed from the moment of his conception. This confession highlights the Old Testament understanding of the pervasive reach of sin, impacting not just actions but one's very being from birth. It acknowledges that human beings enter the world predisposed to sin, demonstrating a profound grasp of humanity's fallen condition.
Psalm 51 7 Word analysis
- Behold (Hebrew: הֵן - hen): This interjection serves as an emphatic marker, drawing attention to a crucial and undeniable truth about to be revealed. It signals a deep insight or a surprising, foundational reality. David uses it to emphasize the gravity of what he is about to confess regarding his own nature.
- I was brought forth (Hebrew: הוּלַלְתִּי - hulaltiy): Derived from the verb `חול` (khul), meaning to writhe, travail, or bring forth, this is in the Hophal perfect form. The Hophal stem indicates a passive causative sense – "I was caused to be brought forth." It means David was born, emphasizing his passive reception of his existence in a fallen state. It points to the circumstances of his entry into the world.
- in iniquity (Hebrew: בְּעָוֹן - be'awon): The preposition be (in) indicates condition or state. `עָוֹן` ('awon) refers to iniquity, guilt, twistedness, or perversion. It denotes a moral crookedness or deviation from God's perfect standard, carrying the idea of not just an act of sin but a bent or twisted nature that produces such acts, often leading to a sense of guilt or punishment.
- and in sin (Hebrew: וּבְחֵטְא - u'vekhet): The `ו` (u) is "and." `חֵטְא` (khet) is a very common biblical word for sin, typically meaning "to miss the mark," "to fall short," or "to err." While often used for individual acts, its pairing here with `עָוֹן` ('awon) reinforces the pervasive nature of sin, encompassing both ingrained predisposition and specific failings. The parallelism emphasizes the depth of the condition.
- did my mother conceive me (Hebrew: יֶחֱמַתְנִי אִמִּי - yeḥematni 'immi): `יחם` (yakham) means to be hot, to conceive. This phrase specifically pushes the origin of his sinfulness back to the earliest moment of his biological existence, the very act of conception. This is not a moral accusation against his mother, but a statement about the inherited human condition of fallenness, received from parents, which is true for all humanity after Adam. It underscores the pervasive reach of sin from the moment of origin.
- "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity": This phrase highlights David's realization that his very origin, his birth into the world, occurred within the context of a sinful reality. It implies that sin is not merely a collection of external actions but a condition present at his arrival. This emphasizes an inherent fallenness, a deep-seated spiritual ailment present from the first breath.
- "and in sin did my mother conceive me": This strengthens and specifies the previous declaration, taking the origin of his sinfulness back further, to the moment of his conception. It signifies that the predisposition to sin, the human corruption, is not something acquired post-birth, but is integrally tied to the beginning of human life in a fallen world. This statement underpins the doctrine of inherited sin, often called original sin, portraying sin as a deep-seated part of the human make-up from the earliest possible point. It reflects profound humility and a radical acknowledgment of the universal human state.
Psalm 51 7 Bonus section
This verse stands as a key biblical text supporting the concept of original sin – the theological understanding that humanity inherits a sinful nature as a consequence of Adam's transgression, making all persons guilty before God from birth and naturally inclined toward disobedience. David’s acknowledgment here clarifies that the need for redemption is not merely for specific acts of wrongdoing but for the very state of one's being. This also implies the universality of the need for salvation; if sin is inherent from conception, then all humanity requires a divine intervention to be made righteous. It also highlights the unparalleled nature of Christ's incarnation, who alone was conceived by the Holy Spirit, without the stain of inherited sin, as foretold by prophets like Isaiah (Isa 7:14) and later confirmed in the Gospels (Lk 1:35). David’s words also underscore his true humility; he did not rationalize his sins as mere mistakes but traced them to a deeper corruption, laying the groundwork for true repentance and the transformative grace offered by God.
Psalm 51 7 Commentary
Psalm 51:7 is a profound theological statement within David’s heartfelt confession, articulating a foundational truth about human nature. It reveals that David’s grievous actions, such as adultery and murder, were not isolated incidents but rather symptomatic of a deeper spiritual condition – a sinfulness inherent from birth and even conception. This is not an indictment of his mother’s character or the act of procreation itself, but a universal declaration that human beings, since the Fall of Adam, are born into a state of sin. They inherit a propensity towards evil and an alienated relationship with God, even before committing conscious acts of transgression. This deep understanding of sin’s pervasive nature explains David’s urgent plea in subsequent verses for a profound, divine cleansing and recreation of a clean heart (Ps 51:10), a purification far beyond any external ritual or mere behavioral correction. It illustrates the Bible’s teaching that salvation must address the root problem of a fallen nature, not just its outward manifestations.