Psalms 51 · Verse 7

Psalms 51:7

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Psalms 51:7, King James Version

Psalms 51:7 in other translations

BSBPurify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
WEBPurify me with hyssop, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
ASVPurify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
YLTThou cleansest me with hyssop and I am clean, Washest me, and than snow I am whiter.
DARBYPurge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
BBEMake me free from sin with hyssop: let me be washed whiter than snow.
WebsterPurge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

What does Psalms 51:7 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 51:7-12
7-12. A series of prayers for forgiveness and purifying. Purge ... hyssop--The use of this plant in the ritual (Ex 12:22; Nu 19:6, 18) suggests the idea of atonement as prominent here; "purge" refers to vicarious satisfaction (Nu 19:17-20).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 7 Purge me with hyssop - תחטאני techatteeni, "thou shalt make a sin-offering for me;" probably alluding to the cleansing of the leper: Lev 14:1, etc. The priest took two clean birds, cedar-wood, scarlet, and hyssop; one of the birds was killed; and the living bird, with the scarlet, cedar, and hyssop, dipped in the blood of the bird that had been killed, and then sprinkled over the person who had been infected. But it is worthy of remark that this ceremony was not performed till the plague of the leprosy had been healed in the leper; (Lev 14:3); and the ceremony above mentioned was for the purpose of declaring to the people that the man was healed, that he might be restored to his place in society, having been healed of a disease that the finger of God alone could remove. This David seems to have full in view; hence he requests the Lord to make the sin-offering for him, and to show to the people that he had accepted him, and cleansed him from his sin.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Psalms 51:7-15
Purge me with hyssop, with the blood of Christ applied to my soul by a lively faith, as the water of purification was sprinkled with a bunch of hyssop. The blood of Christ is called the blood of sprinkling, He 12:24. If this blood of Christ, which cleanses from all sin, cleanse us from our sin, then we shall be clean indeed, He 10:2. He asks not to be comforted, till he is first cleansed; if sin, the bitter root of sorrow, be taken away, he can pray in faith, Let me have a well-grounded peace, of thy creating, so that the bones broken by convictions may rejoice, may be comforted. Hide thy face from my sins; blot out all mine iniquities out of thy book; blot them out, as a cloud is blotted out and dispelled by the beams of the sun. And the believer desires renewal to holiness as much as the joy of salvation. David now saw, more than ever, what an unclean heart he had, and sadly laments it; but he sees it is not in his own power to amend it, and therefore begs God would create in him a clean heart. When the sinner feels this change is necessary, and reads the promise of God to that purpose, he begins to ask it. He knew he had by his sin grieved the Holy Spirit, and provoked him to withdraw. This he dreads more than anything. He prays that Divine comforts may be restored to him. When we give ourselves cause to doubt our interest in salvation, how can we expect the joy of it? This had made him weak; he prays, I am ready to fall, either into sin or into despair, therefore uphold me with thy Spirit. Thy Spirit is a free Spirit, a free Agent himself, working freely. And the more cheerful we are in our duty, the more constant we shall be to it. What is this but the liberty wherewith Christ makes his people free, which is contrasted with the yoke of bondage? Ga 5:1. It is the Spirit of adoption spoken to the heart. Those to whom God is the God of salvation, he will deliver from guilt; for the salvation he is the God of, is salvation from sin. We may therefore plead with him, Lord, thou art the God of my salvation, therefore deliver me from the dominion of sin. And when the lips are opened, what should they speak but the praises of God for his forgiving mercy?

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Psalms 51:7 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

תְּחַטְּאֵ֣נִיte.cha.te.'E.niyou will cleanse from sin meH2398
בְאֵז֣וֹבve.'e.Zovwith hyssopH231
וְאֶטְהָ֑רve.'et.Harso I may be pureH2891
תְּ֝כַבְּסֵ֗נִיte.kha.be.Se.niyou will wash meH3526
וּמִשֶּׁ֥לֶגu.mi.She.legand more than snowH7950
אַלְבִּֽין\׃'al.BinI will become whiteH3835

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Psalms 51:7

  • 1 John 1:7

    But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

  • Isaiah 1:18

    Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

  • Hebrews 9:13-14

    For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

  • Numbers 19:18-20

    And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave: And the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even. But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation, because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the Lord: the water of separation hath not been sprinkled upon him; he is unclean.

  • Hebrews 9:19

    For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,

  • Revelation 1:5

    And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,

  • Exodus 12:22

    And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.

  • Ephesians 5:26-27

    That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

  • Revelation 7:13-14

    And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

  • Leviticus 14:49-52

    And he shall take to cleanse the house two birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop: And he shall kill the one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water: And he shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird, and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times: And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, and with the living bird, and with the cedar wood, and with the hyssop, and with the scarlet:

  • Leviticus 14:4-7

    Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop: And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water: As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water: And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Purge.
Le 14:4-7,49-52; Nu 19:18-20; Heb 9:19
and.
Heb 9:13,14; 1Jo 1:7; Re 1:5
whiter.
Isa 1:18; Eph 5:26,27; Re 7:13,14

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Psalms 51:6

    Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

  • Psalms 51:7

    Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

  • Psalms 51:8

    Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

Read all of Psalms 51

Psalms 51:7 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Purifícame con hisopo, y seré limpio: lávame, y seré emblanquecido más que la nieve.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Voici, j’ai été enfanté dans l’iniquité, et dans le péché ma mère m’a conçu.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Entsündige mich mit Ysop, und ich werde rein sein; wasche mich, und ich werde weißer sein als Schnee.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Propterea Deus destruet te in finem; evellet te, et emigrabit te de tabernaculo tuo, et radicem tuam de terra viventium.