Mazmur 24:4

24:4 The one whose deeds are blameless

and whose motives are pure, ¹ 

who does not lie, ² 

or make promises with no intention of keeping them. ³ 

Mazmur 78:37

78:37 They were not really committed to him, ⁴ 

and they were unfaithful to his covenant.

Matius 5:8

5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Kisah Para Rasul 15:9

15:9 and he made no distinction ⁵  between them and us, cleansing ⁶  their hearts by faith.

[24:4]  ¹ tn Heb “the innocent of hands and the pure of heart.” The “hands” allude to one’s actions, the “heart” to one’s thought life and motives.

[24:4]  ² tn Heb “who does not lift up for emptiness my life.” The first person pronoun on נַפְשִׁי (nafshiy, “my life”) makes little sense here; many medieval Hebrew mss support the ancient versions in reading a third person pronoun “his.” The idiom “lift the life” here means to “long for” or “desire strongly.” In this context (note the reference to an oath in the following line) “emptiness” probably refers to speech (see Ps 12:2).

[24:4]  ³ tn Heb “and does not swear an oath deceitfully.”

[78:37]  ⁴ tn Heb “and their heart was not firm with him.”

[15:9]  ⁵ tn BDAG 231 s.v. διακρίνω 1.b lists this passage under the meaning “to conclude that there is a difference, make a distinction, differentiate.”

[15:9]  ⁶ tn Or “purifying.”