Mazmur 51:4

51:4 Against you – you above all ¹  – I have sinned;

I have done what is evil in your sight.

So ²  you are just when you confront me; ³ 

you are right when you condemn me. ⁴ 

Yeremia 33:8

33:8 I will purify them from all the sin that they committed against me. I will forgive all their sins which they committed in rebelling against me. ⁵ 

Yehezkiel 36:33

36:33 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: In the day I cleanse you from all your sins, I will populate the cities and the ruins will be rebuilt.

Zakharia 13:1

The Refinement of Judah

13:1 “In that day there will be a fountain opened up for the dynasty ⁶  of David and the people of Jerusalem ⁷  to cleanse them from sin and impurity. ⁸ 

Efesus 5:26

5:26 to sanctify her by cleansing her ⁹  with the washing of the water by the word,

[51:4]  ¹ tn Heb “only you,” as if the psalmist had sinned exclusively against God and no other. Since the Hebrew verb חָטָא (hata’, “to sin”) is used elsewhere of sinful acts against people (see BDB 306 s.v. 2.a) and David (the presumed author) certainly sinned when he murdered Uriah (2 Sam 12:9), it is likely that the psalmist is overstating the case to suggest that the attack on Uriah was ultimately an attack on God himself. To clarify the point of the hyperbole, the translation uses “especially,” rather than the potentially confusing “only.”

[51:4]  ² tn The Hebrew term לְמַעַן (lÿma’an) normally indicates purpose (“in order that”), but here it introduces a logical consequence of the preceding statement. (Taking the clause as indicating purpose here would yield a theologically preposterous idea – the psalmist purposely sinned so that God’s justice might be vindicated!) For other examples of לְמַעַן indicating result, see 2 Kgs 22:17; Jer 27:15; Amos 2:7, as well as IBHS 638-40 §38.3.

[51:4]  ³ tn Heb “when you speak.” In this context the psalmist refers to God’s word of condemnation against his sin delivered through Nathan (cf. 2 Sam 12:7-12).

[51:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “when you judge.”

[33:8]  ⁵ sn Compare Jer 31:34; Ezek 36:25, 33.

[13:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “house” (so NIV, NRSV), referring to dynastic descendants.

[13:1]  ⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[13:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “for sin and for impurity.” The purpose implied here has been stated explicitly in the translation for clarity.

[13:1]  sn This reference to the fountain opened up…to cleanse them from sin and impurity is anticipatory of the cleansing from sin that lies at the heart of the NT gospel message (Rom 10:9-10; Titus 3:5). “In that day” throughout the passage (vv. 1, 2, 4) locates this cleansing in the eschatological (church) age (John 19:37).

[5:26]  ⁹ tn The direct object “her” is implied, but not found in the Greek text. It has been supplied in the English translation to clarify the sense of the passage.