Charles Ellicott Commentary Psalms 51

Blot out. — The figure is most probably, as in Exodus 32:32-33, taken from the custom of erasing a written record (Psalms 69:28). So Septuagint and Vulgate Isaiah, however (Isaiah 44:22), uses the same word in a different connection, I will blot out thy sins as a cloud. A fine thought that the error and guilt that cloud the mind and conscience can be cleared off like a mist by a breath from heaven.

Transgressions. — See Psalms 32:1. The word seems to imply a wilful throwing off of authority or restraint, perhaps here the breach of the covenant-relation irrespective of any particular sin by which the breach was brought about. Whether it is an individual or the community that speaks, the prayer is that Jehovah would act according to His chesed or covenant-favour towards the suppliant, and wipe out from His records whatever has intervened between the covenant parties.

Wash me thoroughly.

Literally, Wash me much, whether we follow the Hebrew text or the Hebrew margin. The two clauses of the verse are not merely antithetic.

The terms wash and cleanse seem to imply, respectively, the actual and the ceremonial purification. The former term literally means to tread, describing the process of washing clothes (as blankets are washed to this day in Scotland) by trampling them with the feet. The latter term is used for the formal declaration of cleanliness by the priest in the case of leprosy (Leviticus 13:6–34).

(For the terms iniquity and sin, see Psalms 32:1.)

For I. —There is an emphatic pronoun in the first clause that we can preserve, while also noting the difference between the general violation of the covenant in the term transgressions in the first clause, and the offence that made the breach in the second. (See Note on Psalms 51:1.) Because I am one who is conscious of my transgressions, and (or, possibly, even) my offence is ever before me.

The thought that he had been unfaithful to the covenant was an accusing conscience to him, keeping his sin always before his eyes; and until, according to his prayer in Psalms 51:1-2, he was restored to a conscious relationship, his offence must weigh upon his mind. This explanation holds, whether an individual or the community speaks.

Against you, you only ... —This can refer to nothing but a breach of the covenant relationship by the nation at large. An individual would have felt his guilt against the nation or other individuals, as well as against Jehovah. The fact that Saint Paul quotes (from the Septuagint) part of the verse in Romans 3:4 (see Note, New Testament Commentary) has naturally opened up an avenue for discussion on the bearing of the words on the doctrines of free-will and predestination. But the immediate object of his quotation appears to be to contrast the faithfulness of the God of the covenant with the falsehood of the covenant people (“Let God be true, and every man a liar”). The honor of God, as God of the covenant, was at stake. It is this thought which appears in the last clauses of this verse.

That ... — So that (or, in order that) you are (or may be) justified in your cause, and clear in your judgment. The Hebrew, rendered in the Authorized Version when you speak, is often used of a cause or suit (see Exodus 18:16-22, “matter,” etc.), and it is here plainly used in this sense and is parallel to judgment. The clause seems to imply not only a sense of a breach of the covenant, but some manifest judgment from Jehovah in consequence; and, as usual, it is of its effect on the nations that the psalmist thinks. The Divine honor would be justified when the suffering nation confessed that condemnation and punishment had been deserved. This was apparently the meaning read in the words by the Septuagint.

Behold, I was shapen ... —Better, Behold, I was born in iniquity.

The later rabbis, combining this verse with the mystery surrounding the origin and name of David’s mother, represent him as born in adultery. (See Stanley, Jewish Church, chapter 2, page 46, Note.) The word rendered conceived is certainly one generally used of animal desire. (The marginal note warm me is erroneous.)

But the verse is only a statement of the truth of experience, constantly affirmed in Scripture, regarding hereditary corruption and the innate proneness to sin in every child of man.

The argument for a personal origin of the psalm from this verse seems strong. However, in Psalms 129:1, and frequently elsewhere, the community is personified as an individual growing from youth to old age. Thus, the community may here speak of its distant idolatrous ancestry as the mother who conceived it in sin.