Charles Ellicott Commentary Psalms 51:5

"Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity; And in sin did my mother conceive me." — Psalms 51:5 (ASV)

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.