Surely I was brought forth in iniquity; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.
Parallel translations
- WEB Behold, I was born in iniquity. In sin my mother conceived me.
- KJV Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
- NKJV Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.
- NASB ¶Behold, I was brought forth in guilt, And in sin my mother conceived me.
- NLT For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
David confesses that he was sinful from birth, conceived in iniquity. His problem is not just isolated acts but a sinful nature.
Overview
David traces his sin to its root, acknowledging that he was sinful from conception—a key text for the doctrine of original sin, that all are born with a fallen nature inherited from Adam. He is not blaming his mother but confessing the depth of human corruption. This explains why redemption must come from God, fulfilled in Christ, the sinless one born to save sinners.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Rom 5:12Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned.
- Job 14:4Who can bring out clean from unclean? No one!
- Ps 58:3The wicked are estranged from the womb; the liars go astray from birth.
- Job 15:14–16What is man, that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?
- Eph 2:3All of us also lived among them at one time, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh and indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath.
- John 3:6Flesh is born of flesh, but spirit is born of the Spirit.
- Gen 5:3When Adam was 130 years old, he had a son in his own likeness, after his own image; and he named him Seth.
- Gen 8:21When the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, He said in His heart, “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from his youth. And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 51:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.