Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Parallel translations
- WEB Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
- BSB Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
- NKJV Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
- NASB Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; Cleanse me, and I will be whiter than snow.
- NLT Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
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 asks God to purify him with hyssop so he will be clean, washed whiter than snow. He seeks complete cleansing from sin's defilement.
Overview
Hyssop was used in Israel's rituals to sprinkle blood or water for purification, so David invokes that imagery to plead for cleansing. The promise to be 'whiter than snow' echoes Isaiah 1:18, where God offers to make scarlet sins white. This points to the perfect cleansing achieved by Christ, whose blood truly purifies the conscience.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- 1 Jn 1:7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
- Isa 1:18Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
- Heb 9:13–14For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
- Num 19:18–20And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave:
- Heb 9:19For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,
- Rev 1:5And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
- Exod 12:22And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.
- Eph 5:26–27That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
- Rev 7:13–14And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?
- Lev 14:49–52And he shall take to cleanse the house two birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop:
- Lev 14:4–7Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop:
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 51:7 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
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