properly · verb, pual perfect, 1st person common singular
iniquity
בְּעָו֥וֹןbe.'a.Von
H5771
perversity · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
sin
וּ֝בְחֵ֗טְאu.ve.Chet'
H2399
a crime or its penalty · conjunction + preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
mother
אִמִּֽי'i.Mi
H517
a mother (as the bond of the family) · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix
conceive
יֶֽחֱמַ֥תְנִיye.che.Mat.ni
H3179
probably to be hot · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person feminine singular + pronominal suffix
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Job 14:4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.
Psalms 58:3 The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.
Job 15:14-16 What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
Ephesians 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; an…
John 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Genesis 5:3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:
Genesis 8:21 And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imag…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 51:1-6
The title has reference to a very sad story, that of David's fall. But, though he fell, he was not utterly cast down, for God graciously upheld him and raised him up. 1. The sin which, in this psalm, he laments, was the folly and wickedness he committed with his neighbour's wife, a sin not to be spoken of, nor thought of, without detestation. His debauching of Bathsheba was the inlet to all the other sins that followed; it was as the letting forth of water. This sin of David's is recorded for warning to all, that he who thinks he stands may take heed lest he fall. 2. The repentance which, in this psalm, he expresses, he was brought to by the ministry of Nathan, who was sent of God to convinc…
His guilt was aggravated by his essential, native sinfulness, which is as contrary to God's requisitions of inward purity as are outward sins to those for right conduct.
John Gill on Psalms 51:5
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity,.... This cannot be understood of any personal iniquity of his immediate parents; since this respects his wonderful formation in the womb, in which both he and they were wholly passive, as the word here used is of that form; and is the amazing work of God himself, so much admired by the psalmist, Psalm 139:13; and cannot design any sinfulness then infused into him by his Maker, seeing God cannot be the author of sin; but of original sin and corruption, derived to him by natural generation: and the sense is, that as soon as ever the mass of human nature was shaped and quickened, or as soon as soul and body were united together, sin was in him, and he was in si…
Psalm 51:3-6
3. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is continually before me. 4. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done evil in thy sight; that thou mayest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. 5. Behold, I was born in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6. Behold, thou hast desired truth in the inward parts, and hast shown me wisdom in secret.
3. For If know my sins [259] He now discovers his reason for imploring pardon with so much vehemency, and this was the painful disquietude which his sins caused him, and which could only be relieved by his obtaining reconciliation with God. This proves that his prayer did not proceed from dissimu…
The Church Fathers
Celsus has not explained how error accompanies the "becoming," or product of generation; nor has he expressed himself with sufficient clearness to enable us to compare his ideas with ours, and to pass judgment on them. But the prophets, who have given some wise suggestions on the subject of things produced by generation, tell us that a sacrifice for sin was offered even for new-born infants, as not being free from sin. They say, "I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me;" also, "They are estranged from the womb;" which is followed by the singular expression, "They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies."
But we, according to the epistle of James, "all stumble in many things," and "no one is pure from sin, no not if his life is but a day long." For who will boast "that he has a clean heart? or who will be sure that he is pure from sin?" And we are held guilty after the likeness of Adam's transgression. Hence David says, "Behold, I was shaped in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." And the blessed Job, "Even if I were righteous, my mouth will speak wickedness; even if I were perfect, I will be found guilty. If I wash myself with soap and make my hands ever so clean, yet you will plunge me in the ditch, and even my own clothes will abhor me."
So it is because of this quite unique innocence that the psalm says, "Against you alone have I sinned and done what is evil in your presence, that you may be justified in your words and may overcome when you are judged," because he could find not a hint of evil in you [Jesus Christ]. Why could he find it in you, though, O human race? Because it goes on to say, "For I myself was conceived in iniquity, and in sins did my mother conceive me." It is David saying this. Inquire how David was born; you will discover that it was of a lawful wife, not of adultery. So in terms of what sort of propagation does he say "I was conceived in iniquity"? It can only be that there is here a kind of propagation or transmission of death, which every person contracts who is born of the union of man and woman.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Afflictions Made Beneficial · In leading us to confession of sin — In leading us to confession of sin
Depravity Of Man · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Desire · SPIRITUAL — SPIRITUAL
Fall Of Man, The · Man in consequence of: Born in sin — Man in consequence of: Born in sin
Heredity · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Homicide · DAVID’S REPENTANCE FOR, AND CONFESSION OF, THE MUR — DAVID’S REPENTANCE FOR, AND CONFESSION OF, THE MUR
Man · Born in sin — Born in sin
Sin · All men are conceived and born in — All men are conceived and born in
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
David here confesses his hereditary sin as the root of his actual sin. The declaration moves backwards from his birth to conception, it consequently penetrates even to the most remote point of life's beginning. חוללתּי stands instead of נולדתּי, perhaps (although elsewhere, i.e., in Psa 90:2, the idea of painfulness is kept entirely in the background) with reference to the decree, "with pain shalt thou bring forth children," Gen 3:16 (Kurtz); instead of הרתה אתי, with still more definite reference to that which precedes conception, the expression is יחמתני (for יחמתני, following the same interchange of vowel as in Gen 30:39; Jdg 5:28). The choice of the verb decides the question whether by ע…
I was born a sinner: The psalmist is not making excuses but is acknowledging the depth of his sinfulness. From the time we are conceived, we all share in the human condition of sinfulness.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 51:5
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity. He is thunderstruck at the discovery of his inbred sin, and proceeds to set it forth. This was not intended to justify himself, but it rather meant to complete the confession. It is as if he said, not only have I sinned this once, but I am in my very nature a sinner. The fountain of my life is polluted as well as its streams. My birth tendencies are out of the square of equity; I naturally lean to forbidden things. Mine is a constitutional disease, rendering my very person obnoxious to thy wrath. And in sin did my mother conceive me. He goes back to the earliest moment of his being, not…
