Psalm 51:5
New International Version
Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

New Living Translation
For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.

English Standard Version
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Berean Standard Bible
Surely I was brought forth in iniquity; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.

King James Bible
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

New King James Version
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.

New American Standard Bible
Behold, I was brought forth in guilt, And in sin my mother conceived me.

NASB 1995
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.

NASB 1977
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.

Legacy Standard Bible
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.

Amplified Bible
I was brought forth in [a state of] wickedness; In sin my mother conceived me [and from my beginning I, too, was sinful].

Christian Standard Bible
Indeed, I was guilty when I was born; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Indeed, I was guilty when I was born; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.

American Standard Version
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity; And in sin did my mother conceive me.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Because in evil I was formed in the womb and in sin my mother conceived me.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
For, behold, I was conceived in iniquities, and in sins did my mother conceive me.

Contemporary English Version
I have sinned and done wrong since the day I was born.

Douay-Rheims Bible
For behold I was conceived in iniquities; and in sins did my mother conceive me.

English Revised Version
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Indeed, I was born guilty. I was a sinner when my mother conceived me.

Good News Translation
I have been evil from the day I was born; from the time I was conceived, I have been sinful.

International Standard Version
Indeed, in iniquity I was brought forth; in sin my mother conceived me.

JPS Tanakh 1917
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin did my mother conceive me.

Literal Standard Version
Behold, I have been brought forth in iniquity, | And my mother conceives me in sin.

Majority Standard Bible
Surely I was brought forth in iniquity; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.

New American Bible
Behold, I was born in guilt, in sin my mother conceived me.

NET Bible
Look, I was guilty of sin from birth, a sinner the moment my mother conceived me.

New Revised Standard Version
Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.

New Heart English Bible
Look, I was brought forth in iniquity. In sin my mother conceived me.

Webster's Bible Translation
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

World English Bible
Behold, I was born in iniquity. My mother conceived me in sin.

Young's Literal Translation
Lo, in iniquity I have been brought forth, And in sin doth my mother conceive me.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God
4Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You may be proved right when You speak and blameless when You judge. 5Surely I was brought forth in iniquity; I was sinful when my mother conceived me. 6Surely You desire truth in the inmost being; You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.…

Cross References
Ephesians 2:3
All 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.

Genesis 8:21
When 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.

2 Samuel 11:27
And when the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD.

Job 14:4
Who can bring out clean from unclean? No one!

Job 15:14
What is man, that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?

Psalm 58:3
The wicked are estranged from the womb; the liars go astray from birth.


Treasury of Scripture

Behold, I was shaped in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

sharpen

Psalm 58:3
The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.

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 imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.

conceive [heb.

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Psalm 51
1. David prays for remission of sins, whereof he makes a deep confession
6. He prays for sanctification
16. God delights not in sacrifice, but in sincerity
18. He prays for the church














(5) Behold, I was shapen . . .--Better, Behold, I was born in iniquity.

The later rabbis, combining this verse with the mystery hanging over the origin and name of David's mother, represent him as born in adultery. (See Stanley, Jewish Church, chap. ii., p. 46, Note.) The word rendered conceived is certainly one generally used of animal desire. (The marginal warm me is erroneous.) But the verse is only a statement of the truth of experience so constantly affirmed in Scripture of hereditary corruption and the innate proneness to sin in every child of man. The argument for a personal origin to the psalm from this verse seems strong; but in Psalm 129:1, and frequently, the community is personified as an individual growing from youth to age, and so may here speak of its far-back idolatrous ancestry as the mother who conceived it in sin.

Verses 5-12. - The prayer now makes a stride in advance. It has been hitherto for the first step in justification - the wiping out of past transgressions. It is now for restoration, for a renewal of spiritual life, for a return to God's favour, and to the spiritual joy involved in it. First, however, an additional confession is made (vers. 5, 6). Not only have I committed acts of sin (vers. 1-4), but sin is thoroughly ingrained into my nature. I was conceived in it; I was brought forth in it; only the strongest remedies can cleanse me from it (ver. 7). But cleansing alone is not enough. I need renewal (ver. 10); I need thy Holy Spirit (ver. 11); I crave, above all, the sense of a restoration to thy favour - a return to the old feelings of "joy and gladness" (ver. 8), even "the joy of thy salvation" (ver. 12). Verse 5. - Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; rather, in iniquity was I brought forth. And in sin did my mother conceive me. It is doubtless true, as Professor Cheyne says, that "the Old Testament contains no theory of the origin of sin" - no formulated doctrine on the subject. But the fact of congenital depravity is stated, not only here, but also in Job 14:4; Psalm 58:3; it is also implied in Isaiah 43:27 and Hosea 6:7.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Surely
הֵן־ (hên-)
Interjection
Strong's 2005: Lo! behold!

I was brought forth
חוֹלָ֑לְתִּי (ḥō·w·lā·lə·tî)
Verb - Pual - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 2342: To twist, whirl, to dance, to writhe in pain, fear, to wait, to pervert

in iniquity;
בְּעָו֥וֹן (bə·‘ā·wō·wn)
Preposition-b | Noun - common singular
Strong's 5771: Iniquity, guilt, punishment for iniquity

I was sinful
וּ֝בְחֵ֗טְא (ū·ḇə·ḥêṭ)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2399: A crime, its penalty

when my mother
אִמִּֽי׃ (’im·mî)
Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 517: A mother, )

conceived me.
יֶֽחֱמַ֥תְנִי (ye·ḥĕ·maṯ·nî)
Verb - Piel - Perfect - third person feminine singular | first person common singular
Strong's 3179: To be hot, to conceive


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OT Poetry: Psalm 51:5 Behold I was brought forth in iniquity (Psalm Ps Psa.)
Psalm 51:4
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