Bible Strands
Psalms 106:6
We have sinned like our fathers; we have done wrong and acted wickedly.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist speaks corporately for Israel, addressing God during a recitation of national history that traces the people's repeated rebellion from the Exodus onward. The speaker positions the current generation as continuing the exact pattern of disobedience established by their predecessors.
The words — The Hebrew verbs חָטָ֥אנוּ (cha.Ta.nu) and הִרְשָֽׁעְנוּ (hir.Sha.'e.nu) literally mean "we have sinned" and "we have acted wickedly," framing the confession as a collective admission of moral failure. These terms are immediately tied to the phrase "like our fathers," establishing a direct continuity of guilt across generations.
The thread — This pattern of generational rebellion appears in Nehemiah 9:16, where the people recall their ancestors becoming arrogant and stiff-necked. The same theme of a stubborn, disloyal generation is echoed in Psalms 78:8, while corporate confession of national sin is modeled in 1 Kings 8:47.
Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to acknowledge that moral failure is a repeated corporate pattern rather than an isolated incident. It calls for honest recognition of inherited and ongoing disobedience before seeking God's mercy.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.
Cross-references
- Nehemiah 9:16 But they and our fathers became arrogant and stiff-necked and did not obey Your commandments.
- Psalms 78:8 Then they will not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose heart was not loyal, whose spirit was not faithful to God.
- 1 Kings 8:47 and when they come to their senses in the land to which they were taken, and they repent and plead with You in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong; we have acted wickedly,’
- Ezra 9:6 and said: “O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, because our iniquities are higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached the heavens.
- Nehemiah 9:32 So now, our God, the great and mighty and awesome God who keeps His gracious covenant, do not view lightly all the hardship that has come upon us, and upon our kings and leaders, our priests and prophets, our ancestors and all Your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today.
- Leviticus 26:40 But if they will confess their iniquity and that of their fathers in the unfaithfulness that they practiced against Me, by which they have also walked in hostility toward Me—
- Daniel 9:5 we have sinned and done wrong. We have acted wickedly and rebelled. We have turned away from Your commandments and ordinances.
- Numbers 32:14 Now behold, you, a brood of sinners, have risen up in place of your fathers to further stoke the burning anger of the LORD against Israel.
- Nehemiah 1:7 We have behaved corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, statutes, and ordinances that You gave Your servant Moses.
- Jeremiah 3:25 Let us lie down in our shame; let our disgrace cover us. We have sinned against the LORD our God, both we and our fathers; from our youth even to this day we have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.”