Bible Strands
Psalms 51:2
Wash me clean of my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — David speaks to God immediately after Nathan the prophet confronted him regarding his adultery with Bathsheba. He follows his initial plea for mercy with a direct request for purification.
The words — The text uses כַּבְּסֵ֣נִי (kabbenî) for "wash me" and טַהֲרֵֽנִי (tahărênî) for "cleanse me," paired with מֵעֲוֹנִ֑י (me‘ăwōnî) "from my iniquity" and מֵחַטָּאתִ֥י (mechattāṯî) "from my sin."
The thread — Ezekiel 36:25 records God promising to sprinkle clean water and cleanse from impurities, while 1 John 1:7 links walking in the light to the cleansing blood of Jesus. Hebrews 10:21 grounds this access in the presence of a great priest over God's house.
Why it lands — The verse commands God to remove the petitioner's iniquity and sin through washing and cleansing. It requires the reader to acknowledge human defilement and depend entirely on divine action for purification.
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
Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
Cross-references
- 1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
- Hebrews 10:21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
- Ezekiel 36:25 I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols.
- Psalms 51:7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
- Jeremiah 4:14 Wash the evil from your heart, O Jerusalem, so that you may be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts within you?
- Isaiah 1:16 Wash and cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from My sight. Stop doing evil!
- Revelation 1:5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood,
- Acts 22:16 And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and wash your sins away, calling on His name.’
- 1 Corinthians 6:11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
- Revelation 7:14 “Sir,” I answered, “you know.” So he replied, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.