Texts in Conversation
Psalm 51:4 likely alludes to Jeremiah 4:14 by using the same language for washing to describe the removal of sin. While the image of washing appears elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible, it is usually in the context of ritual impurity, not moral impurity, making its use in the Psalm and Jeremiah unusual.
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Jeremiah 4:14
Hebrew Bible
13 Look! The enemy is approaching like gathering clouds. The roar of his chariots is like that of a whirlwind. His horses move more swiftly than eagles.” I cry out, “We are doomed, for we will be destroyed!” 14 O people of Jerusalem, wash your hearts of evil so that you may yet be delivered. How long will you continue to harbor up wicked schemes within you? 15 For messengers are coming, heralding disaster, from the city of Dan and from the hills of Ephraim.
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Psalm 51:4
Hebrew Bible
1 For the music director, a psalm of David, written when Nathan the prophet confronted him after David’s affair with Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, because of your loyal love. Because of your great compassion, wipe away my rebellious acts. 2 Wash away my wrongdoing. Cleanse me of my sin. 3 For I am aware of my rebellious acts; I am forever conscious of my sin. 4 Against you—you above all—I have sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. So you are just when you confront me; you are right when you condemn me.
Date: 6th-3rd Centuries B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Scholars often note numerous prophetic allusions within Psalm 51. Both lexical and thematic commonalities have led scholars to posit a connection between the psalm and the traditions of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, etc. Some find the allusions so compelling that they go so far as to argue for dependence ... in Psalm 51, the speaker twice petitions God to "wash" him of his sins (51:4, 9). Although washing with water is not an unusual Image in the Hebrew Bible, used often to describe physical cleansing or ritual purification, it Is an unexpected concept here as it is applied to sin. Here In Psalm 51, and In several passages in Isaiah and Jeremiah, washing is specified as a solution to sin; however, in each of these passages the reference to washing is metaphorical ..."
DiFransico, Lesley
Identifying Inner-Biblical Allusion through Metaphor: Washing Away Sin in Psalm 51
(pp. 542-557) Vetus Testamentum 65, 2015
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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