ris3n's Apologetics Codex
Psalms 130.3-4
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Passage

Psalms 130.3-4

Book: Psalms · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV
  1. A Song of Ascents. Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Jehovah. 2. Lord, hear my voice: Let thine ears be attentive To the voice of my supplications.

3. If thou, Jehovah, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 4. But there is forgiveness with thee, That thou mayest be feared.

  1. I wait for Jehovah, my soul doth wait, And in his word do I hope. 6. My soul waiteth for the Lord More than watchmen wait for the morning; Yea, more than watchmen for the morning. (Psalms 130:1-6, ASV)
WEB
  1. A Song of Ascents. Out of the depths I have cried to you, Yahweh. 2. Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my petitions.

3. If you, Yah, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? 4. But there is forgiveness with you, therefore you are feared.

  1. I wait for Yahweh. My soul waits. I hope in his word. 6. My soul longs for the Lord more than watchmen long for the morning; more than watchmen for the morning. (Psalms 130:1-6, WEB)
KJV
  1. A Song of degrees. Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD. 2. Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.

3. If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? 4. But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.

  1. I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. 6. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning. I say: or, which watch unto (Psalms 130:1-6, KJV)
YLT
  1. A Song of the Ascents. From depths I have called Thee, Jehovah. 2. Lord, hearken to my voice, Thine ears are attentive to the voice of my supplications.

3. If iniquities Thou dost observe, O Lord, who doth stand? 4. But with Thee [is] forgiveness, that Thou mayest be feared.

  1. I hoped [for] Jehovah, hoped hath my soul, And for His word I have waited. 6. My soul [is] for the Lord, More than those watching for morning, Watching for morning! (Psalms 130:1-6, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: An unnamed Israelite praying "Out of the depths" (130:1). The title "A Song of Ascents" marks Psalms 120-134, traditionally linked with pilgrims going up to Jerusalem
  • Audience: Addressed to God, and in the closing verses to Israel: "O Israel, hope in Jehovah" (130:7)
  • Location: Not stated
  • Time period: Not stated; the psalm cannot be dated with confidence

Theological reading

"If thou, Jehovah, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, That thou mayest be feared."

The question. "Mark" (Strong's H8104) means to keep watch over, here to keep a record of. "Who could stand?" pictures a court where the accused must rise to answer. If God kept an account of iniquities (H5771), no one could stand. The psalmist makes no claim of innocence. The divine names change within the verse, from the short form Yah (H3050) to Adonai, Lord (H136).

The answer. Verse 4 begins with "But." There is forgiveness (H5547) with God. The psalm's close names its source: "with Jehovah there is lovingkindness, And with him is plenteous redemption. And he will redeem Israel From all his iniquities" (130:7-8, ASV). In church tradition Psalm 130 is one of the seven penitential psalms, and Martin Luther set it as the hymn "Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir," "Out of the depths I cry to thee."

The weighing of the heart. The Kemetic Religion vs the Christian God comparison sets this psalm beside the Egyptian judgment of the dead. In the scene from the Book of the Dead (spell 125), the heart of the deceased is weighed against the feather of Ma'at, and the dead person recites a list of sins he did not commit. The Bible also says God weighs hearts: "Jehovah weigheth the hearts" (Proverbs 21:2, ASV; see Proverbs 21.2). The difference is in the defence. The Egyptian text has the dead plead their innocence. The psalmist admits that no one could stand if iniquities were counted, and rests his case on forgiveness. See Romans 8.33-34 for the New Testament form of the same courtroom.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

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Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.