Passage

Psalms 130.4

Book: Psalms · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

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.

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 130:2-6, ASV)

WEB

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.

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 130:2-6, WEB)

KJV

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.

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 130:2-6, KJV)

YLT

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.

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 130:2-6, 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 (130:7-8)
Location: Not stated
Time period: Not stated; the psalm cannot be dated with confidence

Theological reading

"But there is forgiveness with thee, That thou mayest be feared."

A rare word. The noun "forgiveness" (Strong's H5547) appears only three times in the Old Testament, always of God: here, in Nehemiah 9:17, "thou art a God ready to pardon," and in Daniel 9:9, "To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness" (ASV). Forgiveness of this kind belongs to God.

Forgiven, therefore feared. The second line is unexpected. One might think forgiveness would make God less feared. The psalm says the opposite: God forgives "that thou mayest be feared (H3372)." Fear here means reverent awe and loyalty, not terror. A God who only counted sins would drive people away in despair (130:3); a God who forgives draws them to worship and obey him. Paul makes the same point against those who would use grace as license: "Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid" (Romans 6:1-2, ASV).

On what ground? Jews and Christians agree that "there is forgiveness with thee." They differ on its ground. In rabbinic Judaism, especially since the Temple fell, forgiveness comes through repentance, prayer and good deeds. Teachers cite Hosea 14:2, "so will we render as bullocks the offering of our lips," and Ezekiel 18:21-22, where the wicked man who turns "shall surely live." Christians answer that the Torah ties atonement to blood (Leviticus 17:11), and that the prophets promised a new covenant in which God says, "I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more" (Jeremiah 31:34, ASV). They hold that this covenant was made in Christ. See Rabbinic Judaism vs the Christian God and New Covenant.

A personal judge. The Kemetic Religion vs the Christian God comparison makes a simpler point. Ma'at, the Egyptian principle of order and justice, can weigh a heart but cannot forgive, because only a person can forgive. The psalm's forgiveness is "with thee," a personal God. See also Psalms 130.3-4.

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; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

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.