תְּחַטְּאֵ֣נִי (tə·ḥaṭ·ṭə·’ê·nî) in Psalms 51:7: Verb - Piel - Imperfect - second person masculine singular | first person common singular
תְּחַטְּאֵ֣נִי (tə·ḥaṭ·ṭə·’ê·nî) in Psalms 51:7
Source Word
The BSB+ row for Psalms 51:7 links the English rendering "Purify me" with תְּחַטְּאֵ֣נִי, Strong's H2398, and the parsing label V-Piel-Imperf-2ms | 1cs.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form is interpretively weighty because it carries the prayer, "Purify me." It helps readers hear cleansing as something the speaker asks God to do, not merely a self-improvement resolve.
How To Communicate It
Explain this as an imperfect used in petition with a first-person object suffix. That clarifies why English uses an appeal, "Purify me," without turning every imperfect into an imperative.
What Not To Say
- Grammar should serve context, not override it.
- Do not make the imperfect label prove more than the sentence supports.
- Do not use the stem label by itself to settle a theological claim.
- Do not treat this occurrence as a complete word study for the whole Hebrew lemma.
- Do not treat the attached suffix as a full theology of the participant; let the verse identify the relationship.
What Does The Label Mean?
Hebrew-verb
Verb
Verb - Piel - Imperfect - second person masculine singular | first person common singular
First person common singular
Piel
Imperfect
Second person
Masculine
Singular
The imperfect form presents the action as unfolding, expected, or desired in context; Psalms 51:7 determines how that force is heard.
This form carries the BSB rendering "Purify me" within Psalms 51:7. Psalm 51 gives language for confession, cleansing, restoration, renewed joy, and renewed praise before God.
What The Form Does In This Verse
The prayer request rendered "Purify me" in Psalms 51:7
The form opens the verse as an appeal to God for cleansing.
It presents a petition addressed to God, with the first-person suffix marking the speaker as the one needing purification.
It does not make the Piel stem alone prove intensity, and it does not make the imperfect label mean only future time apart from the prayer context.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The form carries a direct plea for divine purification in Psalm 51.
Petitionary imperfect with first-person object suffix. asks God to purify the speaker. Attached to the request for purification in Psalms 51:7. Governed by the prayer address to God. The form is not an imperative by label, but prayer context gives it request force.
Who is being asked to purify whom? The speaker asks God to purify him.
Direct: The verbal form and first-person suffix directly support the English phrase "Purify me."
The imperfect has petitionary force here because the line is a prayer addressed to God. The first-person suffix marks the speaker as the object of purification; it should not be expanded into a full doctrine of cleansing by itself.
Imperfect always means future tense: Prayer context can give an imperfect petitionary force, as in this plea for purification. Piel always means intensive: Piel identifies the stem, but the verse supplies the request and cleansing context.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The BSB+ row for Psalms 51:7 links the English rendering "Purify me" with תְּחַטְּאֵ֣נִי, Strong's H2398, and the parsing label V-Piel-Imperf-2ms | 1cs.
H2398 is represented here by the lemma חָטָא. In this occurrence, the public guide is limited to the BSB rendering "Purify me" rather than every possible gloss of the entry.
The Piel imperfect second masculine singular with first-person suffix is addressed to God and asks for cleansing: "Purify me." The suffix marks the speaker as the object of the requested action, while the prayer context gives the imperfect petitionary force.
Psalm 51 gives language for confession, cleansing, restoration, renewed joy, and renewed praise before God.
The form fits Scripture's pattern of repentance, mercy, cleansing, and restored worship before the Lord.
When teaching Psalms 51:7, show that the form is a direct plea for God to cleanse the speaker, then connect it to the verse's wider language of washing and being clean.
Do not derive a full word study, grammar doctrine, or complete doctrine of cleansing from V-Piel-Imperf-2ms | 1cs alone. The form identifies the occurrence-level petition.