תִרְצֶֽה׃ (ṯir·ṣeh) in Psalms 51:16: Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
תִרְצֶֽה׃ (ṯir·ṣeh) in Psalms 51:16
Source Word
The BSB+ row for Psalms 51:16 links the English rendering "You take no pleasure" with תִרְצֶֽה׃, Strong's H7521, and the morphology tag V-Qal-Imperf-2ms.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form clarifies the direct address to God and the clause's sharp claim about divine pleasure. It strengthens the movement from outward offering to the contrite heart named in the next verse.
How To Communicate It
Use the form to ask what God is said not to take pleasure in here. Keep the answer inside Psalm 51, where sacrifice is evaluated in relation to repentance and a broken spirit.
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 use the grammar profile as a shortcut around the wording and logic of the verse.
What Does The Label Mean?
Hebrew-verb
Verb
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Qal
Imperfect
Second person
Masculine
Singular
The imperfect form presents the action as unfolding, expected, desired, or modal in context; Psalms 51:16 determines how that force is heard.
This form carries the BSB rendering "You take no pleasure" within Psalms 51:16. Psalm 51 gives language for confession, cleansing, restoration, renewed joy, and renewed praise before God.
What The Form Does In This Verse
The action rendered "You take no pleasure" in Psalms 51:16
The clause addresses God directly and is shaped by the negative statement about burnt offering.
It identifies what the speaker says God does not take pleasure in, keeping the sacrifice statement tied to Psalm 51's repentance context.
The form does not by itself abolish sacrifice, settle every use of H7521, or prove a doctrine of worship apart from Psalm 51:16-17.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The form carries the direct address to God in Psalm 51's contrast between outward offering and contrite repentance.
Qal imperfect second masculine singular with local negative force. states what God does not take pleasure in within the psalm's repentance context. Attached to the clause rendered "You take no pleasure". Governed by the negative statement about burnt offering in Psalm 51:16. The verb carries the addressed action, while the local negative wording supplies the denial.
What is God said not to take pleasure in here? He is said not to take pleasure in sacrifice when the psalm is pressing toward a broken and contrite heart.
Direct: The form directly supports the addressed action "take pleasure," while the surrounding wording supplies "no."
The imperfect should be read from the psalm's direct address rather than reduced to a fixed tense value. The negative force comes from the local wording, not from the verb form by itself.
Imperfect alone abolishes sacrifice: The form carries the addressed action; Psalm 51:16-17 supplies the sacrificial and contrite-heart contrast. grammar alone proves worship doctrine: The clause contributes to the doctrine, but the psalm's argument governs the claim.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The BSB+ row for Psalms 51:16 links the English rendering "You take no pleasure" with תִרְצֶֽה׃, Strong's H7521, and the morphology tag V-Qal-Imperf-2ms.
H7521 is represented here by the lemma רָצָה. In this occurrence, the public guide is limited to the BSB rendering "You take no pleasure" rather than every possible gloss of the entry.
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular functions as the addressed predicate in Psalms 51:16. The verse's negative wording governs the sense: God does not take pleasure in burnt offering as an isolated substitute for repentance.
Psalm 51 gives language for confession, cleansing, restoration, renewed joy, and renewed praise before God.
The form fits Scripture's language of confession, mercy, cleansing, restored joy, and renewed obedience.
When teaching Psalms 51:16, use this form to show that the statement is addressed to God and concerns what he does not delight in, then read it with the broken-spirit emphasis that follows.
Do not make the imperfect form alone abolish sacrifice or prove that God rejects all offering language. The form clarifies the addressed action in this clause; Psalm 51:16-17 governs the theological claim.