הָשִׁ֣יבָה (hā·šî·ḇāh) in Psalms 51:12: Verb - Hifil - Imperative - masculine singular | third person feminine singular
הָשִׁ֣יבָה (hā·šî·ḇāh) in Psalms 51:12
Source Word
The BSB+ row for Psalms 51:12 links the English rendering "Restore" with הָשִׁ֣יבָה, Strong's H7725, and the parsing label V-Hifil-Imp-ms | 3fs.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form makes restoration an act requested from God. The verse is not a self-resolution but a plea for God to restore the joy of salvation.
How To Communicate It
When teaching Psalm 51:12, use this form to show that restored joy follows God's mercy and renewing work, not self-generated optimism.
What Not To Say
- Grammar should serve context, not override it.
- Do not make a Hebrew imperative imply that God is obligated by human demand; it is the language of prayerful petition.
- Do not overclaim the attached feminine element apart from the full phrase about the joy of salvation.
What Does The Label Mean?
Hebrew-verb
Verb
Hifil
Imperative
Second
Masculine
Singular
Third person feminine singular
Hifil imperative, masculine singular, with third feminine singular element
The imperative gives the line the force of petition: the speaker asks God to restore, while the surrounding phrase identifies the joy of salvation as the burden of the request.
This form begins the request that God restore the joy of His salvation.
What The Form Does In This Verse
God as the one asked to restore
The imperative opens the petition and is completed by the phrase about the joy of Your salvation.
It asks God to bring back what sin has disrupted: the joy of salvation. The form should be read with the phrase that follows it.
The attached feminine element should not be overread apart from the sentence; the verse's request is governed by the joy of salvation.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The imperative carries the restoration plea, and the attached feminine element must be read with the joy-of-salvation phrase.
Prayer imperative with attached object element. asks God to restore the joy connected with salvation. Attached to the joy of Your salvation phrase. Governed by the restoration petition in Psalm 51:12. The attached feminine element should be handled through the phrase, not overread apart from the object being restored.
What is God asked to restore? The speaker asks God to restore the joy of Your salvation.
Direct: The imperative directly supports Restore, while the following phrase supplies what is restored.
The attached feminine element should be read with the object phrase and not isolated. The imperative is a prayerful petition, not human control over God.
Imperative means human demand over God: The form carries a prayer request, not a claim that God is obligated by the speaker. suffix alone settles the object: The phrase about joy of salvation supplies the object relation in context.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The BSB+ row for Psalms 51:12 links the English rendering "Restore" with הָשִׁ֣יבָה, Strong's H7725, and the parsing label V-Hifil-Imp-ms | 3fs.
H7725 can describe turning back, returning, or restoring. Psalm 51:12 uses it in a plea for restored joy.
The imperative is directed to God, and the following phrase supplies the object and meaning of the restoration request.
Psalm 51:12 asks God not only for forgiveness but for renewed joy and a willing spirit after confession.
The request fits the biblical pattern that God restores sinners to joy and steadiness by mercy, not by pretending sin was small.
Teachers can show that restore is a prayer-word here: the psalmist looks to God to return joy, not merely to recover it himself.
Do not make the suffix or stem label settle the whole theology of restoration. The phrase joy of Your salvation governs the claim.