Psalms 51:10
Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.
Interpretation
Psalms 51:10 shows a clean heart that takes shape in conflict and celebration—listen for "create" and "clean". Work out clean heart when pressure tempts shortcuts—honor God behind closed doors.
Context
This passage belongs to Psalms, a poetry/wisdom witness, highlighting clean heart. Within ch. 51, a small unit frames the emphasis. It edges toward wisdom & worship. Watch the terms “create” and “clean”.
Manuscripts & Textual Witnesses
The Hebrew text is preserved in the Masoretic tradition, stabilized between the 6th-10th centuries CE. The the Dead Sea Scrolls (found 1947-1956) provide manuscripts 1000+ years older than medieval texts, generally confirming the Masoretic Text's reliability with only minor variations. The Septuagint (Greek translation, 3rd-2nd century BCE) offers an independent textual witness. Variations between manuscripts are typically minor: spelling differences, word order, or clarifications that do not change the overall sense. Modern translations compare all available manuscripts to reconstruct the best reflects the earliest recoverable text text.
Sources & witness notes
MT