Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu>]

Pere,

Psalms 51:6 says B(YNEYKA and not L(YNEYKA. The first means 'in (B)  
the mind', and the second, 'in front (L) of the eyes'. I believe it  
is systematically so. In any event, king David has this moral system  
of first committing a nefarious act and then shedding warm tears over  
it in front of God.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On May 17, 2007, at 6:51 AM, <pporta AT oham.net> <pporta AT oham.net> wrote:

> Dear B-H listers,
>
> I know that usually Ps 51:6 has been translated and understood as:
> "I did what is evil to your eyes", ie I did a thing that you (God)  
> consider as evil or bad.
>
> But another possibility would be:
> "I did a bad thing in front of you", ie "When I was doing the bad  
> ing   -namely, adultery--  you were looking at me" (lit. 'at your  
> eyes'), you saw what I was doing...
>
> Are there any reasons, syntactical or other, that support the  
> meaning or understanding in the first place?
> And if there are some, what are these reasons?
>
> Pere Porta