For the sins I have committed are more in number than the sand of the sea is literally “for I have sinned over the number of the sand of the sea.” The sand of the sea is a common Old Testament idiom for expressing great numbers (for example, Gen 22.17; Josh 11.4; 1 Kgs 4.29). Although it is perhaps a minor technicality, Good News Translation always prefers to count “grains of sand along the seashore.” Revised Standard Version has a long line here, and Good News Translation is even longer; the Greek is really rather concise, and effectiveness will be gained with conciseness here. Revised English Bible does an excellent job by saying “whose sins outnumber the sands of the sea,” or we may say “my sins outnumber the grains of sand on the beach.”

My transgressions are multiplied, O Lord, they are multiplied: Good News Translation made the previous line too long, but it does well here with the simple “They are so many, Lord, they are so many.” That conveys just the right nuance of desperation, regret, and abject contrition. A good public reader could do well with that line, but it would be hard to read it badly. It could only be improved on with a slight change in punctuation: “They are so many, Lord. They are so many.”

I am unworthy to look up and see the height of heaven: For I am unworthy, compare Luke 15.19. Since standing, looking upward, was the posture of prayer, Manasseh says here that he is unworthy to pray. “I am not worthy to turn my face toward heaven” (Good News Translation) expresses the idea while keeping the figure, but we could eliminate the metaphor with “I am not worthy to pray.” Since the writer says he is unworthy to look upward, it must be that he is looking downward—the next verse will speak of his being weighted down. Compare once again Luke 18.13, where the tax collector will not even lift his eyes to heaven.

Because of the multitude of my iniquities: Good News Translation restructures here so that this causal phrase becomes the main clause, and the original main clause is a result clause. This is effective since it brings “I have done so much that is wrong” into a close position with “they are so many” in the previous line. It also has the advantage of making a verbal expression out of the abstract noun iniquities.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

My sins outnumber the grains of sand on the beach.
They are so many, Lord. They are so many.
I have done so much that is wrong
that I am not worthy to pray to you.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Shorter Books of the Deuterocanon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2006. For this and other handbooks for translators see