Psalm 51/Notes/Lexical.v. 14.733277

The adjective נָדִיב can have two basic meanings: "willing" and "noble." The former refers to being voluntarily amenable to doing something, which overlaps very well with the English gloss "willing." Sometimes English "willing," however, can have a negative connotation of someone who will do something if required, but who is not excited about it. This connotation is not evident with the Hebrew נָדִיב. The second possible meaning of נָדִיב is "noble," referring to individuals from the higher echelons of society who are socially expected to behave in a dignified, just, and magnanimously generous manner. If this meaning is understood in Ps 51:14, then an alternative gloss like "generous" or "magnanimous" would be more appropriate. Both basic senses are also possible if נְדִיבָה in Ps 51:14 is read as an abstract noun (instead of an adjective), though the only other attested cases of the noun seem to align with the concept of "nobility."