77:8 Has his loyal love disappeared forever?
Has his promise 1 failed forever?
86:15 But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and merciful God.
You are patient 2 and demonstrate great loyal love and faithfulness. 3
7:18 There is no other God like you! 4
You 5 forgive sin
and pardon 6 the rebellion
of those who remain among your people. 7
You do not remain angry forever, 8
but delight in showing loyal love.
7:19 You will once again 9 have mercy on us;
you will conquer 10 our evil deeds;
you will hurl our 11 sins into the depths of the sea. 12
1:50 from 13 generation to generation he is merciful 14 to those who fear 15 him.
1 tn Heb “word,” which may refer here to God’s word of promise (note the reference to “loyal love” in the preceding line).
2 tn Heb “slow to anger.”
3 tn Heb “and great of loyal love and faithfulness.”
4 tn Heb “Who is a God like you?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No one!”
5 tn Heb “one who.” The prayer moves from direct address (second person) in v. 18a to a descriptive (third person) style in vv. 18b-19a and then back to direct address (second person) in vv. 19b-20. Due to considerations of English style and the unfamiliarity of the modern reader with alternation of persons in Hebrew poetry, the entire section has been rendered as direct address (second person) in the translation.
6 tn Heb “pass over.”
7 tn Heb “of the remnant of his inheritance.”
8 tn Heb “he does not keep hold of his anger forever.”
9 tn The verb יָשׁוּב (yashuv, “he will return”) is here used adverbially in relation to the following verb, indicating that the
10 tn Some prefer to read יִכְבֹּס (yikhbos, “he will cleanse”; see HALOT 459 s.v. כבס pi). If the MT is taken as it stands, sin is personified as an enemy that the
11 tn Heb “their sins,” but the final mem (ם) may be enclitic rather than a pronominal suffix. In this case the suffix from the preceding line (“our”) may be understood as doing double duty.
12 sn In this metaphor the
13 tn Grk “and from.” Here καί (kai) has been translated by a semicolon to improve the English style.
14 sn God’s mercy refers to his “loyal love” or “steadfast love,” expressed in faithful actions, as the rest of the psalm illustrates.
15 tn That is, “who revere.” This refers to those who show God a reverential respect for his sovereignty.