103:8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful;
he is patient 1 and demonstrates great loyal love. 2
103:9 He does not always accuse,
and does not stay angry. 3
1 tn Heb “slow to anger” (see Ps 86:15).
2 tn Heb “and great of loyal love” (see Ps 86:15).
3 tn The Hebrew verb נָטַר (natar) is usually taken to mean “to keep; to guard,” with “anger” being understood by ellipsis. The idiom “to guard anger” is then understood to mean “to remain angry” (see Lev 19:18; Jer 3:5, 12; Nah 1:2). However, it is possible that this is a homonymic root meaning “to be angry” (see HALOT 695 s.v. נטר).