Deuteronomy 30:3

30:3 the Lord your God will reverse your captivity and have pity on you. He will turn and gather you from all the peoples among whom he ¹  has scattered you.

Deuteronomy 32:36

32:36 The Lord will judge his people,

and will change his plans concerning ²  his servants;

when he sees that their power has disappeared,

and that no one is left, whether confined or set free.

Ezra 9:8-9

9:8 “But now briefly ³  we have received mercy from the Lord our God, in that he has left us a remnant and has given us a secure position ⁴  in his holy place. Thus our God has enlightened our eyes ⁵  and has given us a little relief in our time of servitude. 9:9 Although we are slaves, our God has not abandoned us in our servitude. He has extended kindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, in that he has revived us ⁶  to restore the temple of our God and to raise ⁷  up its ruins and to give us a protective wall in Judah and Jerusalem. ⁸ 

Psalms 90:13-14

90:13 Turn back toward us, O Lord!

How long must this suffering last? ⁹ 

Have pity on your servants! ¹⁰ 

90:14 Satisfy us in the morning ¹¹  with your loyal love!

Then we will shout for joy and be happy ¹²  all our days!

Isaiah 63:15-17

63:15 Look down from heaven and take notice,

from your holy, majestic palace!

Where are your zeal ¹³  and power?

Do not hold back your tender compassion! ¹⁴ 

63:16 For you are our father,

though Abraham does not know us

and Israel does not recognize us.

You, Lord, are our father;

you have been called our protector from ancient times. ¹⁵ 

63:17 Why, Lord, do you make us stray ¹⁶  from your ways, ¹⁷ 

and make our minds stubborn so that we do not obey you? ¹⁸ 

Return for the sake of your servants,

the tribes of your inheritance!

Jeremiah 31:20

31:20 Indeed, the people of Israel are my dear children.

They are the children I take delight in. ¹⁹ 

For even though I must often rebuke them,

I still remember them with fondness.

So I am deeply moved with pity for them ²⁰ 

and will surely have compassion on them.

I, the Lord, affirm it! ²¹ 

Lamentations 3:32

3:32 Though he causes us ²²  grief, he then has compassion on us ²³ 

according to the abundance of his loyal kindness. ²⁴ 

Hosea 14:4

Divine Promise to Relent from Judgment and to Restore Blessings

14:4 “I will heal their waywardness ²⁵ 

and love them freely, ²⁶ 

for my anger will turn ²⁷  away from them.

[30:3]  ¹ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[32:36]  ² tn The translation understands the verb in the sense of “be grieved, relent” (cf. HALOT 689 s.v. נחם hitp 2); cf. KJV, ASV “repent himself”; NLT “will change his mind.” Another option is to translate “will show compassion to” (see BDB 637 s.v. נחם); cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV.

[9:8]  ³ tn Heb “according to a little moment.”

[9:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “a peg” or “tent peg.” The imagery behind this word is drawn from the experience of nomads who put down pegs as they pitched their tents and made camp after times of travel.

[9:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “to cause our eyes to shine.” The expression is a figure of speech for “to revive.” See DCH 1:160 s.v. אור Hi.7.

[9:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “has granted us reviving.”

[9:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “to cause to stand.”

[9:9]  ⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[90:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “Return, O Lord! How long?”

[90:13]  ¹⁰ tn Elsewhere the Niphal of נָחַם (nakham) + the preposition עַל (’al) + a personal object has the nuance “be comforted concerning [the personal object’s death]” (see 2 Sam 13:39; Jer 31:15). However, here the context seems to demand “feel sorrow for,” “have pity on.” In Deut 32:36 and Ps 135:14, where “servants” is also the object of the preposition, this idea is expressed with the Hitpael form of the verb.

[90:14]  ¹¹ sn Morning is used metaphorically for a time of renewed joy after affliction (see Pss 30:5; 46:5; 49:14; 59:16; 143:8).

[90:14]  ¹² tn After the imperative (see the preceding line) the cohortatives with the prefixed conjunction indicate purpose/result.

[63:15]  ¹³ tn This probably refers to his zeal for his people, which motivates him to angrily strike out against their enemies.

[63:15]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “the agitation of your intestines and your compassion to me they are held back.” The phrase “agitation of your intestines” is metonymic, referring to the way in which one’s nervous system reacts when one feels pity and compassion toward another. אֵלַי (’elay, “to me”) is awkward in this context, where the speaker represents the nation and, following the introduction (see v. 7), utilizes first person plural forms. The translation assumes an emendation to the negative particle אַל (’al). This also necessitates emending the following verb form (which is a plural perfect) to a singular jussive (תִתְאַפָּק, tit’appaq). The Hitpael of אָפַק (’afaq) also occurs in 42:14.

[63:16]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “our protector [or “redeemer”] from antiquity [is] your name.”

[63:17]  ¹⁶ tn Some suggest a tolerative use of the Hiphil here, “[why do] you allow us to stray?” (cf. NLT). Though the Hiphil of תָעָה (ta’ah) appears to be tolerative in Jer 50:6, elsewhere it is preferable or necessary to take it as causative. See Isa 3:12; 9:15; and 30:28, as well as Gen 20:13; 2 Kgs 21:9; Job 12:24-25; Prov 12:26; Jer 23:13, 32; Hos 4:12; Amos 2:4; Mic 3:5.

[63:17]  ¹⁷ tn This probably refers to God’s commands.

[63:17]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “[Why do] you harden our heart[s] so as not to fear you.” The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[31:20]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Is Ephraim a dear son to me or a child of delight?” For the substitution of Israel for Ephraim and the plural pronouns for the singular see the note on v. 18. According to BDB 210 s.v. הֲ 1.c the question is rhetorical having the force of an impassioned affirmation. See 1 Sam 2:27; Job 41:9 (41:1 HT) for parallel usage.

[31:20]  ²⁰ tn Heb “my stomach churns for him.” The parallelism shows that this refers to pity or compassion.

[31:20]  ²¹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[3:32]  ²² tn Heb “Although he has caused grief.” The word “us” is added in the translation.

[3:32]  ²³ tn Heb “He will have compassion.” The words “on us” are added in the translation.

[3:32]  ²⁴ tc The Kethib preserves the singular form חַסְדּוֹ (khasdo, “his kindness”), also reflected in the LXX and Aramaic Targum. The Qere reads the plural form חֲסָדָיו (khasadayv, “his kindnesses”) which is reflected in the Latin Vulgate.

[14:4]  ²⁵ sn The noun מְשׁוּבָתָה (mÿshuvatah, “waywardness”; cf. KJV “backsliding”) is from the same root as שׁוּבָה (shuvah, “return!”) in 14:1[2]. This repetition of שׁוּב (shuv) creates a wordplay which emphasizes reciprocity: if Israel will return (שׁוּבָה, shuvah) to the Lord, he will cure her of the tendency to turn away (מְשׁוּבָתָה) from him.

[14:4]  ²⁶ tn The noun נְדָבָה (nÿdavah, “voluntariness; free-will offering”) is an adverbial accusative of manner: “freely, voluntarily” (BDB 621 s.v. נְדָבָה 1). Cf. CEV “without limit”; TEV “with all my heart”; NLT “my love will know no bounds.”

[14:4]  ²⁷ sn The verb שָׁב, shav, “will turn” (Qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular from שׁוּב, shuv, “to turn”) continues the wordplay on שׁוּב in 14:1-4[2-5]. If Israel will “return” (שׁוּב) to the Lord, he will heal Israel’s tendency to “turn away” (מְשׁוּבָתָה, mÿshuvatah) and “turn” (שָׁב) from his anger.