Exodus 34:6-7

34:6 The Lord passed by before him and proclaimed: ¹  “The Lord, the Lord, ²  the compassionate and gracious ³  God, slow to anger, ⁴  and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness, ⁵  34:7 keeping loyal love for thousands, ⁶  forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. But he by no means leaves the guilty unpunished, responding to the transgression ⁷  of fathers by dealing with children and children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.”

Psalms 5:7

5:7 But as for me, ⁸  because of your great faithfulness I will enter your house; ⁹ 

I will bow down toward your holy temple as I worship you. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 51:1-2

Psalm 51 ¹¹ 

For the music director; a psalm of David, written when Nathan the prophet confronted him after David’s affair with Bathsheba. ¹² 

51:1 Have mercy on me, O God, because of ¹³  your loyal love!

Because of ¹⁴  your great compassion, wipe away my rebellious acts! ¹⁵ 

51:2 Wash away my wrongdoing! ¹⁶ 

Cleanse me of my sin! ¹⁷ 

Psalms 69:13

69:13 O Lord, may you hear my prayer and be favorably disposed to me! ¹⁸ 

O God, because of your great loyal love,

answer me with your faithful deliverance! ¹⁹ 

Psalms 69:16

69:16 Answer me, O Lord, for your loyal love is good! ²⁰ 

Because of your great compassion, turn toward me!

Psalms 86:5

86:5 Certainly ²¹  O Lord, you are kind ²²  and forgiving,

and show great faithfulness to all who cry out to you.

Psalms 86:15

86:15 But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and merciful God.

You are patient ²³  and demonstrate great loyal love and faithfulness. ²⁴ 

Psalms 103:8

103:8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful;

he is patient ²⁵  and demonstrates great loyal love. ²⁶ 

Psalms 106:7

106:7 Our ancestors in Egypt failed to appreciate your miraculous deeds,

they failed to remember your many acts of loyal love,

and they rebelled at the sea, by the Red Sea. ²⁷ 

Psalms 130:7

130:7 O Israel, hope in the Lord,

for the Lord exhibits loyal love, ²⁸ 

and is more than willing to deliver. ²⁹ 

Isaiah 55:7

55:7 The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle ³⁰ 

and sinful people their plans. ³¹ 

They should return ³²  to the Lord, and he will show mercy to them, ³³ 

and to their God, for he will freely forgive them. ³⁴ 

Isaiah 63:7

A Prayer for Divine Intervention

63:7 I will tell of the faithful acts of the Lord,

of the Lord’s praiseworthy deeds.

I will tell about all ³⁵  the Lord did for us,

the many good things he did for the family of Israel, ³⁶ 

because of ³⁷  his compassion and great faithfulness.

Isaiah 63:15

63:15 Look down from heaven and take notice,

from your holy, majestic palace!

Where are your zeal ³⁸  and power?

Do not hold back your tender compassion! ³⁹ 

Lamentations 3:32

3:32 Though he causes us ⁴⁰  grief, he then has compassion on us ⁴¹ 

according to the abundance of his loyal kindness. ⁴² 

Jonah 3:9

3:9 Who knows? ⁴³  Perhaps God might be willing to change his mind and relent ⁴⁴  and turn from his fierce anger ⁴⁵  so that we might not die.” ⁴⁶ 

Jonah 4:2

4:2 He prayed to the Lord and said, “Oh, Lord, this is just what I thought ⁴⁷  would happen ⁴⁸  when I was in my own country. ⁴⁹  This is what I tried to prevent ⁵⁰  by attempting to escape to Tarshish! ⁵¹  – because I knew ⁵²  that you are gracious and compassionate, slow to anger ⁵³  and abounding ⁵⁴  in mercy, and one who relents concerning threatened judgment. ⁵⁵ 

Micah 7:18

7:18 There is no other God like you! ⁵⁶ 

You ⁵⁷  forgive sin

and pardon ⁵⁸  the rebellion

of those who remain among your people. ⁵⁹ 

You do not remain angry forever, ⁶⁰ 

but delight in showing loyal love.

Habakkuk 3:2

3:2 Lord, I have heard the report of what you did; ⁶¹ 

I am awed, ⁶²  Lord, by what you accomplished. ⁶³ 

In our time ⁶⁴  repeat those deeds; ⁶⁵ 

in our time reveal them again. ⁶⁶ 

But when you cause turmoil, remember to show us mercy! ⁶⁷ 

[34:6]  ¹ tn Here is one of the clearest examples of what it means “to call on the name of the Lord,” as that clause has been translated traditionally (וַיִּקְרָא בְשֵׁם יְהוָה, vayyiqra’ vÿshem yÿhvah). It seems more likely that it means “to make proclamation of Yahweh by name.” Yahweh came down and made a proclamation – and the next verses give the content of what he said. This cannot be prayer or praise; it is a proclamation of the nature or attributes of God (which is what his “name” means throughout the Bible). Attempts to make Moses the subject of the verb are awkward, for the verb is repeated in v. 6 with Yahweh clearly doing the proclaiming.

[34:6]  ² sn U. Cassuto (Exodus, 439) suggests that these two names be written as a sentence: “Yahweh, He is Yahweh.” In this manner it reflects “I am that I am.” It is impossible to define his name in any other way than to make this affirmation and then show what it means.

[34:6]  ³ tn See Exod 33:19.

[34:6]  ⁴ sn This is literally “long of anger.” His anger prolongs itself, allowing for people to repent before punishment is inflicted.

[34:6]  ⁵ sn These two words (“loyal love” and “truth”) are often found together, occasionally in a hendiadys construction. If that is the interpretation here, then it means “faithful covenant love.” Even if they are left separate, they are dual elements of a single quality. The first word is God’s faithful covenant love; the second word is God’s reliability and faithfulness.

[34:7]  ⁶ tn That is, “for thousands of generations.”

[34:7]  ⁷ sn As in the ten commandments (20:5-6), this expression shows that the iniquity and its punishment will continue in the family if left unchecked. This does not go on as long as the outcomes for good (thousands versus third or fourth generations), and it is limited to those who hate God.

[5:7]  ⁸ sn But as for me. By placing the first person pronoun at the beginning of the verse, the psalmist highlights the contrast between the evildoers’ actions and destiny, outlined in the preceding verses, with his own.

[5:7]  ⁹ sn I will enter your house. The psalmist is confident that God will accept him into his presence, in contrast to the evildoers (see v. 5).

[5:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in fear [of] you.” The Hebrew noun יִרְאָה (yir’ah, “fear”), when used of fearing God, is sometimes used metonymically for what it ideally produces: “worship, reverence, piety.”

[51:1]  ¹¹ sn Psalm 51. The psalmist confesses his sinfulness to God and begs for forgiveness and a transformation of his inner character. According to the psalm superscription, David offered this prayer when Nathan confronted him with his sin following the king’s affair with Bathsheba (see 2 Sam 11-12). However, the final two verses of the psalm hardly fit this situation, for they assume the walls of Jerusalem have been destroyed and that the sacrificial system has been temporarily suspended. These verses are probably an addition to the psalm made during the period of exile following the fall of Jerusalem in 586 b.c. The exiles could relate to David’s experience, for they, like him, and had been forced to confront their sin. They appropriated David’s ancient prayer and applied it to their own circumstances.

[51:1]  ¹² tn Heb “a psalm by David, when Nathan the prophet came to him when he had gone to Bathsheba.”

[51:1]  ¹³ tn Or “according to.”

[51:1]  ¹⁴ tn Or “according to.”

[51:1]  ¹⁵ tn Traditionally “blot out my transgressions.” Because of the reference to washing and cleansing in the following verse, it is likely that the psalmist is comparing forgiveness to wiping an object clean (note the use of the verb מָחָה (makhah) in the sense of “wipe clean; dry” in 2 Kgs 21:13; Prov 30:20; Isa 25:8). Another option is that the psalmist is comparing forgiveness to erasing or blotting out names from a register (see Exod 32:32-33). In this case one might translate, “erase all record of my rebellious acts.”

[51:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Thoroughly wash me from my wrongdoing.”

[51:2]  ¹⁷ sn In vv. 1b-2 the psalmist uses three different words to emphasize the multifaceted character and degree of his sin. Whatever one wants to call it (“rebellious acts,” “wrongdoing,” “sin”), he has done it and stands morally polluted in God’s sight. The same three words appear in Exod 34:7, which emphasizes that God is willing to forgive sin in all of its many dimensions. In v. 2 the psalmist compares forgiveness and restoration to physical cleansing. Perhaps he likens spiritual cleansing to the purification rites of priestly law.

[69:13]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “as for me, [may] my prayer be to you, O Lord, [in] a time of favor.”

[69:13]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “O God, in the abundance of your loyal love, answer me in the faithfulness of your deliverance.”

[69:16]  ²⁰ tn Or “pleasant”; or “desirable.”

[86:5]  ²¹ tn Or “for.”

[86:5]  ²² tn Heb “good.”

[86:15]  ²³ tn Heb “slow to anger.”

[86:15]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and great of loyal love and faithfulness.”

[103:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “slow to anger” (see Ps 86:15).

[103:8]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and great of loyal love” (see Ps 86:15).

[106:7]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Reed Sea” (also in vv. 9, 22). “Reed Sea” (or “Sea of Reeds”) is a more accurate rendering of the Hebrew expression יָם סוּף (yam suf), traditionally translated “Red Sea.” See the note on the term “Red Sea” in Exod 13:18.

[130:7]  ²⁸ tn Heb “for with the Lord [is] loyal love.”

[130:7]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and abundantly with him [is] redemption.”

[55:7]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Let the wicked one abandon his way.” The singular is collective.

[55:7]  ³¹ tn Heb “and the man of evil his thoughts.” The singular is collective.

[55:7]  ³² tn Heb “let him return.” The singular is collective, meaning “let them.”

[55:7]  ³³ tn The imperfect with vav (ו) conjunctive after the jussive indicates purpose/result.

[55:7]  ³⁴ sn The appeal and promise of vv. 6-7 echoes the language of Deut 4:25-31; 30:1-10; and 1 Kgs 8:46-53, all of which anticipate the exile and speak of the prerequisites for restoration.

[63:7]  ³⁵ tn Heb “according to all which.”

[63:7]  ³⁶ tn Heb “greatness of goodness to the house of Israel which he did for them.”

[63:7]  ³⁷ tn Heb “according to.”

[63:15]  ³⁸ tn This probably refers to his zeal for his people, which motivates him to angrily strike out against their enemies.

[63:15]  ³⁹ 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.

[3:32]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “Although he has caused grief.” The word “us” is added in the translation.

[3:32]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “He will have compassion.” The words “on us” are added in the translation.

[3:32]  ⁴² 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.

[3:9]  ⁴³ sn The king expresses his uncertainty whether Jonah’s message constituted a conditional announcement or an unconditional decree. Jeremiah 18 emphasizes that God sometimes gives people an opportunity to repent when they hear an announcement of judgment. However, as Amos and Isaiah learned, if a people refused to repent over a period of time, the patience of God could be exhausted. The offer of repentance in a conditional announcement of judgment can be withdrawn and in its place an unconditional decree of judgment issued. In many cases it is difficult to determine on the front end whether or not a prophetic message of coming judgment is conditional or unconditional, thus explaining the king’s uncertainty.

[3:9]  ⁴⁴ tn “he might turn and relent.” The two verbs יָשׁוּב וְנִחַם (yashub vÿnikham) may function independently (“turn and repent”) or form a verbal hendiadys (“be willing to turn”; see IBHS 540 §32.3b). The imperfect יָשׁוּב and the perfect with prefixed vav וְנִחַם form a future-time narrative sequence. Both verbs function in a modal sense, denoting possibility, as the introductory interrogative suggests (“Who knows…?”). When used in reference to past actions, שׁוּב (shub) can mean “to be sorry” or “to regret” that someone did something in the past, and when used in reference to future planned actions, it can mean “to change one’s mind” about doing something or “to relent” from sending judgment (BDB 997 s.v. שׁוּב 6). The verb נִחַם (nikham) can mean “to be sorry” about past actions (e.g., Gen 6:6, 7; 1 Sam 15:11, 35) and “to change one’s mind” about future actions (BDB 637 s.v. נחם 2). These two verbs are used together elsewhere in passages that consider the question of whether or not God will change his mind and relent from judgment he has threatened (e.g., Jer 4:28). The verbal root שׁוּב is used four times in vv. 8-10, twice of the Ninevites “repenting” from their moral evil and twice of God “relenting” from his threatened calamity. This repetition creates a wordplay that emphasizes the appropriateness of God’s response: if the people repent, God might relent.

[3:9]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “from the burning of his nose/face.” See Exod 4:14; 22:24; 32:12; Num 25:4; 32:14; Deut 9:19.

[3:9]  ⁴⁶ tn The imperfect verb נֹאבֵד (no’ved, “we might not die”) functions in a modal sense, denoting possibility. The king’s hope parallels that of the ship’s captain in 1:6. See also Exod 32:7-14; 2 Sam 12:14-22; 1 Kgs 8:33-43; 21:17-29; Jer 18:6-8; Joel 2:11-15.

[4:2]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “my saying?” The first common singular suffix on דְבָרִי (dÿvari, “my saying”) functions as a subjective genitive: “I said.” The verb אָמַר (’amar, “to say”) here refers to the inner speech and thoughts of Jonah (see HALOT 66 s.v. אמר 4; BDB 56 s.v. אָמַר 2; e.g., Gen 17:17; Ruth 4:4; 1 Sam 20:26; Esth 6:6; Jonah 2:4). There is no hint anywhere else in the book that Jonah had argued with God when he was originally commissioned. While most English versions render it “I said” or “my saying,” a few take it as inner speech: “This is what I feared” (NEB), “It is just as I feared” (REB), “I knew from the very beginning” (CEV).

[4:2]  ⁴⁸ tn The phrase “would happen” does not appear in the Hebrew text but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[4:2]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “Is this not my saying while I was in my own country?” The rhetorical question implies a positive answer (“Yes, this was the very thing that Jonah had anticipated would happen all along!”) so it is rendered as an emphatic declaration in the translation.

[4:2]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “This is why I originally fled to Tarshish.” The verb קָדַם (qadam) in the Piel stem has a broad range of meanings and here could mean: (1) “to go before, be in front of” (1 Sam 20:25; Ps 68:26); (2) “to do [something] beforehand,” (Ps 119:147); or (3) “to anticipate, to do [something] early, forestall [something]” (Ps 119:148). The lexicons nuance Jonah 4:2 as “to do [something] for the first time” (HALOT 1069 s.v. קדם 4) or “to do [something] beforehand” (BDB 870 s.v. קָדַם 3). The phrase קִדַּמְתִּי לִבְרֹחַ (qiddamti livroakh, “I did the first time to flee”) is an idiom that probably means “I originally fled” or “I fled the first time.” The infinitive construct לִבְרֹחַ (“to flee”) functions as an object complement. This phrase is translated variously by English versions, depending on the category of meaning chosen for קָדַם: (1) “to do [something] for the first time, beforehand”: “That is why I fled beforehand” (JPS, NJPS), “I fled before” (KJV), “I fled previously” (NKJV), “I fled at the beginning” (NRSV), “I first tried to flee” (NJB), “I fled at first” (NAB); (2) “to do [something] early, to hasten to do [something]”: “That is why I was so quick to flee” (NIV), “I hastened to flee” (ASV), “I made haste to flee” (RSV), “I did my best to run away” (TEV); and (3) “to anticipate, forestall [something]”: “it was to forestall this that I tried to escape to Tarshish” (REB), “to forestall it I tried to escape to Tarshish” (NEB), “in order to forestall this I fled” (NASB). The ancient versions also handle it variously: (1) “to do [something] early, to hasten to do [something]”: “Therefore I made haste to flee” (LXX), “That is why I hastened to run away” (Tg. Jonah 4:2); and (2) “to go before, to be in front”: “Therefore I went before to flee to Tarshish” (Vulgate). The two most likely options are (1) “to do [something] the first time” = “This is why I originally fled to Tarshish” and (2) “to anticipate, forestall [something]” = “This is what I tried to forestall [= prevent] by fleeing to Tarshish.”

[4:2]  ⁵¹ tn See note on the phrase “to Tarshish” in 1:3.

[4:2]  ⁵² tn Or “know.” What Jonah knew then he still knows about the Lord’s character, which is being demonstrated in his dealings with both Nineveh and Jonah. The Hebrew suffixed tense accommodates both times here.

[4:2]  ⁵³ tn Heb “long of nostrils.” Because the nose often expresses anger through flared nostrils it became the source of this idiom meaning “slow to anger” (e.g., Exod 34:6; Num 14:18; Neh 9:17; Pss 86:15; 103:8; 145:8; Jer 15:15; Nah 1:3; BDB 74 s.v. אָרֵךְ).

[4:2]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “great” (so KJV); ASV, NASB “abundant”; NAB “rich in clemency.”

[4:2]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “calamity.” The noun רָעָה (ra’ah, “calamity, disaster”) functions as a metonymy of result – the cause being the threatened judgment (e.g., Exod 32:12, 14; 2 Sam 24:16; Jer 18:8; 26:13, 19; 42:10; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2). The classic statement of God’s willingness to relent from judgment when a sinful people repent is Jer 18:1-11.

[7:18]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “Who is a God like you?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No one!”

[7:18]  ⁵⁷ 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.

[7:18]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “pass over.”

[7:18]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “of the remnant of his inheritance.”

[7:18]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “he does not keep hold of his anger forever.”

[3:2]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “your report,” that is, “the report concerning you.”

[3:2]  ⁶² tn Heb “I fear.” Some prefer to read, “I saw, Lord, what you accomplished” (cf. NEB).

[3:2]  ⁶³ tn Heb “your work.”

[3:2]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “in the midst of years.” The meaning of the phrase, which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain (cf. NIV “in our day”; NEB, NASB “in the midst of the years”).

[3:2]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “revive it” (i.e., “your work”).

[3:2]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “make known.” The implied object is “your deeds”; the pronoun “them,” referring to “deeds” in the previous line, was employed in the translation to avoid redundancy. The suffix on the form חַיֵּיהוּ (khayyehu, “revive it”) does double duty in the parallelism.

[3:2]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “in turmoil remember [to show] compassion.”