Exodus 34:6

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 

Psalms 36:5

36:5 O Lord, your loyal love reaches to the sky; ⁶ 

your faithfulness to the clouds. ⁷ 

Psalms 89:1-2

Psalm 89 ⁸ 

A well-written song ⁹  by Ethan the Ezrachite.

89:1 I will sing continually ¹⁰  about the Lord’s faithful deeds;

to future generations I will proclaim your faithfulness. ¹¹ 

89:2 For I say, “Loyal love is permanently established; ¹² 

in the skies you set up your faithfulness.” ¹³ 

Psalms 89:33

89:33 But I will not remove ¹⁴  my loyal love from him,

nor be unfaithful to my promise. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 146:6

146:6 the one who made heaven and earth,

the sea, and all that is in them,

who remains forever faithful, ¹⁶ 

Titus 1:2

1:2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the ages began. ¹⁷ 

Hebrews 6:18

6:18 so that we who have found refuge in him ¹⁸  may find strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us through two unchangeable things, since it is impossible for God to lie.

Hebrews 10:23

10:23 And let us hold unwaveringly to the hope that we confess, for the one who made the promise is trustworthy.

[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.

[36:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “[is] in the heavens.”

[36:5]  ⁷ sn The Lord’s loyal love/faithfulness is almost limitless. He is loyal and faithful to his creation and blesses mankind and the animal kingdom with physical life and sustenance (vv. 6-9).

[89:1]  ⁸ sn Psalm 89. The psalmist praises God as the sovereign creator of the world. He recalls God’s covenant with David, but then laments that the promises of the covenant remain unrealized. The covenant promised the Davidic king military victories, but the king has now been subjected to humiliating defeat.

[89:1]  ⁹ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 88.

[89:1]  ¹⁰ tn Or “forever.”

[89:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to a generation and a generation I will make known your faithfulness with my mouth.”

[89:2]  ¹² tn Heb “built.”

[89:2]  ¹³ sn You set up your faithfulness. This may allude to the Lord’s heavenly throne, which symbolizes his just rule and from which the Lord decrees his unconditional promises (see vv. 8, 14).

[89:33]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “break”; “make ineffectual.” Some prefer to emend אָפִיר (’afir; the Hiphil of פָּרַר, parar, “to break”) to אָסִיר (’asir; the Hiphil of סוּר, sur, “to turn aside”), a verb that appears in 2 Sam 7:15.

[89:33]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and I will not deal falsely with my faithfulness.”

[146:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the one who guards faithfulness forever.”

[1:2]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “before eternal ages.”

[6:18]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “have taken refuge”; the basis of that refuge is implied in the preceding verse.