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 

Exodus 34:2

34:2 Be prepared ⁶  in the morning, and go up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and station yourself ⁷  for me there on the top of the mountain.

Exodus 30:9

30:9 You must not offer strange incense on it, nor burnt offering, nor meal offering, and you must not pour out a drink offering on it.

Psalms 86:15

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

You are patient ⁸  and demonstrate great loyal love and faithfulness. ⁹ 

Psalms 136:10-11

136:10 to the one who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,

for his loyal love endures,

136:11 and led Israel out from their midst,

for his loyal love endures,

[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.

[34:2]  ⁶ tn The form is a Niphal participle that means “be prepared, be ready.” This probably means that Moses was to do in preparation what the congregation had to do back in Exod 19:11-15.

[34:2]  ⁷ sn The same word is used in Exod 33:21. It is as if Moses was to be at his post when Yahweh wanted to communicate to him.

[86:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “slow to anger.”

[86:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “and great of loyal love and faithfulness.”