Nehemiah 9:17

9:17 They refused to obey and did not recall your miracles that you had performed among them. Instead, they rebelled and appointed a leader to return to their bondage in Egypt. ¹  But you are a God of forgiveness, merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and unfailing in your loyal love. ²  You did not abandon them,

Exodus 34:6-7

34:6 The Lord passed by before him and proclaimed: ³  “The Lord, the Lord, ⁴  the compassionate and gracious ⁵  God, slow to anger, ⁶  and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness, ⁷  34:7 keeping loyal love for thousands, ⁸  forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. But he by no means leaves the guilty unpunished, responding to the transgression ⁹  of fathers by dealing with children and children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.”

Exodus 34:2

34:2 Be prepared ¹⁰  in the morning, and go up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and station yourself ¹¹  for me there on the top of the mountain.

Exodus 13:1-2

The Law of the Firstborn

13:1 ¹² The Lord spoke ¹³  to Moses: 13:2 “Set apart ¹⁴  to me every firstborn male – the first offspring of every womb ¹⁵  among the Israelites, whether human or animal; it is mine.” ¹⁶ 

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 103:8-9

103:8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful;

he is patient ¹⁷  and demonstrates great loyal love. ¹⁸ 

103:9 He does not always accuse,

and does not stay angry. ¹⁹ 

Psalms 145:8-9

145:8 The Lord is merciful and compassionate;

he is patient ²⁰  and demonstrates great loyal love. ²¹ 

145:9 The Lord is good to all,

and has compassion on all he has made. ²² 

[9:17]  ¹ tc The present translation follows a few medieval Hebrew MSS and the LXX in reading בְּמִצְרָיִם (bÿmitsrayim, “in Egypt”; so also NAB, NASB, NRSV, TEV, NLT) rather than the MT reading בְּמִרְיָם (bÿmiryam, “in their rebellion”).

[9:17]  ² tc The translation follows the Qere reading חֶסֶד (khesed, “loyal love”) rather than the Kethib reading וְחֶסֶד (vÿkhesed, “and loyal love”) of the MT.

[34:6]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn See Exod 33:19.

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

[34:6]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn That is, “for thousands of generations.”

[34:7]  ⁹ 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.

[34:2]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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.

[13:1]  ¹² sn This next section seems a little confusing at first glance: vv. 1 and 2 call for the dedication of the firstborn, then vv. 3-10 instruct concerning the ritual of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and then vv. 11-16 return to the firstborn. B. Jacob (Exodus, 360) explains that vv. 3-16 contain a sermon, in which Moses “began his speech by reminding the people of the events which had just occurred and how they would be recalled by them in the future,” and then he explained the rulings that went along with it. So the first two verses state the core of the sermon, a new command calling for the redeemed (firstborn) to be sanctified. The second portion stresses that God requires the redeemed to remember their redemption by purifying themselves (3-10). The third section (11-16) develops the theme of dedication to Yahweh. The point is that in view of God’s mighty redemption, the redeemed (represented by the firstborn) must be set apart for Yahweh’s service.

[13:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “and Yahweh spoke.”

[13:2]  ¹⁴ tn The verb “sanctify” is the Piel imperative of קָדַשׁ (qadash). In the Qal stem it means “be holy, be set apart, be distinct,” and in this stem “sanctify, set apart.”

[13:2]  ¹⁵ tn The word פֶּטֶּר (petter) means “that which opens”; this construction literally says, “that which opens every womb,” which means “the first offspring of every womb.” Verses 12 and 15 further indicate male offspring.

[13:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “to me it.” The preposition here expresses possession; the construction is simply “it [is, belongs] to me.”

[103:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “slow to anger” (see Ps 86:15).

[103:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and great of loyal love” (see Ps 86:15).

[103:9]  ¹⁹ 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).

[145:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “slow to anger” (see Pss 86:15; 103:8).

[145:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “and great of loyal love” (see Pss 86:15; 103:8).

[145:9]  ²² tn Heb “and his compassion is over all his works.”