Psalms 103:8-10

103:8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful;

he is patient ¹  and demonstrates great loyal love. ² 

103:9 He does not always accuse,

and does not stay angry. ³ 

103:10 He does not deal with us as our sins deserve; ⁴ 

he does not repay us as our misdeeds deserve. ⁵ 

[103:8]  ¹ tn Heb “slow to anger” (see Ps 86:15).

[103:8]  ² tn Heb “and great of loyal love” (see Ps 86:15).

[103:9]  ³ 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).

[103:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “not according to our sins does he do to us.”

[103:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “and not according to our misdeeds does he repay us.”