Psalms 6:4

6:4 Relent, Lord, rescue me! ¹ 

Deliver me because of your faithfulness! ² 

Psalms 80:14

80:14 O God, invincible warrior, ³  come back!

Look down from heaven and take notice!

Take care of this vine,

Jeremiah 12:15

12:15 But after I have uprooted the people of those nations, I will relent ⁴  and have pity on them. I will restore the people of each of those nations to their own lands ⁵  and to their own country.

Joel 2:13-14

2:13 Return to the Lord your God,

for he is merciful and compassionate,

slow to anger and boundless in loyal love ⁶  – often relenting from calamitous punishment. ⁷ 

2:14 Who knows?

Perhaps he will be compassionate and grant a reprieve, ⁸ 

and leave blessing in his wake ⁹  –

a meal offering and a drink offering for you to offer to the Lord your God! ¹⁰ 

Zechariah 1:16

The Oracle of Response

1:16 “‘Therefore,’ says the Lord, ‘I have become compassionate ¹¹  toward Jerusalem ¹²  and will rebuild my temple ¹³  in it,’ says the Lord who rules over all. ‘Once more a surveyor’s measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem.’

[6:4]  ¹ tn Heb “my being,” or “my life.” The suffixed form of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being”) is often equivalent to a pronoun in poetic texts.

[6:4]  ² sn Deliver me because of your faithfulness. Though the psalmist is experiencing divine discipline, he realizes that God has made a commitment to him in the past, so he appeals to God’s faithfulness in his request for help.

[80:14]  ³ tn Heb “O God, hosts.” One expects the construct form אֱלֹהֵי before צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot, “hosts”; see Ps 89:9), but יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים (yehvah ’elohim) precedes צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot) in Pss 59:5 and 84:8 as well. See also vv. 4, 7 for a similar construction.

[12:15]  ⁴ tn For the use of the verb “turn” (שׁוּב, shuv) in this sense, see BDB s.v. שׁוּב Qal.6.g and compare the usage in Pss 90:13; 6:4; Joel 2:14. It does not simply mean “again” as several of the English versions render it.

[12:15]  ⁵ sn The Lord is sovereign over the nations and has allotted each of them their lands. See Deut 2:5 (Edom), Deut 2:9 (Moab), Deut 2:19 (Ammon). He promised to restore not only his own people Israel to their land (Jer 32:37) but also Moab (Jer 48:47) and Ammon (Jer 49:6).

[2:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “and great of loyal love.”

[2:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “and he relents from calamity.”

[2:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “turn” or “turn back.”

[2:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “leave a blessing behind him.”

[2:14]  ¹⁰ tn The phrase “for you to offer” does not appear in the Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[1:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I have turned.” This suggests that the Lord has responded to the “turning” (i.e., repentance) of the people (v. 6) and now, with great love and forgiveness, allows construction of the temple to proceed.

[1:16]  ¹² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “house.”