Psalms 90:13

90:13 Turn back toward us, O Lord!

How long must this suffering last? ¹ 

Have pity on your servants! ² 

Psalms 135:14

135:14 For the Lord vindicates ³  his people,

and has compassion on his servants. ⁴ 

Exodus 32:14

32:14 Then the Lord relented over the evil that he had said he would do to his people.

Deuteronomy 32:36

32:36 The Lord will judge his people,

and will change his plans concerning ⁵  his servants;

when he sees that their power has disappeared,

and that no one is left, whether confined or set free.

Jude 1:18

1:18 For they said to you, “In the end time there will come ⁶  scoffers, propelled by their own ungodly desires.” ⁷ 

Jude 1:2

1:2 May mercy, peace, and love be lavished on you! ⁸ 

Jude 1:16

1:16 These people are grumblers and ⁹  fault-finders who go ¹⁰  wherever their desires lead them, ¹¹  and they give bombastic speeches, ¹²  enchanting folks ¹³  for their own gain. ¹⁴ 

Hosea 11:8

The Divine Dilemma: Judgment or Mercy?

11:8 How can I give you up, ¹⁵  O Ephraim?

How can I surrender you, O Israel?

How can I treat you like Admah?

How can I make you like Zeboiim?

I have had a change of heart! ¹⁶ 

All my tender compassions are aroused! ¹⁷ 

Amos 7:3

7:3 The Lord decided not to do this. ¹⁸  “It will not happen,” the Lord said.

Amos 7:6

7:6 The Lord decided not to do this. ¹⁹  The sovereign Lord said, “This will not happen either.”

[90:13]  ¹ tn Heb “Return, O Lord! How long?”

[90:13]  ² tn Elsewhere the Niphal of נָחַם (nakham) + the preposition עַל (’al) + a personal object has the nuance “be comforted concerning [the personal object’s death]” (see 2 Sam 13:39; Jer 31:15). However, here the context seems to demand “feel sorrow for,” “have pity on.” In Deut 32:36 and Ps 135:14, where “servants” is also the object of the preposition, this idea is expressed with the Hitpael form of the verb.

[135:14]  ³ tn Heb “judges,” but here the idea is that the Lord “judges on behalf of” his people. The imperfect verbal forms here and in the next line draw attention to the Lord’s characteristic actions.

[135:14]  ⁴ sn Verse 14 echoes Deut 32:36, where Moses affirms that God mercifully relents from fully judging his wayward people.

[32:36]  ⁵ tn The translation understands the verb in the sense of “be grieved, relent” (cf. HALOT 689 s.v. נחם hitp 2); cf. KJV, ASV “repent himself”; NLT “will change his mind.” Another option is to translate “will show compassion to” (see BDB 637 s.v. נחם); cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV.

[1:18]  ⁶ tn Grk “be.”

[1:18]  ⁷ tn Grk “going according to their own desires of ungodliness.”

[1:2]  ⁸ tn Grk “may mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.”

[1:16]  ⁹ tn “And” is not in Greek, but is supplied for the sake of English style.

[1:16]  ¹⁰ tn Or “going.” Though the participle is anarthrous, so also is the subject. Thus, the participle could be either adverbial or adjectival.

[1:16]  ¹¹ tn Grk “(who go/going) according to their own lusts.”

[1:16]  ¹² tn Grk “and their mouth speaks bombastic things.”

[1:16]  ¹³ sn Enchanting folks (Grk “awing faces”) refers to the fact that the speeches of these false teachers are powerful and seductive.

[1:16]  ¹⁴ tn Or “to their own advantage.”

[11:8]  ¹⁵ tn The imperfect verbs in 11:8 function as imperfects of capability. See IBHS 564 §34.1a.

[11:8]  ¹⁶ tn The phrase נֶהְפַּךְ עָלַי לִבִּי (nehpakh ’alay libbi) is an idiom that can be taken in two ways: (1) emotional sense: to describe a tumult of emotions, not just a clash of ideas, that are afflicting a person (Lam 1:20; HALOT 253 s.v. הפך 1.c) and (2) volitional sense: to describe a decisive change of policy, that is, a reversal of sentiment from amity to hatred (Exod 14:5; Ps 105:25; BDB 245 s.v. הָפַךְ 1; HALOT 253 s.v. 3). The English versions alternate between these two: (1) emotional discomfort and tension over the prospect of destroying Israel: “mine heart is turned within me” (KJV), “my heart recoils within me” (RSV, NRSV), “My heart is turned over within Me” (NASB), “My heart is torn within me” (NLT); and (2) volitional reversal of previous decision to totally destroy Israel: “I have had a change of heart” (NJPS), “my heart is changed within me” (NIV), and “my heart will not let me do it!” (TEV). Both BDB 245 s.v. 1.b and HALOT 253 s.v. 3 suggest that the idiom describes a decisive change of heart (reversal of decision to totally destroy Israel once and for all) rather than emotional turbulence of God shifting back and forth between whether to destroy or spare Israel. This volitional nuance is supported by the modal function of the 1st person common singular imperfects in 11:8 (“I will not carry out my fierce anger…I will not destroy Ephraim…I will not come in wrath”) and by the prophetic announcement of future restoration in 11:10-11. Clearly, a dramatic reversal both in tone and in divine intention occurs between 11:5-11.

[11:8]  ¹⁷ tn The Niphal of כָּמַר (kamar) means “to grow warm, tender” (BDB 485 s.v. כָּמַר), as its use in a simile with the oven demonstrates (Lam 5:10). It is used several times to describe the arousal of the most tender affection (Gen 43:30; 1 Kgs 3:26; Hos 11:8; BDB 485 s.v. 1; HALOT 482 s.v. כמר 1). Cf. NRSV “my compassion grows warm and tender.”

[7:3]  ¹⁸ tn Or “changed his mind about this.”

[7:6]  ¹⁹ tn Or “changed his mind about this.”