Romans 9:16

9:16 So then, ¹  it does not depend on human desire or exertion, ²  but on God who shows mercy.

Romans 9:18-19

9:18 So then, ³  God ⁴  has mercy on whom he chooses to have mercy, and he hardens whom he chooses to harden. ⁵ 

9:19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who has ever resisted his will?”

Exodus 33:19

33:19 And the Lord ⁶  said, “I will make all my goodness ⁷  pass before your face, and I will proclaim the Lord by name ⁸  before you; I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy.” ⁹ 

Exodus 34:6-7

34:6 The Lord passed by before him and proclaimed: ¹⁰  “The Lord, the Lord, ¹¹  the compassionate and gracious ¹²  God, slow to anger, ¹³  and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness, ¹⁴  34:7 keeping loyal love for thousands, ¹⁵  forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. But he by no means leaves the guilty unpunished, responding to the transgression ¹⁶  of fathers by dealing with children and children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.”

Isaiah 27:11

27:11 When its branches get brittle, ¹⁷  they break;

women come and use them for kindling. ¹⁸ 

For these people lack understanding, ¹⁹ 

therefore the one who made them has no compassion on them;

the one who formed them has no mercy on them.

Micah 7:18

7:18 There is no other God like you! ²⁰ 

You ²¹  forgive sin

and pardon ²²  the rebellion

of those who remain among your people. ²³ 

You do not remain angry forever, ²⁴ 

but delight in showing loyal love.

[9:16]  ¹ sn There is a double connective here that cannot be easily preserved in English: “consequently therefore,” emphasizing the conclusion of what he has been arguing.

[9:16]  ² tn Grk “So then, [it does] not [depend] on the one who desires nor on the one who runs.”

[9:18]  ³ sn There is a double connective here that cannot be easily preserved in English: “consequently therefore,” emphasizing the conclusion of what he has been arguing.

[9:18]  ⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:18]  ⁵ tn Grk “So then, he has mercy on whom he desires, and he hardens whom he desires.”

[33:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:19]  ⁷ sn The word “goodness” refers to the divine appearance in summary fashion.

[33:19]  ⁸ tn The expression “make proclamation in the name of Yahweh” (here a perfect tense with vav [ו] consecutive for future) means to declare, reveal, or otherwise make proclamation of who Yahweh is. The “name of Yahweh” (rendered “the name of the Lord” throughout) refers to his divine attributes revealed to his people, either in word or deed. What will be focused on first will be his grace and compassion.

[33:19]  ⁹ sn God declares his mercy and grace in similar terms to his earlier self-revelation (“I am that I am”): “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious.” In other words, the grace and mercy of God are bound up in his own will. Obviously, in this passage the recipients of that favor are the penitent Israelites who were forgiven through Moses’ intercession. The two words are at the heart of God’s dealings with people. The first is חָנַן (khanan, “to be gracious, show favor”). It means to grant favor or grace to someone, grace meaning unmerited favor. All of God’s dealings are gracious, but especially in forgiving sins and granting salvation it is critical. Parallel to this is רָחַם (rakham), a word that means “show compassion, tender mercy.” It is a word that is related to the noun “womb,” the connection being in providing care and protection for that which is helpless and dependent – a motherly quality. In both of these constructions the verbs simply express what God will do, without explaining why. See further, J. R. Lundbom, “God’s Use of the Idem per idem to Terminate Debate,” HTR 71 (1978): 193-201; and J. Piper, “Prolegomena to Understanding Romans 9:14-15: An Interpretation of Exodus 33:19,” JETS 22 (1979): 203-16.

[34:6]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn See Exod 33:19.

[34:6]  ¹³ sn This is literally “long of anger.” His anger prolongs itself, allowing for people to repent before punishment is inflicted.

[34:6]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn That is, “for thousands of generations.”

[34:7]  ¹⁶ 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.

[27:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “are dry” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[27:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “women come [and] light it.” The city is likened to a dead tree with dried up branches that is only good for firewood.

[27:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “for not a people of understanding [is] he.”

[7:18]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Who is a God like you?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No one!”

[7:18]  ²¹ tn Heb “one who.” The prayer moves from direct address (second person) in v. 18a to a descriptive (third person) style in vv. 18b-19a and then back to direct address (second person) in vv. 19b-20. Due to considerations of English style and the unfamiliarity of the modern reader with alternation of persons in Hebrew poetry, the entire section has been rendered as direct address (second person) in the translation.

[7:18]  ²² tn Heb “pass over.”

[7:18]  ²³ tn Heb “of the remnant of his inheritance.”

[7:18]  ²⁴ tn Heb “he does not keep hold of his anger forever.”