Exodus 34:6

Hebrew Bible

4 So Moses cut out two tablets of stone like the first; early in the morning he went up to Mount Sinai, just as the Lord had commanded him, and he took in his hand the two tablets of stone. 5 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the Lord by name. 6 The Lord passed by before him and proclaimed: “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness, 7 keeping loyal love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. But he by no means leaves the guilty unpunished, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children and children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.” 8 Moses quickly bowed to the ground and worshiped

Jonah 4:2

Hebrew Bible

1 This displeased Jonah terribly and he became very angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord and said, “Oh, Lord, this is just what I thought would happen when I was in my own country. This is what I tried to prevent by attempting to escape to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and one who relents concerning threatened judgment. 3 So now, Lord, kill me instead, because I would rather die than live!” 4 The Lord said, “Are you really so very angry?”

 Notes and References

"... This verse forms the central theological tenet of Jonah and the recitation is used exactly like in Joel 2:13, except that the prophet is not speaking to Israel or Judah (or is he?) but addresses Yahweh in the second person. The whole allusion becomes a radical re-contextualization as the issue is not about the ambiguous presence of Yahweh with his own people, but the fact that this central confession about what or who Yahweh is for his own people seems to be true for other nations as well. The ambiguity about Yahweh’s mercy or his relenting is also echoed ironically in Jonah when the king of Nineveh states: “Who knows?” - God may relent and change his mind.” Whereas Joel took Exodus 34:6-7 to be an ambiguous, but powerful confession about Yahweh’s particular and exclusive forgiving presence for his own people, the book of Jonah uses Exodus 34:6-7 as an ironic universalizing extension of Yahweh’s bipolar character not just to Israel but to all nations who repent (Zenger et al 1997:502) ..."

Bosman, JP The Paradoxical Presence of Exodus 34:6-7 in the Book of the Twelve (pp. 233-243) Scriptura 87, 2004

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