Bible Strands
Exodus 34:6
Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God speaks to Moses in the moment of covenant renewal after the golden calf, having descended in a cloud and stood with him (Exodus 34:5). This is a self-revelation: God proclaims His own name and character unsolicited.
The words — רַחוּם (raḥûm, "compassionate") derives from רַחַם (raḥam), the word for womb, and חֶסֶד (ḥesed, "loving devotion") denotes covenant loyalty that binds a party to another regardless of merit.
The thread — The identical formula recurs in Psalms 103:8, Psalms 86:15, and Joel 2:13, each time as the stated basis for petition or repentance. The repetition marks it as a fixed declaration of God's character that Israel could invoke.
Why it lands — It is not a command but a self-identification: God states who He is before stating what He requires. The reader is positioned to approach a God who has already defined His own disposition toward them.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
Cross-references
- Psalms 86:15 But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness.
- Joel 2:13 So rend your hearts and not your garments, and return to the LORD your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion. And He relents from sending disaster.
- Psalms 103:8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion.
- Psalms 145:8 The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion.
- Nehemiah 9:17 They refused to listen and failed to remember the wonders You performed among them. They stiffened their necks and appointed a leader to return them to their bondage in Egypt. But You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in loving devotion, and You did not forsake them.
- Jonah 4:2 So he prayed to the LORD, saying, “O LORD, is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I was so quick to flee toward Tarshish. I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion—One who relents from sending disaster.
- Numbers 14:17 So now I pray, may the power of my Lord be magnified, just as You have declared:
- Psalms 86:5 For You, O Lord, are kind and forgiving, rich in loving devotion to all who call on You.
- 2 Chronicles 30:9 For if you return to the LORD, your brothers and sons will receive mercy in the presence of their captors and will return to this land. For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful; He will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.”
- Micah 7:18 Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion?