Summer often affords faculty focused time for research and writing projects. My current and long-term project is a volume on the Book of Exodus for the T&T Clark International Theological Commentary. This reflection stems from work on that commentary, as well as an essay on divine attributes on the Pentateuch, for the forthcoming Oxford Handbook on Divine Attributes in Christian Theology.
One of the most beautiful and often repeated proclamations of the attributes of God in the Old Testament occurs first in Exodus: “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exod 34:6, ESV). The key terms of this formula convey the strength and tenderness of God’s love. The adjective rakhum, “merciful” or“compassionate,” derives from the same root as the noun meaning “womb,” and thus indicates God’s closeness to Israel, his deep knowledge and care for them.Often paired with rakhum is khanun, which relates to a noun meaning “favor” or “grace.” Khesed, “steadfast love,” and emet, “faithfulness” or “trustworthiness,” together express the absolute dependability of God in extending his care and goodness to creatures.
In the context of Exodus 32–34, the mercy and grace which flow from the heart of God ground the renewal of the covenant and God’s presence among his chosen people, despite their sin with the golden calf. After God declares that he will withhold his presence from the people, Moses, on the basis of his favor before the Lord, successfully intercedes. Moses’s request to see the glory of God (Exod 33:18), in this context, seems to be a request for God to reveal how it is that God will continue to be present among, and guide, this “stiff-necked people” (Exod 33:3). The proclamation that follows is a drawing out or exegesis of the name of God: “I will proclaim my name, ‘Lord,’ before you; I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy” (Exod 33:19). This verse echoes God’s declaration to Moses at the burning bush, “I am who I am” (Exod 3:14), only now the “am” is specified in terms of mercy and compassion. On this reading, the golden calf provides the context for God to reveal himself more fully as the One who is self-subsistent, subject to no constraint or need precisely in mercy and graciousness.
While this revelation of divine mercy is, in a sense, new post-calf, God’s faithful love and favor has already been present to the ancestors. Our key terms arise in Genesis when the patriarchs’ lives and lineage are in jeopardy, and they entreat God on the basis of a pre-existing, benevolent relationship.For example, after Joseph is wrongly condemned in the situation with Potiphar’s wife, the Lord extends steadfast love to him, which is recognized by the chief jailor, in whose eyes Joseph subsequently has favor (Gen 39:21–23). Abraham’s servant also implores God to “do khesed” for Abraham by identifying the right wife for Isaac from among the women at the well in Nahor (Gen 24:12).Throughout the ancestral narratives, God’s khesed seems neither an expression of forgiveness nor reward for faithfulness. This is true even for the wily Jacob, preparing to meet Esau. Jacob notes his obedience to God’s call for him to return to Canaan and God’s promise to “do [him] good” (Gen 32:9), while also expressing his unworthiness before God “of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown your servant” (Gen 32:10). Based on these prior promises and their ongoing relationship, Jacob implores God to deliver him from the potentially vengeful hand of his brother. In the scene that follows, God’s gracious dealing with Jacob is reflected in the favor that Jacob seeks and receives from Esau, and the gift that Jacob offers Esau is of this same blessing/favor that God has graciously bestowed (Gen 33:5, 10–11).
God’s benevolent action on behalf of the patriarchs is based on a prior relationship, which can be traced back to God’s initial promises to Abraham (Gen 12:1–3, 7).The call of Abraham comes without explanation in Genesis 12—without any account of Abraham’s life prior to his journey to Canaan and God’s promises to him, let alone a reason why he ought to be chosen over his brother, Nahor, or any merit the reader might ascribe to the patriarch. Likewise, Deuteronomy locates God’s choice of Israel in the sheer gratuity of God’s love: “It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it was because the Lord loves you”(Deut 7:7–8a). Though the people of God are called to faithfulness, and held accountable for unfaithfulness, their very identity and existence as God’s people is due to the unmerited and unlimited compassion of the God who calls them to be his own. Revealed anew at Sinai amid the unprecedented situation of Israel’s first apostasy, the Lord’s favor, steadfast love, and faithfulness were already reflected in his call and care for the ancestors.
