Exodus 34:7

Exo 34:7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear [the guilty]; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth [generation].

Ver. 7. Forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,] i.e., All sorts of sin. It is natural to him as here. None like him for this. {Mic 7:18} It is the comfort of saints, that they have to do with a forgiving God, {Neh 9:31} that can multiply pardons, as they multiply sins. {Isa 55:7}

Keeping mercy for thousands.] The Hebrew word here rendered Keeping, is written with a greater letter {a} than ordinary, to note the extraordinary greatness of God’s promise to his people and their posterity. {Psa 25:10} {Hebrew Text Note} God is here said to keep mercy, to forgive sins of all sorts: as if his mercy were kept on purpose for pardoning poor sinners.

Clear the guilty.] This last letter in God’s name must still be remembered. So must all the rest: since there is enough in this sweetest text to answer all our objections. It is said of Leonard Lessius, that, a little before his death, he finished his treatise concerning the fifty names or attributes of God: and that he oft affirmed, that he found more spiritual light and delight in that last little work of his - at such time as he was grievously tortured with the stone, whereof also he died - than in all his large Commentaries upon Thomas Aquinas’s Sums.

{a} Nun rabbath Masor.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Exodus

SIN AND FORGIVENESS

Exo 34:7.

The former chapter tells us of the majesty of the divine revelation as it was made to Moses on ‘the mount of God.’ Let us notice that, whatever was the visible pomp of the external Theophany to the senses, the true revelation lay in the proclamation of the ‘Name’; the revelation to the conscience and the heart; and such a revelation had never before fallen on mortal ears. It is remarkable that the very system which was emphatically one of law and retribution should have been thus heralded by a word which is perfectly ‘evangelical’ in its whole tone. That fact should have prevented many errors as to the relation of Judaism and Christianity. The very centre of the former was ‘God is love,’ ‘merciful and gracious,’ and if there follows the difficult addition ‘visiting the iniquities,’ etc., the New Testament adds its ‘Amen’ to that. True, the harmony of the two and the great revelation of the means of forgiveness lay far beyond the horizon of Moses and his people, but none the less was it the message of Judaism that ‘there is forgiveness with Thee that Thou mayest be feared.’ The law spoke of retribution, justice, duty, and sin, but side by side with the law was another institution, the sacrificial worship, which proclaimed that God was full of love, and that the sinner was welcomed to His side. And it is the root of many errors to transfer New Testament language about the law to the whole Old Testament system. But, passing away from this, I wish to look at two points in these words.

I. The characteristics of human sins.

II. The divine treatment of them.

I. The characteristics of human sins.

Observe the threefold form of expression-iniquity and transgression and sin.

It seems natural that in the divine proclamation of His own holy character, the sinful nature of men should be characterised with all the fervid energy of such words; for the accumulation even of synonyms would serve a moral purpose, expressive at once of the divine displeasure against sin, and of the free full pardon for it in all its possible forms. But the words are very far from all meaning the same thing. They all designate the same actions, but from different points of view, and with reference to different phases and qualities of sin.

Now these three expressions are inadequately represented by the English translation.

‘Iniquity’ literally means ‘twisting,’ or ‘something twisted,’ and is thus the opposite of ‘righteousness,’ or rather of what is ‘straight.’ It is thus like our own ‘right’ and ‘wrong,’ or like the Latin ‘in-iquity’ {by which it is happily enough rendered in our version}. So looking at this word and the thoughts which connect themselves with it, we come to this:-

{1} All sin of every sort is deviation from a standard to which we ought to be conformed.

Note the graphic force of the word as giving the straight line to which our conduct ought to run parallel, and the contrast between it and the wavering curves into which our lives meander, like the lines in a child’s copy-book, or a rude attempt at drawing a circle at one sweep of the pencil. Herbert speaks of

‘The crooked wandering ways in which we live.’

There is a path which is ‘right’ and one which is ‘wrong,’ whether we believe so or not.

There are hedges and limitations for us all. This law extends to the ordering of all things, whether great or small. If a line be absolutely straight, and we are running another parallel to it, the smallest possible wavering is fatal to our copy. And the smallest deflection, if produced, will run out into an ever-widening distance from the straight line.

There is nothing which it is more difficult to get into men’s belief than the sinfulness of little sins; nothing more difficult to cure ourselves of than the habit of considering quantity rather than quality in moral questions. What a solemn thought it is, that of a great absolute law of right rising serene above us, embracing everything! And this is the first idea that is here in our text-a grave and deep one.

But the second of these expressions for sin literally means ‘apostasy,’ ‘rebellion,’ not ‘transgression,’ and this word brings in a more solemn thought yet, viz.:-

{2} Every sin is apostasy from or rebellion against God.

The former word dealt only with abstract thought of a ‘law,’ this with a ‘Lawgiver.’

Our obligations are not merely to a law, but to Him who enacted it. So it becomes plain that the very centre of all sin is the shaking off of obedience to God. Living to ‘self’ is the inmost essence of every act of evil, and may be as virulently active in the smallest trifle as in the most awful crime.

How infinitely deeper and darker this makes sin to be!

When one thinks of our obligations and of our dependence, of God’s love and care, what an ‘evil and a bitter thing’ every sin becomes!

Urge this terrible contrast of a loving Father and a disobedient child.

This idea brings out the ingratitude of all sin.

But the third word here used literally means ‘missing an aim,’ and so we come to

{3} Every sin misses the goal at which we should aim. There may be a double idea here-that of failing in the great purpose of our being, which is already partially included in the first of these three expressions, or that of missing the aim which we proposed to ourselves in the act. All sin is a failure.

By it we fall short of the loftiest purpose. Whatever we gain we lose more.

Every life which has sin in it is a ‘failure.’ You may be prosperous, brilliant, successful, but you are ‘a failure.’

For consider what human life might be: full of God and full of joy. Consider what the ‘fruits’ of sin are. ‘Apples of Sodom.’ How sin leads to sorrow. This is an inevitable law. Sin fails to secure what it sought for. All ‘wrong’ is a mistake, a blunder. ‘Thou fool!’

So this word suggests the futility of sin considered in its consequences. ‘These be thy gods, O Israel!’ ‘The end of these things is death.’

II. The divine treatment of sins.

‘Forgiving,’ and yet not suffering them to go unpunished.

{1} God forgives, and yet He does not leave sin unpunished, for He will ‘by no means clear the guilty.’

The one word refers to His love, His heart; the other to the retributions which are inseparable from the very course of nature.

Forgiveness is the flow of God’s love to all, and the welcoming back to His favour of all who come. Forgiveness likewise includes the escape from the extreme and uttermost consequences of sin in this life and in the next, the sense of God’s displeasure here, and the final separation from Him, which is eternal death. Forgiveness is not inconsistent with retribution. There must needs be retribution, from-

{a} The very constitution of our nature.

Conscience, our spiritual nature, our habits all demand it.

{b} The constitution of the world.

In it all things work under God, but only for ‘good’ to them who love God. To all others, sooner or later, the Nemesis comes. ‘Ye shall eat of the fruit of your doings.’

{2} God forgives, and therefore He does not leave sin unpunished. It is divine mercy that strikes. The end of His chastisement is to separate us from our sins.

{3} Divine forgiveness and retributive justice both centre in the revelation of the Cross.

To us this message comes. It was the hidden heart of the Mosaic system. It was the revelation of Sinai. To Israel it was ‘proclaimed’ in thunder and darkness, and the way of forgiveness and the harmony of righteousness and mercy were veiled. To us it is proclaimed from Calvary. There in full light the Lord passes before us and proclaims, ‘I am the Lord, the Lord God merciful and gracious.’ ‘Ye are come . . .unto Jesus.’ ‘See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh.’ ‘This is my Beloved Son, hear Him !’

Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

34:7 God’s unfailing love and his generous desire to forgive are not weakness or indecisiveness, nor are they reason to sin. Sin will have its effects, because God created a world of cause and effect. The murderer may repent, be forgiven, and lead a new life, but the effects of previous choices will continue to play out. We should not sin just because we know that God will forgive (see study note on 20:5-6). • a thousand generations: See Deut 7:9-11. • I lay the sins of the parents: Our sins affect future generations of descendants, but God restricts the natural effect of those sins to three or four generations. See also Exod 20:5-6.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Hebrew, not making innocent.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 7. That will by no means clear the guilty] This last clause is rather difficult; literally translated it signifies, in clearing he will not clear. But the Samaritan, reading לו lo, to him, instead of the negative lo, not, renders the clause thus: With whom the innocent shall be innocent; i.e., an innocent or holy person shall never be treated as if he were a transgressor, by this just and holy God. The Arabic version has it, He justifies and is not justified; and the Septuagint is nearly as our English text, και ου καθαριει τον ενοχον, and he doth not purify the guilty. The Alexandrian copy of the Septuagint, edited by Dr. Grabe, has και τον ενοχον καθαρισμῳ ου καθαριει, and the guilty he will not cleanse with a purification-offering. The Coptic is to the same purpose. The Vulgate is a paraphrase: nullusque apud te per se innocens est, "and no person is innocent by or of himself before thee." This gives a sound theologic sense, stating a great truth, That no man can make an atonement for his own sins, or purify his own heart; and that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

7. keeping mercy, &c.] hence, with ‘doing’ for ‘keeping,’ Exo_20:6.

forgiving iniquity, &c.] Cf. Mic_7:18.

will by no means clear the guilty] so Num_14:18, Nah_1:3 a, Jer_30:11 = Jer_46:28 (EVV., here, ‘will in no wise leave unpunished’). The verb is the one rendered hold guiltless in Exo_20:7 : see the note there.

visiting the iniquity, &c.] See on Exo_20:5.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Keeping mercy for thousands,.... In his own heart, in his purposes and decrees, in his counsels and covenant, in his Son, with whom he keeps it for ever, and for all in him, Psa 89:28 and they are many who are ordained to eternal life, for whom Christ gave his life a ransom, and for whom his blood was shed for the remission of their sins; and whom he justifies by his knowledge, and at last brings to glory as the great Captain of their salvation; these are even a number which no man can number. All the Targums render it to a thousand generations; and Jarchi interprets of two thousand generations. The first letter in the word, rendered "keeping", is longer than is usual, in the Hebrew text; which, according to the Jews (h), denotes the largeness of the grace of God, its great extent and long continuance:

forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin; the word used signifies a lifting it up, and taking it away: thus Jehovah has taken it from the sinner, and put it on his Son, who has borne it, and made satisfaction for it; and in so doing has taken it quite away, so as to be seen no more; and, through the application of his blood to the conscience of a sinner, it is taken away from thence, and removed as far as the east is from the west; from whence it appears, that it is in Christ, and for his sake, that God forgives sin, even through his blood, righteousness, sacrifice, and satisfaction; and this forgiveness is of all sin, of all sorts of sin, original or actual, greater or lesser, public or private, open or secret, of omission or commission, of heart, lip, and life. The Jews sometimes distinguish these three words; "iniquity", they say, signifies sins through pride and presumption; "transgression" intends rebellions against God; and "sin", what is committed through error and mistake (i); and much to this sense is Jarchi's interpretation of these words; they no doubt include all manner of sin, which God for Christ's sake forgives:

and will by no means clear the guilty; without a full and proper satisfaction to justice; which is provided in Christ, whom God has set forth to be the propitiation for sin, to declare his righteousness, that he might appear to be just, while he justifies and pardons those that believe in Jesus; otherwise all the world are guilty before God, and none would be cleared; but those for whom satisfaction is made, and a righteousness wrought out, they are cleared, acquitted, and discharged, and they only: or "though he will by no means let it go unpunished" (k); that is, sin, expressed by the several words preceding; and so to this purpose is this phrase translated in Jer 30:11 and the meaning is, that though God pardons sin, all manner of sin, and so displays his grace and mercy, yet he takes care of the honour of his justice, and never suffers any sin to go unpunished, either on the sinner, or on the surety. Pardon of sin always proceeds upon the redemption that is through the blood of Christ, and is a branch of it, see Rom 3:24. Some understand these words as relating not to the justice, but to the mercy and goodness of God; and render the words, either "in extirpating he will not extirpate", as Maimonides (l); and as Jonathan translates the same phrase in Jer 30:11 "in destroying I will not destroy"; and so De Dieu here, "in emptying he will not empty", or destroy; and this sense is thought to be most agreeable to the prayer of Moses, and the promise of God, that his goodness and glory should pass before him, to which the other sense seems contrary; but the justice of God is as much his glory, and in it lies his goodness, as well as his grace and mercy; besides, the following words cannot be thought to be so expressive of the grace, and mercy, and goodness of God, but of his punitive justice, and so the objection would still remain:

visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the childrens' children, unto the third and to the fourth generation; See Gill on Exo 20:5.

(h) Vid. Buxtorf. Tiberiad. c. 14. p. 38. (i) Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Yoma, c. 4. sect. 2. (k) "et impunita minime dimittens", Tigurine version; "et non exercens impunitatem", Coccei Lexic. in voce (l) Moreh Nevochim, par. 1. c. 54.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Keepest. So the Targum of Jerusalem reads. Hebrew and Septuagint have, "keepeth." --- No man, &c. All have sinned, Romans iii. 23. Hebrew, "who will not clear the guilty," which is followed by the Chaldean and Septuagint. God is a just judge, who will assuredly punish the impenitent. Yet even in justice, he will remember mercy, and will stop at the third and fourth generation, (Calmet) when the influence of the progenitors’ example can have but small influence upon their descendants. If, however, they prove guilty, they must expect chastisement, Exodus xx. 5.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

For thousands; the Chaldee and some others render it, for a thousand generations.

Iniquity, and transgression, and sin; sins of all sorts and sizes, secret or open, infirmities or presumptions, against God or men, as the heap of various words here put together signifies.

That will by no means clear the guilty: this is commonly esteemed a title of justice or vengeance, which is here added by way of correction lest men should mistake or abuse God’s mercy. God is most gracious indeed, but so as he is also just, and will not pity nor spare impudent and impenitent transgressors, but will severely punish them. And the Jewish doctors hereupon observe, that the mercy of God doth far exceed his justice; here being, as they number them, thirteen attributes of mercy, and but one of justice. But this translation and interpretation is rejected by some late learned interpreters, who make this an attribute of God’s goodness or clemency, and render the words thus, In destroying he will not utterly destroy, though visiting, &c.: q.d. He is so gracious, that though he will severely punish the iniquity of the fathers, and especially their idolatry, upon themselves, and upon their children, &c., as he hath said, Exo 20:5, yet in judgment he will remember mercy, and will not utterly destroy his people for their sins. There are many things which favour this interpretation.

1. This suits most with Moses’s solicitude and prayer for the people of Israel, which was that God would not utterly destroy them, as he threatened to do.

2. This sense best agrees with God’s promise, Exo 33:19, I will make all my goodness pass before thee; which general promise is particularly explained and performed in these two verses.

3. This place doth not speak of God’s disposition and carriage towards his enemies, against whom he proceeds with great severity, and commands the Israelites to do so in the verses here following; but towards his people, whose cause Moses is all along pleading with God. See Exo 32:11-13,31,32; 33:13,15; Exo 34:9.

4. The Hebrew verb here used frequently signifies to make empty or desolate, to empty men of their goods, or places of men. See Isa 3:26; Amo 4:6. So here, he will not utterly empty or destroy: though he will leave the marks of his vengeance for this sin upon thy people, even to their third and fourth generation; or, if it may be, further; yet he will not utterly root them out, which is the great thing thou fearest and labourest to prevent. And this very phrase, here used, we have in Jer 30:11, and repeated Jer 46:28, where, though interpreters generally render it, I will not leave thee altogether unpunished, which may make a good sense, yet it seems much better to be rendered, I will not utterly destroy thee,

(1.) Because hereby these words exactly answer to the foregoing clause, yet will I not make a full end of thee, and so the same thing is elegantly repeated in other words, which is very frequent in Scripture.

(2.) Because here is an opposition between the severity God useth to other people, and the kindness he useth to his own people, which is manifest in the former member of the verse, and therefore most probable and agreeable in this.

5. This is much confirmed from Num 14:18, where Moses, pleading with God for the pardon of his people’s sin, useth this very phrase and argument, as taken out of God’s mouth, which in this sense is very proper and prevalent, Thou hast said, that even when thou dost visit iniquity, &c., thou wilt not utterly destroy them. And God answers him, Exo 34:20, I have pardoned according to thy word, i.e. so as not utterly to destroy them. But truly as I live, &c., Exo 34:21-23, i.e. But I will severely punish them. But if this had been the meaning, Lord, thou hast said thou wilt by no means clear the guilty, as we render it, it was a most improper argument, and put a sword into the Lord’s hand to slay them even by virtue of this consideration.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

נצר חסד means God keeps (stores up) the mercy which a person does in His presence,

לאלפים TO THOUSANDS — to two thousand generations (the plural, “generations”, and “two” is the least that this can imply; cf. Rashi on Exodus 20:6).

עונות — These are sins committed presumptuously (with premeditation). פשעים — These are sins committed rebelliously.

ונקה לא ינקה AND WHO WILL BY NO MEANS CLEAR THE GUILTY — According to its plain sense this means that He is not altogether indulgent to sin (He does not entirely remit the punishment), but little by little exacts punishment from, him (the sinner). Our Rabbis, however, have explained: ונקה, And he clears — He clears those who repent, לא ינקה, He does not clear — but does not clear those who will not repent (Yoma 86a).

פקד עון אבות על בנים VISITING THE INIQUITY OF THE FATHERS UPON THE CHILDREN — when they retain in their hands (follow the example of) the evil doings of their ancestors. This must be the meaning because in another verse of a similar character it has already been stated: of them that hate Me (cf. Exodus 20:5: Visiting the iniquity of fathers upon the children, upon the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me (Berakhot 7a; Sanhedrin 27b).

ועל רבעים means AND UPON THE FOURTH GENERATION — It follows, therefore, that the measure of good (reward) is greater than the measure of punishment in the proportion of one to five hundred, for in respect to the measure of good it says: “Keeping mercy for thousands” (two thousands at least) (cf. Rashi above: Tosefta Sotah 4:1; see also Rashi on Exodus 20:5).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.