The Compassionate, but Punishing God

A Canonical Analysis of Exodus 34:6–7

Lane

• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Year: 2010
• eBook ISBN: 9781498271806
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

Lane provides a canonical analysis of the credo of Exodus 34:6-7 and its major parallels in the Hebrew Bible. He argues that the credo was an important theological expression for the ancient Israelites and that the final form of the Tanak is marked by the use of the credo. These uses in the final form of the canon give evidence of the theological tension over the presence of the foreigners in the postexilic community. And this tension is marked by the use of the credo in texts that emphasize YHWH's covenantal relationship with ancient Israel (Torah), movement toward the nations (Prophets), and YHWH as king over the whole earth (Psalms).

1

Introductory Matters

Introduction

The text of Exod 34:6–7 stands as one of the most evocative of the entire Old Testament. The words and images of this text have inspired numerous parallels1 and countless echoes in the texts of ancient Israel. In fact, parallels exist in all three of the major divisions of the Old Testament. These parallels show that it was one of the most generative texts for the ancient community. Its influence has also extended into medieval and modern Jewish hermeneutics as the texts outline what has become called the “Thirteen Attributes of God.” These attributes bear both literary and liturgical importance as they are often recited aloud in the synagogue on festival days and other holy days as the Ark is opened and the Torah scroll is removed.2

The evocative nature of the text arises from its rich, but diverse imagery and its place in the narrative of Exodus. The text comes in a theophany situated at the climax of the narrative of Exodus 32–34. These chapters deal with the golden calf rebellion and YHWH’s subsequent forgiveness of the people and renewal of the covenant. In Exodus 32, the people turn to the Golden Calf after Moses’ time on Sinai has been unduly delayed. When he descends the mountain at YHWH’s urging, he finds their sin. YHWH initially intends to destroy the Israelites, but Moses intercedes on the people’s behalf and diverts YHWH’s anger. After Moses enters the camp, he instructs the Levites to punish those who had worshipped the calf. In Exodus 33, Moses returns to the mountain to again receive the tablets of the covenant. While there, he again intercedes for the Israelites to ensure YHWH presence with them as they go into the land. Moses also requests to see God’s glory. YHWH agrees, but only partially—allowing Moses to see the deity’s back area. In Exodus 34, new tablets are made and Moses is granted his theophany. In the theophany, YHWH gives Moses this self-proclamation in 34:6–7:3 “YHWH, YHWH, The gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and great in loving kindness and truth, maintaining loving kindness to thousands, and taking away iniquity, transgression and sin. However, he will surely not acquit the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the parents on the children and their children unto the third and fourth generation.” After this revelation, the deity renews the covenant and gives further covenant stipulations. The pericope of 32–34 ends with Moses’ face shining radiantly as he descends the mountain and reports the happenings to the people.

The bipolar nature of the imagery of the credo also contributed to its evocative nature. The first “compassionate pole” rehearses attributes of YHWH that emphasize his positive characteristics. The nation found solace in the loving, slow to anger and compassionate God who was always ready to forgive them for their transgressions. The attributes associated with this compassionate God formed the major pool from which the ancient Israelites drew to express their faith. For example in Num 14:18, Moses reminds God of these compassionate characteristics in order to persuade the deity to forgive the Israelites. The psalmist in Psalm 86 confesses YHWH’s positive characteristics as part of the psalmist’s acknowledgement that God is different from those trying to kill him (86:15). Jonah even laments these positive characteristics because YHWH did not destroy the Ninevites (Jonah 4:2). These positive characteristics were primary in the theology of ancient Israel.

The second “judgmental pole” also provided a stock of images for the nation. The nation did not shun or edit away these alternative portrayals of their deity. Instead, they kept the images and used them at differing times to taunt their neighbors and often even to chastise themselves. For example, Exod 20:4 emphasizes the judgment pole to remind the ancient Israelites not to worship any idols of YHWH. Nahum uses the attributes to taunt the Ninevites that their soon coming destruction would be fierce (1:3). These harsh judgmental images also provided a core aspect of Israel’s description of YHWH.

History of Research

The text of Exod 34:6–7 has received a substantial amount of scholarly attention. Historically, the credo of Exodus 34 has been approached diachronically and synchronically—with the former bearing most of the interpretive weight. Very little attention has been given to the place of the text and its parallels in the final form of the canon. The following section will outline the two different styles of historical analyses of the text. Only the major works addressing the text will be examined.

Diachronic Approaches

In 1957, Josef Scharbert published the most thorough form-critical article on the credo.4 Scharbert’s article begins by dividing Exod 34:6–7 into nine different sections with some sections having multiple components.5 It then examines several of the parallels to see which components are the most pervasive and which are typically censured. He argued that the Deuteronomist modified the tradition of the Jahwist and the Elohist. The Deuteronomist used the texts to show that grace always comes from an alliance with YHWH and his promise and to show that YHWH naturally maintains an alliance with Israel.6

Scharbert finds a postexilic...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1: Introductory Matters
• Chapter 2: Parallels of Exodus 34:6–7 in the Torah
• Chapter 3: Parallels of Exodus 34:6–7 in the Twelve
• Chapter 4: Parallels of Exodus 34:6–7 in the Psalter
• Chapter 5: Conclusions and Prospects for Further Study
• Bibliography