Mazmur 78:38

78:38 Yet he is compassionate.

He forgives sin and does not destroy.

He often holds back his anger,

and does not stir up his fury. ¹ 

Yesaya 48:9

48:9 For the sake of my reputation ²  I hold back my anger;

for the sake of my prestige ³  I restrain myself from destroying you. ⁴ 

Yunus 3:10

3:10 When God saw their actions – they turned ⁵  from their evil way of living! ⁶  – God relented concerning the judgment ⁷  he had threatened them with ⁸  and he did not destroy them. ⁹ 

[78:38]  ¹ tn One could translate v. 38 in the past tense (“he was compassionate…forgave sin and did not destroy…held back his anger, and did not stir up his fury”), but the imperfect verbal forms are probably best understood as generalizing. Verse 38 steps back briefly from the narrational summary of Israel’s history and lays the theological basis for v. 39, which focuses on God’s mercy toward sinful Israel.

[48:9]  ² tn Heb “for the sake of my name” (so NAB, NASB); NLT “for my own sake.”

[48:9]  ³ tn Heb “and my praise.” לְמַעַן (lÿma’an, “for the sake of”) is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[48:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “I restrain [myself] concerning you not to cut you off.”

[3:10]  ⁵ tn This clause is introduced by כִּי (ki, “that”) and functions as an epexegetical, explanatory clause.

[3:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “from their evil way” (so KJV, ASV, NAB); NASB “wicked way.”

[3:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “calamity” or “disaster.” The noun רָעָה (ra’ah, “calamity, disaster”) functions as a metonymy of result – the cause being the threatened judgment (e.g., Exod 32:12, 14; 2 Sam 24:16; Jer 18:8; 26:13, 19; 42:10; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2; HALOT 1263 s.v. רָעָה 6). The root רָעָה is repeated three times in vv. 8 and 10. Twice it refers to the Ninevites’ moral “evil” (vv. 8 and 10a) and here it refers to the “calamity” or “disaster” that the Lord had threatened (v. 10b). This repetition of the root forms a polysemantic wordplay that exploits this broad range of meanings of the noun. The wordplay emphasizes that God’s response was appropriate: because the Ninevites repented from their moral “evil” God relented from the “calamity” he had threatened.

[3:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “the disaster that he had spoken to do to them.”

[3:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “and he did not do it.” See notes on 3:8-9.