תהלים 103:8

Hebrew Modern Translation

רחום וחנון יהוה ארך אפים ורב חסד׃

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Aleppo Codex
וחנון יהוה ארך אפים ורב-חסד

Biblia Hebrica Stuttgartensia (1967/77)
רַח֣וּם וְחַנּ֣וּן יְהוָ֑ה אֶ֖רֶךְ אַפַּ֣יִם וְרַב־חָֽסֶד ׃

Westminster Leningrad Codex
רַחוּם וְחַנּוּן יְהוָה אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם וְרַב־חָֽסֶד ׃

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

merciful: Psalms 86:5, Psalms 86:15, Psalms 130:7, Psalms 145:8, Exodus 34:6, Exodus 34:7, Numbers 14:18, Deuteronomy 5:10, Nehemiah 9:17, Isaiah 55:7, Jeremiah 32:18, Romans 5:20, Romans 5:21, Ephesians 1:7, Ephesians 1:8

slow: Joel 2:13, Jonah 4:2, Nahum 1:3

plenteous in mercy: Heb. great of mercy

Reciprocal: Genesis 19:16 - the Lord 2 Samuel 24:14 - for his 1 Chronicles 21:13 - great Nehemiah 9:31 - gracious Psalms 26:11 - and Psalms 62:12 - mercy Psalms 86:13 - great Psalms 111:4 - gracious Psalms 116:5 - Gracious Proverbs 16:32 - that is Isaiah 48:9 - defer Jeremiah 3:5 - he reserve Jeremiah 3:12 - for I am Lamentations 3:31 - General Malachi 3:17 - and I Matthew 28:10 - go Ephesians 2:4 - who James 5:11 - the Lord is

Gill's Notes on the Bible

The Lord is merciful and gracious,.... So he made himself known to Moses, Exodus 34:6, and so David found him to be, and therefore calls upon his soul to bless his name. God is "merciful" in the most tender and affectionate manner; he has bowels of mercy, which yearn towards his people, as those of a tender parent to its child, as the word signifies; his mercy is free, without any motive or merit in men to engage it; he delights in showing it; he constantly bestows it; it is the source of all good things; it is communicated through Christ; all mercies temporal and spiritual come by him; and this lays a foundation for faith and hope: and he is gracious, as appears in the eternal choice of his people to salvation; in providing a Saviour and a ransom for them; in giving all grace and the blessings of it to them in his Son; in giving him for them, and all things to them with him; in justifying them by his righteousness; in pardoning their sins for his sake; in taking them into his family; in regenerating, calling, preserving, and saving them:

slow to anger, or "longsuffering" d; even to wicked men, to the vessels of wrath, to the old world, yea, to Jezebel, to whom he gave space to repent; which longsuffering being abused and despised, is an aggravation of condemnation: but rather here it intends God's longsuffering to his people, as before conversion, waiting till the time comes that he is gracious to them; and after conversion, notwithstanding their backslidings and revoltings; and this longsuffering is their salvation:

and plenteous in mercy; large and abundant in it, as appears by the various instances of it, and ways and methods in which he shows it; in election, in the covenant, in redemption, in regeneration, in pardon and eternal life; and by the abundance of it which he bestows on every one of his people; and by the vast numbers which do partake of it.

d ארך אפים "longanimis", V. L. Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The Lord is merciful and gracious - See the notes at Psalms 78:38. The idea here is derived evidently from Exodus 34:6-7 - that great and glorious statement of God himself in regard to his own character. Our world is a different world under that statement from what it would be if that and kindred declarations had not been made. There is here a “progression” of thought; an “advance” on the previous statements. At first the psalmist referred to his own individual experience Psalms 103:3-5; then he referred to the dealings of God toward the Hebrew people Psalms 103:6-7; and now he rises to the general contemplation of his character as it relates to all mankind. It was a characteristic of God in respect to all, that he was kind, compassionate, and forbearing.

Slow to anger - That is, patient; not soon excited; bearing much, and bearing it long. See James 5:11; compare Exodus 34:6-7.

And plenteous in mercy - Margin, “great of mercy.” The Hebrew word means “much,” or great;” and the idea is, that mercy is not manifested by him in small or stinted measure. It is rich; full; abundant; overflowing; free.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Psalms 103:8. The Lord is merciful — Psalms 86:15.