Exodus 34:6

“And the Lord passed by before him, etc.] Or caused his Shechinah, his divine Majesty, and the glory of it, to pass before him, as the Targums; his glory and goodness, which he had promised should pass before him, (<023319>Exodus 33:19,22) and it is but a transient passing view the greatest of men, God’s peculiar favourites, have of him in this life: and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord God; the Jerusalem Targum wrongly paraphrases the words as a prayer of Moses thus, “and Moses prayed, and said, O Lord, Lord”; and so the Vulgate Latin version; but it is quite clear, and beyond all doubt, from (<041417>Numbers 14:17,18) that what follow are the words of God, and not of Moses: the sense is, that…”

“the Lord passed by before him--in this remarkable scene, God performed what He had promised to Moses the day before. proclaimed, The Lord . . . merciful and gracious--At an earlier period He had announced Himself to Moses, in the glory of His self-existent and eternal majesty, as "I am" [Exo 3:14]; now He makes Himself known in the glory of His grace and goodness--attributes that were to be illustriously displayed in the future history and experience of the church. Being about to republish His law--the sin of the Israelites being forgiven and the deed of pardon about to be signed and sealed by renewing the terms of the former covenant--it was the most fitting time to proclaim the extent of…”

“This was the second revelation of the name of the God of Israel to Moses. The first revelation was of Yahweh as the self-existent One, who purposed to deliver His people with a mighty hand Exodus 3:14; this was of the same Yahweh as a loving Saviour who was now forgiving their sins. The two ideas that mark these revelations are found combined, apart from their historical development, in the second commandment, where the divine unity is shown on its practical side, in its relation to human obligations (compare Exodus 34:14; Exodus 20:4). Both in the commandment and in this passage, the divine love is associated with the divine justice; but in the former there is a transposition to serve the…”

“And the Lord passed by before him - Fixed views of God are reserved for the future state; the best we have in this world are transient. And proclaimed the name of the Lord - By which he would make himself known. He had made himself known to Moses in the glory of his self - existence, and self - sufficiency, when he proclaimed that name, I am that I am; now he makes himself known in the glory of his grace and goodness, and all - sufficiency to us. The proclaiming of it notes the universal extent of God's mercy; he is not only good to Israel, but good to all. The God with whom we have to do is a great God. He is Jehovah, the Lord, that hath his being of himself, and is the fountain of all…”

“34:6 compassion and mercy (see 20:5-6; 33:19 and study notes): The Creator who was revealing himself to the Israelites, and through them to the world, is a God of grace. Neither his justice nor his sovereignty are underlined here, as true as those attributes are. If God were merely just, the Old Testament would have ended at this point, or it would have picked up and started again with an entirely new family. This did not happen because God, in his unique character, is slow to anger and full of unfailing love and faithfulness. These qualities were the basis for his renewal of the covenant.”

“passed: Exo 33:20-23; Kg1 19:11 proclaimed: Num 14:17-19; Isa 12:4 The Lord: Exo 3:13-16 merciful: Deu 5:10; Ch2 30:9; Neh 9:17; Psa 86:5, Psa 86:15, Psa 103:8-13, Psa 111:4, Psa 112:4; Psa 116:5, Psa 145:8; Joe 2:13; Jon 4:2; Rom 2:4 abundant: Psa 31:19; Mic 7:18; Rom 2:4, Rom 5:20, Rom 5:21; Eph 1:7, Eph 1:8 truth: Psa 57:10, Psa 91:4, Psa 108:4, Psa 111:8, Psa 138:2, Psa 146:6; Lam 3:23; Mic 7:20; Joh 1:17 Exodus 34:7”