Dear Rabbi:
thanks for your kind by the answer.an encouragement to my further understanding jewish temple worship
now i have a question.
In jewish prayer books,usually i got the Shemot 34:6-7 this way:
Shemot 34:6-7 Hashem, Hashem, E-l, Compassionate and Gracious, Slow to Anger, and Abundant in Kindness and Truth; Preserver of Kindness for thousands of generations, Forgiver of Iniquity, Willful Sin, and Error, and Who Cleanses…
but according to any holy scripture ,it is like that :
“HASHEM, HASHEM G-d, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”
it is big different between the jewish prayer book and the bible in these two verses.
the difference is that in the In jewish book it is “Who Cleanses…”
but In bible is that “by no means clearing the guilty”
i just to be puzzled to understand it.would you like to make an explanation to me the difference?
Answer:
This is a very good question.
The biblical version of the verse, as you correctly note, implies that the final “who cleanses” (ve-nakeh) must be read together with the following words (lo yenakeh), rendering “He will surely not cleanse.”
However, in the prayer book, which reflects the special prayer of the “13 Attributes” which is recited on special occasions (and in particular on Yom Kippur), the sentence is closed with the word “who cleanses,” omitting the words that follow. This changes the meaning drastically.
The explanation for this is found in a passage of the Sages (Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 86), which states that when Moshe climbed Sinai to gain repentance for the nation after the sin of the golden calf, Hashem taught him to recite the Thirteen Attributes, including the word “ve-nakeh” (“who cleanses”) as one of the Attributes of God.
Incredibly, the very statement of “by no means cleansing the guilty” to “who cleanses [the guilty].” By this we express the power of human repentance, as taught to Moshe after the sin of the calf: it has the power to change the very attribute of judgment to mercy and compassion.
I hope this explanation helps a little, and wish you best of wishes.
