Exodus 34:6

YHVH YHVH. This is the attribute of mercy, one before a person will sin, and one after a person will sin and repent.

GOD. This too is the attribute of mercy, and thus the Torah says, "My God, My God, why did You abandon me?" (Psalms 22:2) One wouldn't want to say to the attribute of judgment, "Why did You abandon me?" I found this [teaching] in the Mekhilta.

LONG-SUFFERING. God lengthens his anger and does not rush to settle a score, lest [the person] do teshuvah.

AND ABUNDANT LOVING-KINDNESS. For those who need loving-kindness since they do not have so many merits.

AND TRUTH. To pay a good reward to those who do God's will.

And the Lord made His Shekinah to pass by before his face, and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and nigh in mercies, abounding to exercise compassion and truth;

AND THE ETERNAL PASSED BY BEFORE HIM. This means that He fulfilled His promise to Moses, I will make all My goodness pass before thee.

AND HE PROCLAIMED: ‘HASHEM HASHEM E-IL’ (THE ETERNAL, THE ETERNAL, G-D). These three words are sacred Names of G-d which the Sages call midoth (attributes), being that they constitute the attribute of the Lord of repentance, the attribute of His mercies and that of His goodness. as separate attributes. See, however, Guide of the Perplexed, Vol. I, p. 193, Note 5, in Friedlander’s translation. The Proper Name of G-d [i.e. the Tetragrammaton], however does not lend itself to any plural form.] does not lend itself to any plural form, in spite of the fact that the various attributes are here cited (Abusaula). And the attributes which are perceived in human terms are ten: merciful and gracious, etc. Thus on one side they are all attributes, and on the other, there are the three which denote the Names of His essence, whereas the Ten are attributes. Now the attributes also represent Names of G-d, for merciful and gracious, long-suffering etc. are all with reference to the essence of G-d the Most High. Therefore it does not say “the G-d Who has mercy, grace, and is long-suffering,” for [that would have meant that these are His ways with the lower creatures; instead it says, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, indicating] that these actions emanate from G-d’s attributes, [which are His essence].

ויקרא, G’d.

'ה', ה, a reference to the fact that this is the name of the Lord is the One Who originates matters, called non existent phenomena into existence. The repetition of the name a second time means that it is also He Who is eternal, not subject to fading into the nothingness they came from. At the same time it is He Who preserves these phenomena He has called into existence.

א-ל, whatever He does is not the result of external pressure, being programmed, [such as trees whose function it is to grow, or water whose function it is to flow downhill. Ed.]

רחום, merciful to those who are guilty, reducing the punishment they really deserve. David explains this in Psalms 34,18 צעקו וה' שמו, “they cry out and the Lord hears.” G’d sees and sympathises with the anguish of the downtrodden as we know from Exodus 3,9 וגם ראיתי את הלחץ, “I have also taken note of the oppression, etc.”

וחנון; He even responds to people who request leniency even though they are not deserving of it.

ארך אפים, both to the righteous and to the wicked. The reason? To encourage them to do teshuvah.

ורב חסד, inclining toward leniency in administering justice. Our sages define this as מעביר ראשון ראשון, He decides in favour of the accused when his merits and demerits are in balance.

ואמת, the adjective רב, “abundant” mentioned in connection with the attribute חסד also applies to the attribute אמת. The mention of the attribute אמת is important as if we had only known about G’d’s patience with the sinner, i.e. ארך אפים, we might have concluded that the sinner might eventually get away with his sin. The attribute אמת is a reminder that if the sinner who enjoyed G’d’s patience did not use it to repent, his sins will catch up with him. G’d does not wipe out the sin. It also refers to what our sages described as the meaning of Deuteronomy 10,17 that G’d does not show favoritism, i.e. an illustrious’ father such as Avraham cannot save his son Yishmael from punishment, nor a Yitzchok his son Esau. Similarly, it includes the fact that G’d does not accept “bribes,” and that sins cannot be offset by good deeds so that the sin goes unpunished.

'ויקרא ה' ה, He proclaimed: “The Lord, the Lord;” The meaning of this proclamation is that G–d announces that in His capacity as the attribute of Mercy, He continues practicing this attribute not only before man sins but also after man had sinned. This is how the Talmud, tractate Rosh Hashanah folio 17 interprets this proclamation. We need to delve more deeply into this subject. Since when had man been in need of this attribute of the Lord before he had sinned? We are forced to answer that seeing the Lord is aware of what goes on in the innermost regions of our heart, He was aware that we would commit sins even before we had converted sinful thoughts into sinful deeds. This is why both of these “names” of the Lord are actually two separate attributes of the thirteen attributes revealed to Moses at this point. On the other hand, the attribute known as נוצר חסד לאלפים, “storing up kindness for up to two thousand generations,” which apparently are two separate attributes are in reality only a single attribute. Rav Nissim, however, considers these words as two separate attributes, whereas he dos not consider the first word: “Hashem,” as one of the thirteen attributes. The plain meaning of the verse commencing with the words: ויעבור ה' על פניו ויקרא ה', ה' וגו', “the Lord passed by before him, etc.,” is that in times of need for the Lord’s Mercy, these thirteen attributes of the Lord are to be invoked in our prayers for help and forgiveness.

א-ל; an attribute describing G–d as an honest Judge handing out fair judgment. It is an abbreviation of the word אל-הים, introduced as such an attribute in Exodus 22,8, where the Torah decreed that disputes be presented to a judge, the latter being defined as elohim.

רחום, “He Who displays mercy to the poor and needy and saves them.”

וחנון, and “Who is gracious,” even to the wealthy; anyone dispensing gifts is considered as practicing the attribute of being gracious.

ארך אפים, “long suffering;” displaying patience with the wicked, instead of punishing them immediately.

ורב חסד, “and abundant in goodness;” when a person’s merits and demerits are in balance, G–d tips the scales so that the merits predominate. Our sages in the Talmud, tractate Sotah folio 11 describe this as G–d’s attribute of goodness is stronger than His attribute of decreeing punishment where called for.