“He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.”
The statement 'He will not always accuse, nor will he keep his anger forever' provides reassurance that God's wrath, though real and consequential, is not infinite or final. The phrase 'not always' (lo lanetzah) suggests a temporal limit to divine retribution; anger has a term and is not the ultimate reality. The parallel 'nor will he keep his anger forever' (ve-lo le-olam yittor) emphasizes the finitude of wrath: God's anger is not eternal but provisional, temporary, bounded by time. This verse speaks directly to the anxious soul that fears divine abandonment or permanent rejection; it offers the assurance that even justified anger comes to an end. The logic here is that God's steadfast love (hesed) is eternal while God's anger is temporal; the eternal attribute prevails over the temporary one. This verse thus relativizes the experience of divine wrath, contextualizing it within the larger framework of God's mercy.
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