How Long?

He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. Psalm 103:9 NASB

Keep – How long will God stay angry? Answering that question seems to be behind the usual translations of this verse. For example, TEV renders the verse, “He does not keep on rebuking; he is not angry forever.” NIV: “nor will he harbor his anger forever.” ISV: “remain angry for all time.” The verb, natar, “to keep anger,” is used only here in this verse. That presents some translation problems. Lexicons turn to related and parallel occurrences in order to determine the meaning.[1]

But these translations raise an interesting question. Is David’s comment to be taken as a statement of enduring love or as a warning that the time for reconciliation will someday end? Here the insertion of a prepositional phrase makes a huge difference. The NASB inserts “with us” in this verse. The Hebrew simply reads, “He will not always strive (chide).” The object of God’s action is clear enough. We are the objects of His attention. But the mode of this action is not specified. Should the action be understood as striving with us or for us? Without the preposition, the verb is ambiguous. Thus, most translations do not attempt to specify the mode of God’s action. Left unspecified, these translations assume that God’s striving is a positive action, that is, God will cease chiding us because His love overcomes His discipline. The translators of the NASB took a different view. God’s striving is the positive event. His cessation is calamity.

Which is it? Hard to tell. The previous verse seems to favor the positive view. It extols God’s mercy and grace, deliberately leaving out the next thought of judgment. But perhaps David leaves out that sequence because everyone knows what comes next, and this verse amplifies the urgency of repentance. The judgment is not put off forever.

“He will not always chide,” as we discovered, uses a term most at home in combat. It seems to me that the implication is that chiding is what we expect from our encounters with YHVH. This is the action of a loving parent, prodding His children to live up to the destiny of their calling. If we read the verse as a positive statement (that God will cease contending with us), then the verse must imply that He is fighting now but will someday stop, that He is angry now but will someday be appeased. Does this fit the context of the psalm? Is David describing YHVH as angry and contentious now, with the hope that someday His displeasure will be lifted?

Consider the opening of this psalm. “Bless YHVH all that is within me.” Does this sound like a man who is trying to appease an angry God? “Who redeems,” “who pardons,” “who crowns you with hesed.” Is this a God whose temper burns? It seems to me that David has deliberately overlooked Exodus 34:7 in order to impress upon us that urgency of renewal. Now YHVH is ready to forgive, welcoming, able to restore, anxious to pardon. But not always. Exodus 34:7 will come to pass. His anger will arrive.

And while we are looking at natar we should not forget that “his anger” is also a gloss. The Hebrew simply reads, “nor will He keep forever.” What is it that He will not keep forever? Derivatives of the verb describe guards or targets. Nehemiah 1:2 and Jeremiah 3:5 suggest a connection with anger. Context must tell us how we are to understand this solitary verb in the psalm. Both Nehemiah and Jeremiah came long after David so while they may have borrowed the word from the Psalms, it is quite certain David did not borrow the word from the prophets.

So which is it? Which Bible captures David’s intention? And can we really know?

Topical Index: keep, natar, anger, Psalm 103:9

[1] For example, “The Lord “keeps wrath for his enemies” (Nah 1:2), yet he promises not to keep anger forever (Ps 103:9; Jer 3:5, 12; cf. Amos 1:11). In Lev 19:18, a verse which Jesus considered to be at the heart of the ot law (cf. Mt 19:19; Mk 12:31), Israel is commanded, “You shall not … bear any grudge (nāṭar) toward the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Wilson, M. R., TWOT #1356 נָטַר.