Sforno on Exodus 34:6/ספורנו על שמות ל״ד:ו׳

1ויקרא, G’d.

2'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.

3א-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.]

4רחום, 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.”

5וחנון; He even responds to people who request leniency even though they are not deserving of it.

6ארך אפים, both to the righteous and to the wicked. The reason? To encourage them to do teshuvah.

7ורב 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.

8ואמת, 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.