material blessing, freeing from enemies, and especially forgiveness of sins. The term appears frequently in liturgical and narrative settings (e.g., Exod. 33:19; 34:6; Ps. 27:7; 31:9; 2 Kgs. 13:23; Jonah 4:2), and the concept is foundational for Israel’s self-understanding long before the NT era. In the Old Epic tradition, divine graciousness is included in the full liturgical title of God revealed to Moses at Mt. Sinai (Exod. 33–34), where it is explicitly related to divine forgiveness. In the era
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