God, this word occurs only during the exile and after the exile (Jer 52). The semantic field of the word is that of constancy, reliability. It was a unique characteristic of the Lord.9 Contrary to the way neighboring peoples viewed their gods, the Jews now understood their God to be faithful to them, and there is no greater hope than knowing that God is totally reliable. God had always been faithful (Exod 34:6–7), but the point here is that the people finally realized it. Often in life people do
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