The LORD passed before him is literally “And Yahweh passed by over his face.” This fulfills the promise in 33.22. The word for passed means to pass from one side to the other. The idiom “over his face” means “in front of Moses” (Contemporary English Version). And proclaimed is literally “and he cried out,” or “called out” (Good News Translation). In this verse it is clear that it is Yahweh who calls out the name, not Moses.

The LORD, the LORD is literally “Yahweh, Yahweh.” In the Hebrew text the first “Yahweh” may be understood simply as the subject of proclaimed, but most translations take this as two utterances by Yahweh of his personal name. Good News Translation, however, has “I, the LORD, am…,” and Contemporary English Version has “I am the LORD God,” both of which are possible interpretations. If indeed the meaning of the name YHWH was originally “he is,” then it is possible to imagine that God would call himself “I AM” rather than “HE IS.” But this is not really what the Hebrew says. (See the comment at 3.14.) Translators may choose between the two interpretations: (1) have two instances of “Yahweh” or “The LORD,” or (2) follow the interpretation of Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version.

A God merciful and gracious uses the general term ʾel for God rather than ʾelohim. (See the comment at 6.3.) The word for merciful is related to the word for “womb,” and the word for gracious is the adjective form of the verb used in 33.19. (See the comment there on both words.) Slow to anger, literally “long of nostrils,” is an idiom suggesting that the nostrils are slow in reflecting anger. Revised English Bible translates this as “long-suffering,” while Good News Translation has “not easily angered.” One may say “I do not get angry quickly” or “my heart does not get hot quickly.” Contemporary English Version has “very patient with my people.” In some languages it will be helpful to start a new sentence here rather than following Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation; for example, “Then he passed in front of Moses and called out, ‘I am the LORD God. I am merciful….’ ”

And abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness is literally “and numerous of chesed and ʾemeth.” The word chesed, usually translated in Revised Standard Version as steadfast love, suggests a constant and “unchanging love” (Durham), and ʾemeth suggests the idea of reliability and truth. (See the comment on chesed at 15.13.) The two words are often used together. Possible renderings are “great love and faithfulness” (Good News Translation), “faithful love and constancy” (New Jerusalem Bible), and “ever faithful and true” (Revised English Bible). Another way to express this is “I show great love to my people and they can trust me.”

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .