חֶ֣סֶד וֶ֭אֱמֶת יִצְּרוּ־מֶ֑לֶךְ וְסָעַ֖ד בַּחֶ֣סֶד כִּסְאֽוֹ׃
Kasih setia dan kebenaran menjaga raja, dan dengan kasih setia ia menopang takhtanya.
Rabbeinu Bahya
It is appropriate to explain why such an acrostic is necessary seeing that immediately after the word אנכי G’d spells out the fact that He gave the Torah by referring to Himself as י-ה-ו-ה אלוה-יך. You are familiar with the fact that Onkelos translates the word אנכי when applied to G’d as מימרי, except in this instance where he does not translate it but renders it in the original Hebrew. By not translating the words and simply copying them, Onkelos preserves the fact that G’d refers to the attribute of Mercy and the attribute of Justice as having been equally involved in uttering the Ten Commandments and makes plain that the commandment which demands from us complete faith in G’d’s Oneness and being unprecedented extends to both of these attributes of His. By reminding us of the acrostic concealed in these four letters, the sages reminded us of the fact that the entire Torah was given by the attribute Hashem. Our sages (Mechilta Bachodesh section 6) have called this commandment “acceptance of the Kingdom of heaven.” Both the attribute of Justice and the attribute of Mercy are qualities which a king of flesh and blood also has to display when judging his nation. Solomon already refers to this when he says (Proverbs 29,4) “a king sustains the land by justice.” The same Solomon writes in Proverbs 20,28: “mercy and truth preserve the king; he upholds his throne by loving kindness.”
אשר הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים, “who has taken you out of the land of Egypt.” He did this in order to demonstrate the miracles to establish His claim to Kingship and Divinity in your eyes. Seeing that it was all-important to G’d to remind the people of their visual experience of what He had done, He decided not to introduce Himself as the G’d Who had created heaven and earth. The people had not witnessed that, nor for that matter had anyone else. In fact, G’d used the visual experience the people had of Him to support His claim that He had created the heaven and earth. Moreover, the Exodus of Egypt was a manifestation of G’d equal to creation of heaven and earth. The miracles which occurred subsequent to the Exodus were many and variegated; the various miracles which contradicted the laws of nature were proof that only Someone Who had established those “laws of nature” could have also have been the One Who created heaven and earth. This is why G’d chose the word הוצאתיך to describe the Exodus. The word also means “to bring forth,” and has been used repeatedly in that sense in the first chapter of Genesis. It signifies that what occurred at the Exodus was a חדוש העולם, “a rebirth of the world as it had been known.” Instead of being slaves to an earthly power, i.e. Pharaoh, the Israelites would now serve an entirely different Master, the Creator, Who had adopted them as His special people. When referring to the bondage in Egypt as a “house of slaves,” G’d may even have alluded to the fact that the masters,” i.e. the Egyptians, had been shown to be only slaves themselves, subject to a higher authority, G’d. After all, the Egyptians were descended from Cham, youngest son of Noach, whose descendants had been cursed by their father Noach to be slaves. (Compare the Egyptians’ genealogy in Genesis 10,7). Having become the slaves of slaves was in itself unnatural. It is also possible that the word עבדים in the expression בית עבדים in our verse is a reference to an object or objects. We would have to translate it as “the house of eternal slavery.” It is also possible to explain the words מבית עבדים as “from the house of horoscopes to which all Egyptians were mentally enslaved.” The reason the Torah describes the horoscopes as “slaves,” is that whereas they are like kings to those who believe in them and feel utterly dependent on their power, they are in reality servants to all the celestial forces above them. There is a hint here that actually the Israelites had been condemned to remain in Egypt for longer (according to horoscopic calculations) had not the Lord negated the power of the horoscopes and taken the Israelites out as a miracle. This is the meaning of Deut. 4,20: “He took you out from the iron crucible” in which the Israelites had been meant to dissolve like iron being melted down. Our verse then describes that the Exodus proceeded in two stages, first G’d took the people out of the iron crucible, then out of the land of Egypt.
אשר הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים, “who has taken you out of the land of Egypt.” He did this in order to demonstrate the miracles to establish His claim to Kingship and Divinity in your eyes. Seeing that it was all-important to G’d to remind the people of their visual experience of what He had done, He decided not to introduce Himself as the G’d Who had created heaven and earth. The people had not witnessed that, nor for that matter had anyone else. In fact, G’d used the visual experience the people had of Him to support His claim that He had created the heaven and earth. Moreover, the Exodus of Egypt was a manifestation of G’d equal to creation of heaven and earth. The miracles which occurred subsequent to the Exodus were many and variegated; the various miracles which contradicted the laws of nature were proof that only Someone Who had established those “laws of nature” could have also have been the One Who created heaven and earth. This is why G’d chose the word הוצאתיך to describe the Exodus. The word also means “to bring forth,” and has been used repeatedly in that sense in the first chapter of Genesis. It signifies that what occurred at the Exodus was a חדוש העולם, “a rebirth of the world as it had been known.” Instead of being slaves to an earthly power, i.e. Pharaoh, the Israelites would now serve an entirely different Master, the Creator, Who had adopted them as His special people. When referring to the bondage in Egypt as a “house of slaves,” G’d may even have alluded to the fact that the masters,” i.e. the Egyptians, had been shown to be only slaves themselves, subject to a higher authority, G’d. After all, the Egyptians were descended from Cham, youngest son of Noach, whose descendants had been cursed by their father Noach to be slaves. (Compare the Egyptians’ genealogy in Genesis 10,7). Having become the slaves of slaves was in itself unnatural. It is also possible that the word עבדים in the expression בית עבדים in our verse is a reference to an object or objects. We would have to translate it as “the house of eternal slavery.” It is also possible to explain the words מבית עבדים as “from the house of horoscopes to which all Egyptians were mentally enslaved.” The reason the Torah describes the horoscopes as “slaves,” is that whereas they are like kings to those who believe in them and feel utterly dependent on their power, they are in reality servants to all the celestial forces above them. There is a hint here that actually the Israelites had been condemned to remain in Egypt for longer (according to horoscopic calculations) had not the Lord negated the power of the horoscopes and taken the Israelites out as a miracle. This is the meaning of Deut. 4,20: “He took you out from the iron crucible” in which the Israelites had been meant to dissolve like iron being melted down. Our verse then describes that the Exodus proceeded in two stages, first G’d took the people out of the iron crucible, then out of the land of Egypt.
Rabbeinu Bahya
ויעבור ה’ על פניו ויקרא ה’ ה’ אל רחום וחנון ארך אפים ורב חסד ואמת, נוצר חסד לאלפים נושא עון ופשע וחטאה ונקה, “Hashem passed before him and proclaimed: ‘Hashem, Hashem, G’d, Compassionate and Gracious, Slow to anger, and abundant in Kindness and Truth; Preserver of Kindness for thousands of generations, Forgiver of Iniquity, Willful sin, and Error, and Who cleanses.” According to the plain meaning of the text these attributes are the ones a king practices in his dealings with his people. All of these attributes are subsumed under the heading חסד ואמת, “kindness and truth.” A king needs to employ these attributes when dealing with his people and his officials, i.e. not to insist on the application of absolute justice, but tempering justice with mercy. On the other hand, there are situations in which the king has to exert his full authority and employ the harshest measures of justice. This is why Solomon said (Proverbs 20,28) “mercy and truth preserve the king; he upholds his throne by loving kindness.” A judicious application of these two attributes ensures the stability of the king’s throne.
You have to appreciate that everyone who properly understands these thirteen attributes and invokes them in his prayers meticulously will never experience that his prayers went totally unheard (Rosh Hashanah 17). The only reason that his prayer would go unheard would be certain specific sins which are not subject to G’d’s forgiveness. In our times, when we are bereft of the priests, the holy Temple, the altar and the sacrifices, all of which were meant to assure us of atonement for our sins, the only thing left for us with which to appeal to G’d are our personal prayers and the invoking of these thirteen attributes (nuances) of G’d’s Mercy. By knowing of these thirteen attributes of Mercy our sages were able to properly edit our prayers so that they will enjoy maximum effectiveness.
You have to appreciate that everyone who properly understands these thirteen attributes and invokes them in his prayers meticulously will never experience that his prayers went totally unheard (Rosh Hashanah 17). The only reason that his prayer would go unheard would be certain specific sins which are not subject to G’d’s forgiveness. In our times, when we are bereft of the priests, the holy Temple, the altar and the sacrifices, all of which were meant to assure us of atonement for our sins, the only thing left for us with which to appeal to G’d are our personal prayers and the invoking of these thirteen attributes (nuances) of G’d’s Mercy. By knowing of these thirteen attributes of Mercy our sages were able to properly edit our prayers so that they will enjoy maximum effectiveness.