Keluaran 6:2

6:2 God spoke ¹  to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. ² 

Bilangan 23:19

23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie,

nor a human being, ³  that he should change his mind.

Has he said, and will he not do it?

Or has he spoken, and will he not make it happen? ⁴ 

Bilangan 23:1

Balaam Blesses Israel

23:1 ⁵ Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”

1 Samuel 15:29

15:29 The Preeminent One ⁶  of Israel does not go back on his word ⁷  or change his mind, for he is not a human being who changes his mind.” ⁸ 

[6:2]  ¹ tn Heb “And God spoke.”

[6:2]  ² sn The announcement “I am the Lord” (Heb “Yahweh”) draws in the preceding revelation in Exod 3:15. In that place God called Moses to this task and explained the significance of the name “Yahweh” by the enigmatic expression “I am that I am.” “I am” (אֶהְיֶה, ’ehyeh) is not a name; “Yahweh” is. But the explanation of the name with this sentence indicates that Yahweh is the one who is always there, and that guarantees the future, for everything he does is consistent with his nature. He is eternal, never changing; he remains. Now, in Exodus 6, the meaning of the name “Yahweh” will be more fully unfolded.

[23:19]  ³ tn Heb “son of man.”

[23:19]  ⁴ tn The verb is the Hiphil of קוּם (qum, “to cause to rise; to make stand”). The meaning here is more of the sense of fulfilling the promises made.

[23:1]  ⁵ sn The first part of Balaam’s activity ends in disaster for Balak – he blesses Israel. The chapter falls into four units: the first prophecy (vv. 1-10), the relocation (vv. 11-17), the second prophecy (vv. 18-24), and a further location (vv. 25-30).

[15:29]  ⁶ tn Heb “splendor,” used here by metonymy as a title for the Lord.

[15:29]  ⁷ tn Or perhaps “does not lie.”

[15:29]  ⁸ sn This observation marks the preceding statement (v. 28) as an unconditional, unalterable decree. When God makes such a decree he will not alter it or change his mind. This does not mean that God never deviates from his stated intentions or changes his mind. On the contrary, several passages describe him as changing his mind. In fact, his willingness to do so is one of his fundamental divine attributes (see Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2). For a fuller discussion see R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “Does God Change His Mind?” BSac 152 (1995): 387-99.