Thirteen Attributes of Mercy

The Thirteen Attributes of Mercy (י״ג מִידּוֹת) or Shelosh-'Esreh Middot HaRakhamim (transliterated from the Hebrew: שְׁלוֹשׁ־עֶשְׂרֵה מִידּוֹת הַרַחֲמִים ) as enumerated in the Book of Exodus () in Parasha Ki Tissa are the Divine Attributes with which, according to Judaism, God governs the world. The thirteen attributes are alluded to a number of other times in the Bible. Verses where God is described using all or some of the attributes include , , , , , , , , and . The 13 attributes closely parallel the description of God's nature in the second of the Ten Commandments, except that God is characterized as merciful rather than zealous. Thus, they represent a covenant between God and Israel, replacing the covenant of the Ten Commandments which was broken by the golden calf sin. When Moses later mentioned the 13 attributes as an argument for sparing the Jewish people after the sin of the spies, he was referencing this covenant (in contrast to the covenant with the Biblical patriarchs, which Moses had referenced after the golden calf sin). According to Maimonides the 13 attributes are not qualities inherent in God, but rather are methods of His activity, by which the divine governance appears to the human observer to be controlled. This understanding is confirmed by the Sifre, where these attributes are not called (which can mean "attribute"), but rather (ways), since they are the ways of God which Moses prayed to know and which God proclaimed to him. The number thirteen is adopted from Talmudic and rabbinic tradition. There are divergent opinions as to the correct division of the Biblical words between attributes; Shadal describes no fewer than thirteen such opinions. According to some, the Thirteen Attributes begin with the first "Adonai", in verse 6, and end with the word "ve-nakeh" in verse 7.