Yet immeasurable and unsearchable is thy promised mercy: The Greek word rendered immeasurable, meaning “impossible to measure,” is used in Bar 3.25 and 3 Macc 4.17. Unsearchable is used in Rom 11.33 and Eph 3.8 in much the same sense as here. Unsearchable means “not subject to investigation, not able to be understood.” Thy promised mercy is literally “the mercy of your promise,” and is parallel to “the wrath of thy threat” in verse 5. The mercy has not yet been exercised; we stand here in awe before its prospect. The following alternative renderings for this verse reflect this echo of verse 5 and conform to the model for it suggested above:

• But even the promise of your mercy is more than we can measure,
it is beyond our understanding.

• Even when you promise to show us mercy,
we simply cannot measure it or understand it.

• You have promised to be merciful to us;
but we cannot understand or measure your mercy.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Shorter Books of the Deuterocanon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2006. For this and other handbooks for translators see