24 BI S ummer 2004 Hebrew Hebrew tr word Hebrew thisword? Pr the fullnessof sense of Godforhiscreatures.” love of astheactive from adeeppersonallove, loving-kindness “k favor.” En mercy, regard, definesitas “tender unabridged), A WordStudy LO kindness. on Hisloving- tionship isbased covenantal rela- Israel. God’s covenant with established His where God mount ofMoses), Jebul Musa(the Mount Sinai,or (Ps. 136:11). bondage Egyptian Israel from that delivered lovingkindness everlasting celebrated God’s The psalmist Thutmose III. was builtby shore oftheNile, on thewestern Medinet Habu, This templeat L BY FRANCISX.KIMMITT nlto lvn-ides”The anslation “loving-kindness.” bbynt otoi h es fthe obably not!Sotoo isthesenseof esed”). The biblical writers usedthe Thebiblicalwriters esed”). g lish Dictionary Can any onedefinitiongive you a the English Language Ne O VING-KINDNESS. w International Dictionary of Dictionary w International word

from which we have the VING-KINDNESS is as “kindness arising as “kindness

ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ BOB SCHATZ (16/27/7) chesed (1933 ed.)defined (pronounced The Oxford We (2d ed., bster’s ao nyu ih,place now your Ihave found favor inyour sight, if ‘Please, said to him, hecalledhissonJoseph and drew near, Jo e and One kindness inhuman relationships. love, loyalty, entails faithfulness, (2) between Godandpeople. (1)between human and beings levels: uses The OldTestament Chesed the Lord. sideof the used to portray “loving” the word thatmany biblicalwriters onemust understand Old Testament, tr theword 246times. of noun form xample isJacob’s deathbedspeech to uly understandGod’s character inthe eh “When to thetimeforIsrael die seph, in theOldTestament chesed on two Chesed 1 To chesed subjects) isthatmenandwomen show re family between humans (marriage, sense of The (Ruth 3:10). whether poororrich’” first by notgoingafter young men, kindness [ my theLord, ‘May you beblessedof said, he “Then love andrespect to Ruth, of 47:29). (Gen. meinEgypt’” Please donotbury in kindness[ me hand undermy anddealwith thigh lationships, friendships, kings and kings friendships, lationships,

agtr You havedaughter. your shown last 2 to

A one anotherby treating each chesed nother isBoaz’s expression chesed chesed ] to bebetter thanthe ] andfaithfulness. in relationships hns endures allthings.” things, hopesall believes allthings, all things, bears thetruth; butrejoices with ness, does notrejoice inunrighteous- fered, does nottake into account suf- awrong isnotprovoked, does notseekitsown, it doesnotactunbecomingly; arrogant, love andisnot doesnotbrag jealous; love iskindandnot “Love ispatient, P theconcept of echoes of We hear the bestforanotherperson. motivated by anything except desiring Chesed al connotation inhuman relationships. Neither doesitever have asexu- ment. ftheserelationships. of anditpromotes thegood health ship, therelation- because thatisthebasisof andlove loyalty, kindness, other with chesed h chesed aul’s words 13:4-7, in1Corinthians mnrltosis In nosettingdoes uman relationships. on thesecond level— thedivine- The various usesof The various In h te re is notinthebiblicalhuman- uman relationship—suggest is notself-seekingand r fer to anemotionorasenti- esting to compare iswhat that the covenant Yahweh chesed 3 flows outof chesed chesed in Lord hasacaseagainstthe isthat “the as Hosea explained in4:1, r Is H ex “s “unfailing love,” bound Himself: the Lord establishedandto which He co w chesed when Therefore, 6:7). ple (compare Ex. would they beHis peo- protect themif their Godalways andcare forthemand re expressed clearlyIsrael’s primary God, Lord GodalonebecauseHe istheonly Co M made His covenant Israel at with re uses of re thecovenant can seeseveral aspectsof We His peopleIsrael. established with te hnsciie Theindictment, ather thansacrifice. ra ith His people, it typically reflects the ittypically ith His people, sa66 theLord told disobedient osea 6:6, te urmn.TheLord promised to be quirement. quirements forHis children whenHe lationship aswe examine different utSni(x 956.The First 19:5-6). ount Sinai (Ex. ettoso h eainhp In therelationship. pectations of ve mnmn,to worship/serve the mmandment, adfast love,” “covenant love.” el thatHe desired mercy [ nant relationship’s perspective that H umans failto live upto the describes theLord’sdescribes relationship chesed .G od setupspecific chesed 4 :92;Nehemiah 1:5 3:19-24; LESSON REFERENCE BC Lamentations FBSC: ] biblical scholars have suggested that Some obedient andrebellious children. ness”—His “loving-kind- “mercy,” “loyalty,” love,” ex co the failed to fulfilltherequirements of nweg fGodintheland.” knowledge of no faithfulnessorkindness[ Becausethere is theland, inhabitants of rs i fihuns, “covenant press His “faithfulness,” ve at theLord continued to nant, Ev na h hlrno Israel often en asthechildren of chesed —toward thosedis- chesed

ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ BOB SCHATZ (17/38/15) 25 BI S ummer 2004 ] Or 26 BI S ummer 2004

ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/JAMES McLEMORE (21/12/10) c Old Testament texts? We canseeseveral “l “c His own butbecauseof ness inthem, any inherent good- notbecauseof ple, chesed ised to show H co H He bound In sodoing, descendants. a contract. notmerely to honor their descendants, Ja life (Ps.23:6). all thedaysofhis would followhim God’s David affirmed that shepherd’s psalm, Below: Inthe (Gen. 19:19). who savedhislife of three men loving-kindness thanks forthe plain, Lotoffer the citiesof the destructionof Gomorrah. Evenin Sodom and/or gists tobeancient many archaeolo- Dhra, believedby Right: BabEdh patriarchs. thecovenant thatHe the madewith of co but merely loyalty to His not love ormercy, chesed God’s co re co haracteristics of haracteristics oy co is meft h tpltoso His to thestipulationsof imself ov co ve ntractual obligationsasaresult ntractual ve ve alty”—His alty”—His eas fHis love forthemand b becauseof nn oe”“ec, faithfulness,” “mercy,” enant love,” at nesne theLord prom- in essence, nant; g atwt baa,Iac and Isaac, nant with Abraham, nant with nant with Abraham andhis Ho nize thattheLord madeHis chesed chesed was w doestheLord demonstrate delivers His peoplefrom 5 6 Ho chesed God chose to make the to chesed we ward Israel inthe ve chesed to r, .

this view failsto this view H is chosen peo- . (1) God’s loving-kindness loving-kindness gave thanksto thethree menfortheir Lot In Genesis19:19, their oppressors. andfrom catastrophes The Lord’s (2) to theLord. andthanksgiving praise the common reasons thepsalmsoffer TheLord’s Gomorrah. life whenGoddestroyed Sodomand chesed (4)The 7:18). mercy onJudah (Mic. prophet theLord Micah praised forHis the ment againstJudah fortheirsins, h wr (3) God’s Lo honorthe tain himsothathemight outforGodto sus- The psalmistcried mnsn ntemdto hisindict- In themidstof uman sin. rd ath—His righteous responseath—His to righteous

w fteLr nue oee.The theLord endures forever. of t i ie(opr s 119:88). ith hislife(compare Ps. chesed chesed (chesed) (chesed) nourishes human life. nourishes often limitsHis chesed in saving his is oneof Je of emotional terms thedestruction invivid penned thebookisdescribing in Lamentations3:19?Thepoet who Ho 3 Chesed inLamentations are central to this co 14:18), (Num. Israel his petitionfortheforgiveness of which M Exodus 34:6-7, TheLord’s words of ful. ness [ P wo N re faithless response to the his petitionafter thepeople’s the Lord’s am16(AB “For His lovingkind- salm 136(NASB: m 41-9.(6)Finally, 14:17-19). um. r oto the12spies(see of port oses quoted backto Him in cp fGod’s abundant ncept of love [ usalem andthetemple in586B.C. nderful antiphonalresponse of w thenshouldwe understand ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ demonstration of praise and praise of demonstration chesed chesed wo chesed atfles (5)God’s faithfulness. rship forGod’s eternal seelsig;NV “His NIV: ] iseverlasting”; Lord’s words in chesed ] endures forever”) isa JAMES McLEMORE(22/9/5) M and petition. motivation for His c oses usedthe is bounti- hildren’s prayer is often aprimary chesed

chesed . 7 hope. The Lord’s The hope. thepoet’s nature wasthesource of His peopleIsrael. the covenant God of H The Lord hadnotchanged see hisGod. the poetwasableto liftuphiseyes and hisagony, In themidstof his people. event inthelifeof about thishorrible hisfeelings ashedescribed cry his heart by “c the Lord’s “faithfulness,” because of hopeandpromise preciselyfilled with Every day ISanewday, ness isgreat. His faithful- played inHis compassion. re c 2,500 years ago: peoplemoreit wasto than ahurting “l ae h aalls fthepoetry of Theparallelism ease. ov scaatr norhadHe ceased to be is character, nocstehp.God’s inforces thehope. ov

h naigBblnas We hear the invading Babylonians. ing-kindness.” nn oe”“ec, “loyalty,” “mercy,” enant love,” hsvr seto theLord’s aspectof This very The messageisasrelevant today as chesed chesed will never is dis- Shoshan, Book ofPsalms(127 times).From AbrahamEven- half ofalltheoccurrences ofthe word are found inthe Malachi, Ecclesiastes,orSongofSongs.More than one- Amos, Obadiah,Nahum,Habakkuk,Zephaniah, Haggai, books. ItisnotintheBooksofLeviticus,2Kings, Ezekiel, Kiryat SeferLtd.,1989), 386-387. 1. Gr All Ihave needed, Morni Gr Gr As Thou changest not, There isnoshadow of “G Chesed

eat isThy faithfulness, eat isThy faithfulness! eat isThy faithfulness! r A NewConcordance ofthe Bible Thy handhath provided; new mercies Isee; Thou forever be. wilt od unto me!” Lord, Thou hastbeen, Thy compassions, they failnot; they Thy compassions, Thee; with turning my Father, O God, eat isThy faithfulness, appears in27ofthe39OldTestament ng by morning 8 (Jerusalem: ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ i article are takenfrom the 60188. Allrightsreserved. Usedbypermission. 1923. Renewal1951HopePublishingCo.,Carol Stream, IL His son. ing ofthetermsacontractbutloveFatherfor Lord’s motivationforHis loved him,AndoutofEgyptIcalledMyson”(NASB).The chesed for abriefoverviewofthearguments forandagainst Jr., andB.K.Waltke (Chicago:MoodyPress, 1980),305-7 of theOldTestament, Zondervan PublishingHouse,1997),211-118. Exegesis, International DictionaryofOldTestament Theologyand treat them,forthisistheLawandProphets.” “Therefore, howeveryouwantpeopletotreat you,so tde,NwOlas Louisiana. New Orleans, Studies, Undergraduate College of Seminary Ne OldTestament andHebrew, sor of Le Fr 8. “Great IsThyFaithfulness”byThomasO.Chisholm© 7. BaerandGordon, 213-217. 5. SeeR.Laird Harris,“h[sd,”in 6. Compare Hosea11:1“WhenIsraelwasayouthI 2. Unlessotherwisenoted,allScripture quotationsinthis 4 D.A.BaerandR.P. Gordon, 3 Compare Jesus’statementinMatthew7:12 ni .Kimmitt isassociate dean, ancis X. av JAMES McLEMORE(13/20/13) w OrleansBaptistTheological ell College andassociate profes- as loyaltytocovenantobligations. vol. 2,ed.WillemVanGemeren (GrandRapids: vol. 1,ed.R.L.Harris,G.Archer chesed New AmericanStandard Bible 2:12-14). as spies atJericho from theIsraelite her care forand Rahab described 1800 B.C. to about2000– Jericho. Dates T brick inOld made ofmud defense tower Left: Acircular Jonathan. covenant with depicting David’s Byzantine plate Above: Silver estament was notthemere honor- chesed Theological Wordbook “h[sd” (Josh. in New .

ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/DAVID ROGERS/METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART/NEW YORK (338/16) 27 BI S ummer 2004