One of the most important words used in the Old Testament is the Hebrew word "Chesed". It signifies God's covenant love for his people Israel. The word occurs some 245 times in the Old Testament, across 27 out of 39 Old Testament books, over a hundred times in the Psalms alone.
In older English translations, the word was often translated as "mercy" but actually the scope of the this word is wider and deeper than the word "mercy" or "compassion" conveys in English. Modern English translations usually try to convey the greater depth of richness and complexity in this word. They tend to use a number of different words and phrases to try to capture the essence of "Chesed". Taking a number of translations together gives us a good impression of what one of the key terms in the Old Testament means.
Below are a list of different translations together with the Bible translations in which they are found.
"mercy" - KJV, NKJV
"love" - NIV
"great love" - GNB, NCV, CEV
"faithful love" - CSB
"constant love" - REB
"lovingkindness" - ASV, NASB, AMP
"steadfast love" - RSV, ESV, NRSV
"loyal love" - NET, LEB
"unfailing love" - NLT
"loyalty" - CEB
"gracious love" - ISV
No one of these translations captures all the depth of meaning in chesed. But together they give a wonderful picture of God's covenant love. It is great, faithful, constant, steadfast, loyal and unfailing lovingkindness. It is the love that saves. The love that gives. The love that sends the Son to be our Lord and Saviour.
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