Chesed
4th of the 10 sephirot
Chesed (חֶסֶד) is a word that occurs in the Hebrew Bible. It is variously translated as "lovingkindness", "kindness", "goodness", "mercy" and "steadfast love".
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Quotes
editHebrew Bible
edit- כִּי אִם־בְּזֹאת יִתְהַלֵּל הַמִּתְהַלֵּל הַשְׂכֵּל וְיָדֹעַ אוֹתִי כִּי אֲנִי יְהֹוָה עֹשֶׂה חֶסֶד מִשְׁפָּט וּצְדָקָה בָּאָרֶץ כִּי־בְאֵלֶּה חָפַצְתִּי נְאֻם־יְהֹוָה׃
- Jeremiah 9:23 (MT)
- Translation:
- But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.
- כִּי חֶסֶד חָפַצְתִּי וְלֹא־זָבַח וְדַעַת אֱלֹהִים מֵעֹלוֹת׃
- Hosea 6:6 (MT)
- Translation:
- For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
- הִגִּיד לְךָ אָדָם מַה־טּוֹב וּמָה־יְהֹוָה דּוֹרֵשׁ מִמְּךָ כִּי אִם־עֲשׂוֹת מִשְׁפָּט וְאַהֲבַת חֶסֶד וְהַצְנֵעַ לֶכֶת עִם־אֱלֹהֶיךָ׃
- Micah 6:8 (MT)
- Translation:
- He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
- He has told you, O man, what is good;
- חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת אַל־יַעַזְבֻךָ קׇשְׁרֵם עַל־גַּרְגְּרוֹתֶיךָ כׇּתְבֵם עַל־לוּחַ לִבֶּךָ׃
- Proverbs 3:3 (MT)
- Translation:
- Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart.
Commentary
edit- Chesed is a covenantal love, a profound and committed and long-term love, a kind love—but not a romantic love. Among people, it can take the form of charity; from God to human, chesed has qualities of mercy, of grace, and of long-suffering. This kind of love so confounded Miles Coverdale, a sixteenth-century Bible translator in England, that as he worked to translate the Hebrew Scriptures into English, he felt compelled to coin a new word to describe it: loving-kindness.
- Rachel Held Evans: Wholehearted Faith, ch. 5, "Thick Skin, Tender Heart". HarperCollins (2021). ISBN 978-0-06-289447-2.
- God is described over two hundred times in the Old Testament as being חסד "hesed/chesed," a quality God also desires from us: "For I delight in loyalty [hesed] rather than sacrifice" (Hosea 6:6). The Hebrew word hesed is translated as "devoted," "faithful," and "unchanging love."
- Jim Wilder: Renovated: God, Dallas Willard, and the Church That Transforms, ch. 1, "Salvation Is a New Attachment". Shepherd's House (2020). ISBN 978-1-64158-167-7.