Word Study
Mercy
A word study of mercy — the dictionary sense, the biblical definition, how Scripture uses the word, and passages to read.
Mercy
ἔλεος
חֶסֶד
Compassion that spares the guilty and helps the helpless.
MER'CY
1. That benevolence, mildness or tenderness of heart which disposes a person to overlook injuries, or to treat an offender better than he deserves; the disposition that tempers justice, and induces an injured person to forgive trespasses and injuries, and to forbear punishment, or inflict less than law or justice will warrant.
In Scripture, mercy is God's compassion toward those who are guilty or in need — withholding the judgment they deserve and moving to help them. "Jehovah is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness" (Psalms 103:8). It flows from his love: God, "being rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us," made the dead alive with Christ (Ephesians 2:4-5).
Mercy is therefore something to ask for rather than claim — "God, be thou merciful to me a sinner" (Luke 18:13) — and, following the Lord's own words, something to show to others: "Be ye merciful, even as your Father is merciful" (Luke 6:36).
Mercy and grace are close companions. It is often said that mercy withholds what we deserve, while grace gives what we do not deserve; Scripture joins the two, and both rest on God's steadfast love.
Mercy is not softness toward sin. It is costly compassion from a holy God, and it calls those who receive it to be merciful in turn (Luke 6:36).
In the ASV, mercy is heard most in the Psalms, where the cry "have mercy upon me" rises again and again. In Exodus the word appears often in the mercy-seat, the place of atonement on the ark. In the Gospels the needy call out, "Have mercy on us," and Jesus answers.
Behind the English stand rich words. Chesed is God's steadfast, loyal covenant love, which the ASV often renders "lovingkindness"; eleos is pity or compassion that acts to help, and is the word the Greek Old Testament often uses for chesed.
Terms
- mercy
- mercies
- merciful
Jehovah is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness.
God's own character: merciful, gracious, slow to anger.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
The merciful are blessed, and they will obtain mercy in turn.
But the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote his breast, saying, God, be thou merciful to me a sinner.
The humble prayer of a sinner who has nothing to offer but his need.
but God, being rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Mercy springs from God's great love and brings the dead to life.