Hebrew Word: Chesed
Chesed is a Hebrew word that has two contradictory and seemingly opposing meanings such as mercy and lovingkindness, and on the other hand shame and disgrace. So, how can these two conflicting meanings be reconciled? This will be the subject of our study in this article.
The moral laws in the Torah against the sexual immorality in Leviticus 18 outline the prohibition of sexual abominations and go with a straightforward warning to the children of Israel not to walk in the laws of the Egyptians and Kana’anites, but to walk in the laws of YHVH by which they should live. He warned His children that unless they adhere to the Torah, He would drive them out of His land so that the land would be defiled no more by sexual abominations. This kind of abominations we explained in the article “The abomination to uncover the nakedness of the father“.
The laws against incest are introduced in Leviticus 18:6 with the explicit prohibition that no one is to approach anyone from his relatives to “uncover nakedness”. In Leviticus 20:17, a sexual intercourse with a half-sister is described with the Hebrew word חֶסֶד chesed, as we read,
And a man who takes his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, and sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness: it is a shameful thing. And they shall be cut off before the eyes of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness; he bears his crookedness. (Leviticus 20:17)
This incest is classified as a disgrace and an abomination before YHVH (Leviticus 18:29-30) along with all other sexual intercourses with relatives listed in chapter 18 (see also Leviticus 18:9-11). Another application of chesed is found in Proverbs, as it appears in JPS translation,
Righteousness exalts a nation; but sin is a reproach (חֶסֶד chesed) to any people. (Pro 14:34)
Here chesed is used for dishonor, disgrace, and shame. This is better seen in the chiasm of Pro 14:34-35:
A. Righteousness exalts a nation;
B. and reproach (chesed) to the peoples is sin.
A. The king’s delight is toward a wise servant,
B. But his wrath is towards him who causes shame (bush).
In the chiasmal structure, we see that “righteousness” in statement A (in verse 34) parallels with “king’s delight” in statement A (in verse 35); and “reproach (chesed)” in statement B (in verse 34) with “shame” in statement B (in verse 35). Hence, it is apparent in the chiasmus that chesed equals to בּוּשׁ bush, “to cause shame”, “to ashame”, hence chesed means “shame”. With that being said, we see that chesed is a very strong word for a transgression against the laws of the Lawmaker.
However, there are many places in the Scripture where this word is used in the diametrical opposite way. Just one example out of many is found in Psalms,
All the paths of Yehovah are חֶסֶד chesed and truth to those who guard His covenant and His testimonies. (Psa 25:10)
Here it will be quite inappropriate to translate chesed as “shame”, is it not? JPS translated chesed here as “mercy”, while other translations as “lovingkindness”. In many other places, other than “mercy” chesed is translated as “kindness”, “lovingkindness”, “goodness”, and “favor”. As a matter of fact, chesed is rarely used with the meaning of reproach, wicked, or shame versus the overwhelming positive use of “mercy” and “lovingkindness”. In the next instance חֶסֶד chesed is coupled with another Hebrew word with a similar meaning חֵן chen, as we read in Genesis,
But Yehovah was with Yoseph, and showed lovingkindness (חֶסֶד chesed) to him, and gave him favor (חֵן chen) in the sight of the keeper of the prison. (Gen 39:21)
We explained the meaning of חֵן chen, commonly translated as “grace”, “favor”, in the article “By grace you are saved. But what is grace?“
Another example is Psa 117:2,
For His חֶסֶד chesed is great over us, and אֶמֶת emet (the truth) of Yehovah is everlasting. Praise Yah! (Psa 117:2)
In this short psalm, if chesed is translated as “shame”, and not “mercy” or “lovingkindness”, we find two seemingly contradictory terms: “shame” and “the truth of YHVH”. Each of these seems to annul the other, as the psalmist clearly highlights both at the same time. However, the two terms are not as contradictory as it first appears, if chesed is translated “mercy” or “lovingkindness”. The Hebrew word חֶסֶד chesed comes from the primitive verb חָסַד chasad, as it is found in 2Samuel,
With the merciful (chasid) You show Yourself merciful (chasad), with the upright man You show Yourself upright, (2Sa 22:26)
As it is in the case of the noun, the verb chasad is used very rarely too: only in 2Sa 22:26, Psa 18:25, and Pro 25:10.
Plead your case with your neighbor himself, and do not disclose the secret of another; Lest he who hears it put you to shame (chasad), And your evil report turn not back. (Pro 25:9-10)
So, how can we reconcile these opposing translations of the Hebrew word חֶסֶד chesed?
Many translators tend to flatten out textual difficulties to create a smooth translation. These difficulties are not always visible in translations. The ambiguity comes from the expression in a statement whose meaning cannot be determined from its context, and its unclearness comes by virtue of having more than one meaning, like in the case of chesed. For example, when a word has been used in only one place, it is difficult to derive its meaning from a single use of it, as opposed to when a word is used in many different occasions and in different contexts.
In order to reconcile the difficulties, we need first to understand them. In this case, it will be difficult to find directly the literal meaning of chesed or chasad in the textual context in which these words are used. We need to admit that we have a problem with the word chesed having two opposite meanings. Therefore, we need to find the best explanation specifically to the use of chesed with its negative meaning, and more particularly, we need to find an indirect approach to the issue, as such an approach will require a search for the literal meaning of one of its derivatives. Such a derivative is the word חֲסִידָה chasiydah, which means “stork” (see Leviticus 11:19 for its use). But why stork?
What is the characteristic for a stork? A stork has a long and bowed neck. And here comes the moment. Chasiyadah is a feminine form of חָסִיד chasid, which means kind, religiously pious (a saint), godly man. Chasid is also a member of a Jewish sect that observes a form of strict Orthodox Judaism. But how do we connect chasiydah or chasid to our word chesed, which means either “lovingkindness”, or “shame”?
The common element of chasiydah, “stork”, and chasid, “pious, godly man”, is that in both cases one bows his neck: the stork bows neck to find food its Creator has provided, and the pious man bows neck in humility before the same Creator. Therefore, the original meaning of the primitive verb חָסַד chasad, perhaps means to bow the neck in courtesy. The bowing of the neck is a sign of respect and kindness to someone, but also is a sign of shame, when a reproach is brought on him. Hence, chesed means both “mercy” (lovingkindness) and “shame”; it all depends on the reason why one bows neck. That is why we derive the negative meaning of chesed from the stork, chasiydah, for both have the same root chasad, to bow the neck in courtesy, to be kind; but also, to reprove, to put to shame. And when YHVH shows lovingkindness, He bows His neck in favorable reception.
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