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Hebrew

Kindness

חֶ֫סֶדStrong’s H2617

chesed (che-sed)

Appears in 241 verses of the Old Testament

In short

God's loyal, covenant love: kindness that keeps its promises. The KJV often says "mercy" or "lovingkindness". Psalm 136 repeats it in every verse: "his mercy endureth for ever."

“O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.”
Psalms 136:1 KJV
Meaning
  1. Goodness, kindness, faithfulness
  2. A reproach, shame
How it's translated
  • covenant loyalty his 54
  • covenant loyalty 48
  • covenant loyalty your 33
  • loyalty 24
  • and covenant loyalty 7
  • according to covenant loyalty your 7
  • covenant loyalti of 6
  • covenant loyalty of 5

Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.

Where it's used most
  • Psalms 127
  • Genesis 11
  • 2 Samuel 11
  • 2 Chronicles 10
  • Proverbs 10
  • Isaiah 7

28 books in all.

Related words
Explore in Scripture
All 241 verses, by book
Leviticus 1
20:17
Numbers 2
14:1814:19
Deuteronomy 3
5:107:97:12
Joshua 2
2:122:14
Judges 2
1:248:35
1 Chronicles 4
16:3416:4117:1319:2
Esther 2
2:92:17
Lamentations 2
3:223:32
Daniel 2
1:99:4
Joel 1
2:13
Jonah 2
2:84:2
Zechariah 1
7:9
Hebrew dictionary

חֶ֫סֶד chesed · kindness

goodness, kindness, faithfulness

חֶ֫סֶד chesed · shame

a reproach, shame

From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

How the English word “kindness” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.

KINDNESS, noun

[from kind, the adjective.]

  1. Good will; benevolence; that temper or disposition which delights in contributing to the happiness of others, which is exercised cheerfully in gratifying their wishes, supplying their wants or alleviating their distresses; benignity of nature. kindness ever accompanies love.
  2. Act of good will; beneficence; any act of benevolence which promotes the happiness or welfare of others. Acts 28:2

Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.

Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Hebrew, not from any one translation.