{"id":307,"date":"2024-11-12T17:29:37","date_gmt":"2024-11-12T17:29:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/2024\/11\/12\/khesed\/"},"modified":"2025-08-18T20:18:41","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T20:18:41","slug":"khesed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/khesed\/","title":{"rendered":"KHESED"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A word frequently used in the Bible (about 250 times), is so heavy with meaning that every English translation choice leaves some nuance of meaning unexpressed. The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) translation frequently translates the Hebrew word KHESED<\/em> by the phrase \u201csteadfast love\u201d(e.g., Genesis 32:10). Other times, it\u2019s \u201ceverlasting love\u201d (e.g., Isaiah 54:8). Other translations offer \u201clovingkindness.\u201d Depending on the context, it\u2019s also rendered as \u201cloyalty\u201d (Ruth 3:10) or \u201cmercy\u201d as in the well-known verse, Psalm 23:6, \u201cSurely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most often, the one who is expressing KHESED<\/em> is Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, However, as in Ruth\u2019s case, humans can be known for their KHESED<\/em>. And it is assumed that KHESED<\/em> will be mutual. Loyalty from one towards another begets loyalty in return. KHESED<\/em> is always most fully expressed in relationships. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And there\u2019s more. Not readily apparent in any of these translation choices is that KHESED<\/em>, while a central aspect of Yahweh\u2019s character, is not simply governed by that character, nor is it governed by the reciprocity of the KHESED<\/em> relationship. It is governed by a covenant or contract between the parties held together in KHESED<\/em>. This covenant is real and authentic apart from the actions and attitudes of those involved. Thus, when Yahweh ran out of patience with the people under Moses\u2019 leadership, Moses interceded for them by appealing to Yahweh\u2019s covenant-bound KHESED.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another striking appeal to Yahweh\u2019s KHESED<\/em> occurs in the middle of a collection of poems called Lamentations<\/a>. It is five poems that express, in vivid detail, the suffering and sorrow caused by the siege and destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian Empire in 586 BCE. Yet, about halfway through this lament, the poet writes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    his mercies never come to an end;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

they are new every morning;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22-23<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And here\u2019s the part that challenges our imagination. The poet has already acknowledged that their destruction is due to the failure of the peoples\u2019 KHESED<\/em> toward their God. By their actions they have been living as though the covenant didn\u2019t exist. They interpret their suffering as a punishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s the hard part: In doing so, they find hope because Yahweh had not forgotten the covenant. Though they have forgotten the covenant, they interpret their suffering under Babylon as evidence that Yahweh has not. Yahweh remains engaged. Though they ignored their God, their God is not ignoring them. The KHESED<\/em> contract remains. There is still room for hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Awful suffering still happens in all of creation. While the Lamenting poet interpreted their suffering as coming directly from the hand of God, we ought not do the same. Here\u2019s why:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yahweh\u2019s KHESED<\/em> is so great that it comes to be expressed in the person of Jesus, who is God come to join us, even in suffering. Jesus calls this solidarity with an often-suffering creation a \u201cnew covenant.\u201d We celebrate this iron-clad, or more precisely, human-clad, covenant Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights at the Chapel of the Resurrection when we come into the presence of Jesus who invites us to dine with him, saying: \u201cThis cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin.\u201d The covenant to which Jesus binds himself calls out our KHESED<\/em> failure and answers it with his own KHESED<\/em> commitment. \u201cGreat is your faithfulness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pr. Jim<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Rev. Katherine Museu<\/a>s<\/em> and Rev. James A. Wetzstein<\/a> serve as university pastors at the Chapel of the Resurrection at Valparaiso University and take turns writing weekly devotions<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

1. Also rendered HESED or CHESED.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A word frequently used in the Bible (about 250 times), is so heavy with meaning that every English translation choice leaves some nuance of meaning unexpressed. The New Revised Standard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":827,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[6,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-james-a-wetzstein","category-csl-newsletter-devotionals"],"acf":[],"author_meta":{"display_name":"dev@eridesign.com","author_link":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/author\/deveridesign-com\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2024\/11\/Devotion-Graphics-2024-25-8-300x129.webp","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["James A. Wetzstein<\/a>","CSL Newsletter Devotionals<\/a>"],"unlinked":["James A. Wetzstein<\/span>","CSL Newsletter Devotionals<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 2 years ago","modified":"Updated 1 year ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on November 12, 2024","modified":"Updated on August 18, 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on November 12, 2024 5:29 pm","modified":"Updated on August 18, 2025 8:18 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=307"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11606,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307\/revisions\/11606"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}