LOVINGKINDNESS / STEADFAST LOVE

crossnote

crossnote

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(an interesting piece of 'important' trivia)

The translated word lovingkindness or steadfast love does not once occur in the NT. (Chesed in the Hebrew) is translated 'steadfast love by the ESV, but whether it is the NASB, KJV NKJV, or ESV, not once do we see 'lovingkindness' or 'steadfast love' in the NT

Does anyone know of a different translation where one or both of these English words occur in the NT?
 
um, it looks like you have two words there.
I know there is kindness as one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit in Galatians, that is in the NT. of the top of my head. Love is also another of the fruits.

It's there, but you've somehow tried to amalgamate them. English phrasal verbs are often overlooked and translators don't use them because they prefer having just one word.

Steadfast love could just be another word for FAITH.
 
Another thing I will point out is the OT is translated from the Hebrew and the NT is from the Greek. You aren't actually going to have Hebrew words in the NT. The Greek words are going to be different.
 
yes I have noticed this too. I was watching a bible project video of loyal love(Hesed) yesterday that said in the Old Testament it is the word for generous and loving character that keeps their word. Gods generous eternal loyalty to His promises is an act of Hesed or Chesed. who keeps His word.
 
crossnote said:
(an interesting piece of 'important' trivia)

The translated word lovingkindness or steadfast love does not once occur in the NT. (Chesed in the Hebrew) is translated 'steadfast love by the ESV, but whether it is the NASB, KJV NKJV, or ESV, not once do we see 'lovingkindness' or 'steadfast love' in the NT

Does anyone know of a different translation where one or both of these English words occur in the NT?
Click to expand...

Chesed is more often translated "mercy" in the KJV. The Septuagint uses a couple of Greek words to translate Chesed. G1656 eleos is one of them which is translated mercy 28 times in the KJV.

Not sure of any translations that use "lovingkindness" or "steadfast love".
 
I read the KJV so don't remember NT having those words, (steadfast love and lovingkindness) but I am sure mercy is mentioned in NT somewhere, though I would think because NT is addressing believers in Jesus we now have grace as the word used a lot.

Grace and mercy are similar but slightly different. I suppose I could tease out what the difference is but I would say in nutshell that grace is for the believer, mercy is for the unbeliever. Both are forms of God's lovingkindness.
 
Lanolin said:
um, it looks like you have two words there.
I know there is kindness as one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit in Galatians, that is in the NT. of the top of my head. Love is also another of the fruits.

It's there, but you've somehow tried to amalgamate them. English phrasal verbs are often overlooked and translators don't use them because they prefer having just one word.

Steadfast love could just be another word for FAITH.
Click to expand...
But in the OT it speaks of God's steadfast love, or are you saying God has faith towards man?
 
Lanolin said:
Another thing I will point out is the OT is translated from the Hebrew and the NT is from the Greek. You aren't actually going to have Hebrew words in the NT. The Greek words are going to be different.
Click to expand...
I know that perfectly well, I was going by 'chesed' (Hebrew) not charis or xaris (Greek).
 
Lanolin said:
Grace and mercy are similar but slightly different. I suppose I could tease out what the difference is but I would say in nutshell that grace is for the believer, mercy is for the unbeliever. Both are forms of God's lovingkindness.
Click to expand...
The way it is usually explained is 'mercy' is not getting what we deserve (Judgment/punishment),
and grace is getting what we don't deserve (God's favor).
I suppose lovingkindness/steadfast love, would be closest to grace.
 
Personally I like the word lovingkindness or steadfast love better than grace because it more accurately expresses the nuances of the Hebrew word 'chesed.'

Some things get lost in translation and it is one of the reasons I like to go back to the original languages to better understand these nuances.
 
CPerkins said:
Some things get lost in translation and it is one of the reasons I like to go back to the original languages to better understand these nuances.
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I think I found a place in the NT where there is at least a hint of chesed and that is in the word Bethesda...
I was reading John 5 and had to look up 'Bethesda' and so...

964. Βηθεσδά Bēthesdá; fem. proper noun transliterated from the Hebr. bayith (1004, OT), house and chēs̱ēd (2617, OT), lovingkindness, mercy. Bethesda, house of mercy or flowing water. A pool in Jerusalem near the sheep-gate or market with a building over or near it for the accommodation of the sick (John 5:2).

Interesting some translations say "In Aramaic called Bethesda" and some say "In the Hebrew tongue called Bethesda".
In any case the word has a specialness in my heart (that's why I happened to look it up just now) as it was the Church that was instrumental in leading me to Jesus.
 
I like grace, but lovingkindness is nice to though its easier to say 'grace and peace' to you rather than lovingkindess or steadfast love to you.
Some words can be used as a verb and a noun. Eg He graced me with his presence. Grace and favour.

I don't think just because there is an absence of the Hebrew word means there is no Greek that is similar. Greek, like English, has many words to describe one thing, (homonyms etc) while Hebrew seems to have more unique words that mean a lot of things. I think Hebrew is the easier language IMHO
 
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