חסד

Khesed- loyal love, loving kindness, steadfast love

Khesed is one of the most versatile words in the Bible and is quite a tricky word to translate. Many English Bibles translate khesed as compassion, faithfulness, steadfast love, devotion, unfailing love, grace, and loving kindness. Most translations opt for some sort of compound word involving love, indicating the depth and expanse of this term.

The heart of khesed is a covenant. Khesed is the kind of love that is unwavering, completely committed, and faithful to the end. It’s the kind of love you hear spoken of at weddings and funerals, not frivolous romanticism, but the kind of love that is stronger than death itself.

The great Catholic thinker of the Middle Ages, Thomas Aquinas, defined love as “willing the good of other, as other.” Khesed portrays this idea to the very core and is embodied in the story of Israel. When God says that he is committed to Israel, no matter what, he means it. No matter how many times Israel betrays God and worships idols or forgets his commandments, he does not abandon her.

This is made clear from the very beginning of Israel’s history at Mount Sinai. Aaron and the Israelites worship the golden calf, immediately nullifying their newly formed covenant with God, all while Moses receives the Ten Commandments. Moses pleads with God to have mercy on the people he has promised to never leave. In response to Moses’ desperate request, God says:

“The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love (khesed) for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:6-8)

God would uphold his end of the bargain time and time again through centuries of his people’s heartbreaking rebellion and unfaithfulness toward him. Never did he forget about his people, and never did he stop working to rescue them from their self-destruction.

This khesed would ultimately lead to Jesus, who would be born as a man and suffer and die on behalf of those who hated him. He never gave up on his creation, just like he never gave up on Israel, just like he still hasn’t given up on each and every one of us.

As the famous liturgy says: “When we turned away and our love failed, your love remained steadfast.” And steadfast it remains, even to death on the cross.

Questions to Consider:

1. How is khesed different from our culture’s understanding of love?
2. How can you begin to pattern your love for others like God’s steadfast love for Israel?
3. Is there a relationship in your life where you feel called to love someone despite their repeated failures or pain they’ve caused?
4. In what ways has God continued to love you despite your own failures or habits of sin?