Chesed/mercy

                     This study came from Matthew chapter five. Commonly referred to as the beatitudes. I will only be focusing on one part though there is a wealth of information from The Messiah. I wanted to understand one thing in particular.

Matt 5:7 happy are the merciful, for they will obtain mercy.

                      So this is a fairly abstract term "mercy", I wondered how many definitions there would be. I actually found more than i bargained for.

Definition of MERCY

1  a : compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender or to one subject to one's power; also : lenient or compassionate treatment mercy> b : imprisonment rather than death imposed as penalty for first-degree murder

2  a : a blessing that is an act of divine favor or compassion b : a fortunate circumstance mercy they found her before she froze>

3  : compassionate treatment of those in distress mercy among the poor>

— mercy adjective

— at the mercy of

: wholly in the power of : with no way to protect oneself against 

     Notice how it's not till the second definition that it mentions in regards to "divine", also the use of the word "fortune". Is this what YHWH has intended for us to understand.

Origin of MERCY

Middle English, from Anglo-French merci, from Medieval Latin merced-, merces, from Latin, price paid, wages, from merc-, merx merchandise

First Known Use: 13th century.

        This only goes back to the 13th century, so it's obvious that this was not the word The Messiah spoke.

mercy : [< Medieval Latin merces (reward, compassionate action) < merx (merchandise); influenced by Latin miserere < miserêrî (to have pity)] compassionate action or treatment; relief from distress; a tendency from personal character to act compassionately; to be ruthful, to show forbearance or kindness. In Scripture and in the Christian faith, mercy means the giving of grace to people who don't deserve it, or showing compassion to someone you have power or authority over. There is purpose for God's mercy :

         Again this latin does not go far enough back, it is set in medieval times.

ἔλεος eleos

1) to have mercy on

2) to help one afflicted or seeking aid

3) to help the afflicted, to bring help to the wretched

4) to experience mercy

        How very convenient  that each time this word was translated it transferred the same definition each time.
But in 600-800 b.c.e. it had a different meaning, I wonder why they didn't transfer it to the dictionaries and concordances?

Eleos or Eleus (Ελεος) -- The goddess of compassion.

1) to have mercy on

2) to help one afflicted or seeking aid

3) to help the afflicted, to bring help to the wretched

4) to experience mercy

ELEUS (Eleos) The female personification of mercy.

          There is no way that The Messiah would have said this to those assembled on that day. It makes me wonder about how many times I've used this word and not understood it's meaning. How did it get from a reference to a pagan diety to the mumbo jumbo it is now. So now it's time to throw away the swine's flesh and get to the clean meat of the study.

H2617
חסד
chêsêd
kheh'-sed
From H2616; kindness; by implication (towards God) piety; rarely (by opprobrium) reproof, or (subjectively) beauty: - favour, good deed (-liness, -ness), kindly, (loving-) kindness, merciful (kindness), mercy, pity, reproach, wicked thing.
The three letters in the Hebrew are the "chet, samech and the dalet. This is the picture I saw "on your journey to the inner room(chet) I will support(samech) you on the pathway(dalet)



Gen 19:19 “Look, please, your servant has found beauty in your eyes, and you have increased your kindness(m-rcy) which you have shown me by saving my life, but I am unable to escape to the mountains, lest calamity overtake me and I die.

H7349
רחוּם
rachûm
rakh-oom'
From H7355; compassionate: - full of compassion, merciful.

Deu 4:31 “For יהוה your Elohim is a compassionate(merciful) Ěl, He does not forsake you, nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.
       The four letters here are "reysh, chet, vav and mem. I've been praying that YHWH would show me His meaning in Matthew. As I began to study out the pictures in the ancient Hebrew I felt instantly humbled. I don't think we can understand "chesed/m-rcy" until we define merciful. From all that I can find merciful is only used in the Tanakh in regards to YHWH. The picture I see is this "the Highest(reysh) in the inner room(chet) secured us(vav) by His mighty blood(mem)." Does scripture not tell us that we are to die to this life? Aren't we supposed to lay down our lives to the point of death to be raised again to The Messiah? it is not for me to give an interpretation of the scriptures for you. You must study yourselves. I see this in the passage in       Matt 5:7 blessed are the ones who lay down their life for others to find Me, for they will find me at the door.
                                                                                                May YHWH bless you, shalom