Word study
Compassion
5 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “compassion”. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “compassion” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- רָחַם râchamlovetranslated this way 36 times of its 45 uses · Strong’s H7355Verb · Translated: compassion 29, show you compassion 2, mercy 2, merciless 2Full study and all 42 verses →
Exodus 33:19 “I will cause all My goodness to pass before you,” the LORD replied, “and I will proclaim My name — the LORD — in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
Deuteronomy 13:17 Nothing devoted to destruction shall cling to your hands, so that the LORD will turn from His fierce anger, grant you mercy, show you compassion, and multiply you as He swore to your fathers,
- רַחַם rachamwombtranslated this way 26 times of its 43 uses · Strong’s H7356Noun · Translated: compassion 24, mercy 6, mercies 4, womb 2Full study and all 42 verses →
1 Kings 3:26 Then the woman whose son was alive spoke to the king because she yearned with compassion for her son. “Please, my lord,” she said, “give her the living baby. Do not kill him!” But the other woman said, “He will be neither mine nor yours. Cut him in two!”
Nehemiah 9:19 You in Your great compassion did not forsake them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud never turned away from guiding them on their path; and by the night the pillar of fire illuminated the way they should go.
- חָמַל châmalsparetranslated this way 7 times of its 38 uses · Strong’s H2550Verb · Translated: spare 10, compassion 7, pity 5, mercy 5Full study and all 37 verses →
Exodus 2:6 When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the little boy was crying. So she had compassion on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrew children.”
1 Samuel 23:21 “May you be blessed by the LORD,” replied Saul, “for you have had compassion on me.
- נָחַם nâchambe sorry, consoletranslated this way 6 times of its 106 uses · Strong’s H5162Verb · Translated: comfort 24, relent 13, comforted 12, relented 7Full study and all 98 verses →
Deuteronomy 32:36 For the LORD will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants when He sees that their strength is gone and no one remains, slave or free.
Psalm 90:13 Return, O LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on Your servants.
- חֶמְלָה chemlâhcompassion, mercytranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H2551Noun · Translated: compassion 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Genesis 19:16 But when Lot hesitated, the men grabbed his hand and the hands of his wife and his two daughters. And they led them safely out of the city, because of the LORD’s compassion for them.
Isaiah 63:9 In all their distress, He too was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them. In His love and compassion He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
Greek words (New Testament)
- σπλαγχνίζομαι splanchnízomaiI have pity ontranslated this way 12 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s G4697Verb · Translated: compassion 8, Moved with compassion 3, filled with compassion 1Full study and all 12 verses →
Matthew 9:36 When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Mark 1:41 Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!”
- οἰκτιρμός oiktirmóspity, compassiontranslated this way 3 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G3628Noun · Translated: compassion 3, mercy 2Full study and all 5 verses →
2 Corinthians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,
Philippians 2:1 Therefore if you have any encouragement in Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and compassion,
- οἰκτείρω oikteírōI pity, have compassion ontranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G3627Verb · Translated: compassion 2Full study and its 1 verse →
Romans 9:15 For He says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
What the Bible says about compassion: passages by topic →
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.