Word study
Mercy
8 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
In brief
Several words stand behind mercy. The Greek eleos and its verb eleeō mean pity or compassion that acts to help. In Hebrew, rahamim is tender compassion, from a word related to the womb, and hanan is to show favor. Many "mercy" verses in Exodus and Leviticus translate a different word altogether: kapporet, the "mercy seat," the cover of the ark where atonement was made.
Written and reviewed by our editorial team.
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: mercy, mercies. 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 “mercy” 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)
- כַּפֹּרֶת kappôrethpropitiatorytranslated this way 24 times of its 25 uses · Strong’s H3727Noun · Translated: mercy seat 24, of it 1Full study and all 20 verses →
Exodus 25:17 And you are to construct a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide.
Leviticus 16:2 And the LORD said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron not to enter freely into the Most Holy Place behind the veil in front of the mercy seat on the ark, or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.
- חָנַן chânanshew favour, be gracioustranslated this way 16 times of its 76 uses · Strong’s H2603Verb · Translated: gracious 17, mercy 14, merciful 7, favor 4Full study and all 72 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 7:2 and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you to defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.
- רַחַם rachamwombtranslated this way 12 times of its 43 uses · Strong’s H7356Noun · Translated: compassion 24, mercy 6, mercies 4, womb 2Full study and all 42 verses →
Genesis 43:14 May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother along with Benjamin. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.”
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,
- תַּחֲנוּן tachănûnsupplication for favourtranslated this way 9 times of its 18 uses · Strong’s H8469Noun · Translated: mercy 5, petitions 3, plea 2Full study and all 18 verses →
Job 41:3 Will he beg you for mercy or speak to you softly?
Psalm 28:2 Hear my cry for mercy when I call to You for help, when I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary.
- רָחַם râchamlovetranslated this way 5 times of its 45 uses · Strong’s H7355Verb · Translated: compassion 29, show you compassion 2, mercy 2, merciless 2Full study and all 42 verses →
1 Kings 8:50 May You forgive Your people who have sinned against You and all the transgressions they have committed against You, and may You grant them compassion in the eyes of their captors to show them mercy.
Proverbs 28:13 He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
- חָמַל châmalsparetranslated this way 5 times of its 38 uses · Strong’s H2550Verb · Translated: spare 10, compassion 7, pity 5, mercy 5Full study and all 37 verses →
Job 16:13 His archers surround me. He pierces my kidneys without mercy and spills my gall on the ground.
Proverbs 6:34 For jealousy enrages a husband, and he will show no mercy in the day of vengeance.
- חֶסֶד chesedgoodness, kindnesstranslated this way 3 times of its 247 uses · Strong’s H2617Noun · Translated: loving devotion 175, kindness 31, according to your loving devotion 6, favor 4Full study and all 241 verses →
Psalm 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Hosea 6:6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
- תְּחִנָּה techinnâhfavour, supplication for favourtranslated this way 2 times of its 24 uses · Strong’s H8467Noun · Translated: petition 11, plea 8, pleas 2, mercy 1Full study and all 24 verses →
Joshua 11:20 For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts to engage Israel in battle, so that they would be set apart for destruction and would receive no mercy, being annihilated as the LORD had commanded Moses.
Psalm 6:9 The LORD has heard my cry for mercy; the LORD accepts my prayer.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἐλεέω eleéōI pity, have mercy ontranslated this way 31 times of its 31 uses · Strong’s G1653Verb · Translated: mercy 21, shown mercy 3, received mercy 3Full study and all 29 verses →
Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Mark 5:19 But Jesus would not allow him. “Go home to your own people,” He said, “and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy He has shown you.”
- ἔλεος éleospity, mercytranslated this way 24 times of its 26 uses · Strong’s G1656Noun · Translated: mercy 24, merciful 1, of 1Full study and all 26 verses →
Matthew 9:13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Luke 1:50 His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation.
- οἰκτιρμός oiktirmóspity, compassiontranslated this way 2 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G3628Noun · Translated: compassion 3, mercy 2Full study and all 5 verses →
Romans 12:1 Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
Hebrews 10:28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
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 mercy: 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.