The Hebrew word chesed (also spelled hesed) is so packed with meaning that no single word in the English language comes close to defining it. Used 248 times in scripture, this little-known descriptor carries volumes of information about God’s character while providing a glimpse of His redemptive plan through His very nature.
What Does the Word ‘Chesed’ Describe?
In the Old Testament, the word chesed describes the enduring, active love between God and His chosen people, Israel. Because of His chesed, God promised Israel that He would never leave nor forsake them. God kept His covenant with Israel, but not because they possessed any inherent righteousness. Nor did God hold firm to His promise because Israel consistently kept the law’s commands. The promise’s holding power was based on one thing: who God is.
“They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love [chesed]. Therefore, you did not desert them,” (Nehemiah 9:17)
“Though the mountains be shaken, and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love [chesed] for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.” (Isaiah 54:10)
“I will declare that your love [chesed] stands firm forever, that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself. You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant, I will establish your line forever and make your throne firm through all generations.’” (Psalm 89:4)
Biblical translators and scholars throughout the ages have attempted to confine the term chesed to the realm of human understanding through words like lovingkindness, devotion, mercy, strength, grace, purity, loyalty, tenderness, and steadfastness. But each of these descriptors falls short on its own.
It’s impossible to define chesed apart from the fullness of God’s character. Chesed’s particular brand of love is supernatural, multifaceted love that can only be realized, practiced, and experienced through God.
Examples of God’s People Living out Chesed in the Old Testament
Because God first loved Israel with an infinite chesed, His children were required to model that chesed in their relationships with one another.
“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy [chesed] and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)
The story of Ruth and Boaz is a beautiful example of chesed. Ruth displayed sacrificial love when she forfeited her home and life to care for her mother-in-law, Naomi. When Boaz becomes the kinsman-redeemer of Naomi’s family through selfless Ruth, we see chesed at work again, in a remarkable way that will eventually lead to the birth of the Messiah (Ruth 1:16).
Jonathan and David entered into a close personal friendship founded on chesed (1 Samuel 18:3). And even after Jonathan’s death, David sought to remain true to that chesed by seeking out and honoring Jonathan’s heir—Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 9:7).
When Joshua sent spies into Jericho in preparation for the God-ordained massacre of that city, a woman by the name of Rahab entered into a chesed agreement with the Jewish people to spare her life and her family’s life. “Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that you will show kindness [chesed] to my family, because I have shown kindness [chesed] to you. Give me a sure sign that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them—and that you will save us from death.” (Joshua 2:12-13)
Queen Esther’s story provides another example of chesed. When presented before King Xerxes as a potential wife, Esther “pleased him and won his favor [chesed].” (Esther 2:9) The king’s love for Esther was not a human-inspired, temporal love. Chesed was planted by God within the king to reveal God’s chesed for Esther and His people—and to fulfill God’s divine plan to save the whole Jewish race.
These examples and the many other examples of chesed shown in the Old Testament were lived out by God’s grace and through His providence. Each story teaches us something about God’s love and foreshadows the New Testament embodiment of that love—Jesus Christ.
Can Chesed be Found in the New Testament?
As Old Testament scriptures unfold the mystery of God’s chesed for Israel, they simultaneously reveal the future fulfillment of His chesed through the Messiah. In the New Testament, Jesus becomes the embodiment of the chesed described in the Old Testament—just as He becomes the fulfillment of the Old Covenant.
One of the reasons God chose to dwell with man incarnate through Jesus was to reveal the fullness of His love for the world. His chesed for Israel was a foretaste of love so wide, long, high, and deep that it surpasses all human understanding (Ephesians 3:18-21).
That agape love was unveiled through Christ Jesus—the new covenant mediator (Hebrews 9:15). In Christ, Believers are forgiven and set free from the sin that has estranged us from our Father in Heaven. And through Christ’s atoning blood, we’re guaranteed that God will never leave nor forsake us (Romans 8:38-39).
God didn’t send Jesus to die for us because we possess any inherent righteousness, nor does He offer His promise of salvation through Christ based on our ability to keep His commands. One thing alone compelled God to sacrifice Jesus for our ransom—God is love.
“God is love [agape]. Whoever lives in love [agape] lives in God, and God in them. This is how love [agape] is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.” (1 John 4:16-17)
“But God demonstrates his own love [agape] for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
“For God so loved [agape] the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
It’s impossible to define agape apart from the fullness of God’s character. Agape’s particular brand of love is a supernatural, multifaceted love that can only be realized, practiced, and experienced through Christ.
What Does This Mean for Today’s Believer?
Just like God’s children under the Old Covenant were called to model chesed in their relationships with one another, Believers under the New Covenant are called to live a life of agape (1 John 4:7-9).
Jesus gives us a glimpse of active agape through His Sermon on the Mount. “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love [agape] your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love [agape] your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven … perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:43-45, 48)
Jesus’s new prescription for loving others was shocking and perplexing to the original hearers, and it seems just as backward to those who believe today’s convoluted worldly definition of love. How can anyone be expected to live and love perfectly like God? We can’t—apart from Christ’s indwelling Spirit.
When we are in Christ, His perfect agape lives inside us. The fruit of His Holy Spirit is “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).
Amazingly, the various words in the Old Testament used to describe chesed—lovingkindness, devotion, mercy, strength, grace, purity, loyalty, tenderness, and steadfastness—bear a striking resemblance to the fruit of the Spirit. Both chesed and agape ultimately describe the fullness of God’s divine loving character. Agape would not exist without chesed. The Holy Spirit is the promise of every Christian’s inheritance in Christ. Because of God’s chesed, we can trust Him to fulfill that promise. Because of His agape, we can embrace it.
“In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:11-14)
Further Reading:
What Does Agape Love Really Mean in the Bible?
What Is the Meaning and Significance of Eros (God’s Love) in the Bible?
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