# hesed (חֶסֶד)

pronounced: KHEH-sed


**Covenant loyalty — steadfast, unfailing love**

## In Scripture

> Yahweh passed by before him, and proclaimed, “Yahweh! Yahweh, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth,
> — Exodus 34:6 (God's self-description on Sinai — the foundational hesed text)

> Know therefore that Yahweh your God himself is God, the faithful God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with them who love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations,
> — Deuteronomy 7:9 (Hesed bound to covenant — loyalty that outlasts generations)

> Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he of Yahweh, who has not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead.” Naomi said to her, “The man is a close relative to us, one of our near kinsmen.”
> — Ruth 2:20 (Hesed in human hands — Boaz's kindness read as God's own)

> Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good; for his loving kindness endures forever.
> — Psalm 136:1 (The refrain repeated in all twenty-six verses of the psalm)


## How to read this entry

The definition comes from the IsraelForYou lexicon. Scripture quotations and their translation are named below; later tradition or modern usage is identified when it appears.


https://israelforyou.com/hebrew/hesed/