Episode 21. The Book of 1 Samuel teaches us about the weighty ideas involved in the word “favor.” Join us in this episode as we investigate the connection between favor and grace in the Hebrew words chen, chanan, and new words checed, ratsah and racham.

checed: favour

1 Samuel 15:6
HEB: וְאַתָּ֞ה עָשִׂ֤יתָה חֶ֙סֶד֙ עִם־ כָּל־
NAS: you with them; for you showed kindness to all
KJV: you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children
INT: you showed kindness with to all

1 Samuel 20:8
HEB: וְעָשִׂ֤יתָ חֶ֙סֶד֙ עַל־ עַבְדֶּ֔ךָ
NAS: Therefore deal kindly with your servant,
KJV: Therefore thou shalt deal kindly with thy servant;
INT: deal kindly with your servant

1 Samuel 20:14
HEB: תַעֲשֶׂ֧ה עִמָּדִ֛י חֶ֥סֶד יְהוָ֖ה וְלֹ֥א
NAS: will you not show me the lovingkindness of the LORD,
KJV: shew me the kindness of the LORD,
INT: show me the lovingkindness of the LORD not

1 Samuel 20:15
HEB: תַכְרִ֧ת אֶֽת־ חַסְדְּךָ֛ מֵעִ֥ם בֵּיתִ֖י
NAS: off your lovingkindness from my house
KJV: But [also] thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house
INT: shall not cut your lovingkindness from my house

“Mercy” racham: to love, have compassion

Exodus 33:19

HEB: אֲשֶׁ֣ר אָחֹ֔ן וְרִחַמְתִּ֖י אֶת־ אֲשֶׁ֥ר
NAS: I will be gracious, and will show compassion
KJV: to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.
INT: to whom will be gracious and will show whom compassion

Exodus 33:19
HEB: אֶת־ אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֲרַחֵֽם׃
NAS: and will show compassion on whom
KJV: and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.
INT: and will show whom compassion

Deuteronomy 13:17
HEB: לְךָ֤ רַחֲמִים֙ וְרִֽחַמְךָ֣ וְהִרְבֶּ֔ךָ כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר
NAS: mercy to you, and have compassion on you and make you increase,
KJV: thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply
INT: and show mercy and have increase he

Deuteronomy 30:3
HEB: אֶת־ שְׁבוּתְךָ֖ וְרִחֲמֶ֑ךָ וְשָׁ֗ב וְקִבֶּצְךָ֙
NAS: you from captivity, and have compassion on you, and will gather
KJV: thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return
INT: your God captivity and have again and will gather

Old Testament use of grace

GRACE: 

There is no word in Hebrew that can represent all the meanings of charis, and in the Septuagint charis itself is used, practically, only as a translation of the Hebrew chen, “favor,” this restriction of meaning being due to the desire to represent the same Hebrew word by the same Greek word as far as possible. And chen, in turn, is used chiefly only in the phrase “find favor” (Genesis 6:8, etc.), whether the reference is to God or men, and without theological importance. Much nearer Paul’s use of charis is ratson, “acceptance,” in such passages as

checedh https://biblehub.com/hebrew/2617.htm

ratsah https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7521.htm 

racham https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7355.htm

But a mere negative granting of pardon is a most deficient definition of the Old Testament idea of God’s mercy, which delights in conferring positive benefits. The gift to Abraham of the land of Canaan, liberation from Egypt, food in the wilderness, salvation from enemies, deliverance from exile-all of Israel’s history can be felt to be the record of what God did for His people through no duty or compulsion, grateful thanksgiving for such unmerited blessings filling, for instance, much of the Psalter. (from International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)

New Words for Grace

checedh https://biblehub.com/hebrew/2617.htm 
checed: favour
Original Word: חֵסֵד
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: checed
Phonetic Spelling: (kheh’-sed)
Definition: goodness, kindness
. 
ratsah https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7521.htm  
ratsah: to be pleased with, accept favorably
Original Word: רָצָה
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: ratsah
Phonetic Spelling: (raw-tsaw’)
Definition: to be pleased with, accept favorably
.
racham https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7355.htm 
racham: to love, have compassion
Original Word: רָחַם
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: racham
Phonetic Spelling: (raw-kham’)
Definition: to love, have compassion
usually of God: with accusative of his people

Resources:

Bible Hub: use this resource site to discover the original Greek and Hebrew for the words in the Bible.

PrayerMate App: this is a fantastic app to keep yourself organized and faithful in prayer, and it also has free downloadable devotionals.

<h5>Recommended Books and Websites about the Sea Peoples</h5>

Giving Goliath His Due: https://amzn.to/3F2bSdc (affiliate link)

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?isbn=9780801010187&n=100121503&cm_sp=mbc-_-ISBN-_-used (Abe Books)

1177 BC: Collapse of Civilization https://amzn.to/3e2JKup  (affiliate link) 

https://assets.speakcdn.com/assets/1804/011-transcript-bible-study-judges-overview.pdf?1561814190412

https://www.worldhistory.org/Sea_Peoples/

https://belleten.gov.tr/tam-metin/314/eng

https://luwianstudies.org/site/panaztepe/

http://www.tayproject.org/TAYages.fm$Retrieve?CagNo=2408&html=ages_detail_e.html&layout=web