Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 46:1 (NA 1995)
Article: Ḥesed As Obligation: A Re-Examination
Author: Robin Routledge

TynBul 46:1 (1995) p. 179

Ḥesed As Obligation:
A Re-Examination

Robin Routledge

Summary

While there is little dispute that ḥesed is a significant term, opinion is divided over its meaning. Glueck defines ḥesed in terms of loyalty and mutual obligation within the context of relationships, especially relationships involving a covenant. More recent studies, however, have minimised this aspect, linking ḥesed, instead, with ideas of benevolence and kindness. This article looks at the use of ḥesed in the OT in the setting of human relationships and the relationship between God and his people, and considers, too, the Hebrew terms with which ḥesed is most closely associated. It concludes in favour of the more traditional interpretation, and considers the significance of this understanding for the covenant people of God.

I. Introduction

Ḥesed has been the subject of a number of studies, and it would be impossible to analyse them all.1 The purpose of this article is to re-examine a currently, widely-accepted view that ḥesed may be defined, principally, in terms of benevolence or kindness and is to be associated only minimally with the notion of duty and obligation. The view that this latter concept should in fact be regarded as primary is expressed by N. Glueck; he defines ḥesed as:

conduct in accord with a mutual relationship of rights and duties, corresponding to a mutually obligatory relationship... principally:

TynBul 46:1 (1995) p. 180

reciprocity, mutual assistance, sincerity, friendliness, brotherliness, duty, loyalty and love.2

Ḥesed is thus interpreted as general behaviour within the norms of an already established relationship. In particular, Glueck links ḥesed with relationships which are based upon a covenant, and suggests that ‘ḥesed is the real essence of bĕrît, and it can almost be said that it is its very content.’3 N.H. Snaith also wants to emphasise the close link between ḥesed and bĕrît; he translates ḥesed as ‘covenant love’, maintaining that ‘the word represents that attitude to a covenant without which the covenant would cea...