οἰκτίρμων

From the study of James 5:11

Range of meaning

Compassionate, merciful, full of pity. It is used of people (Luke 6:36, 'be merciful as your Father is merciful') and above all of God.

Against the English

KJV 'of tender mercy'. BSB, NIV and WEB 'mercy'. ESV 'merciful'. YLT 'pitying'. Most versions are accurate, though they lose the echo of Israel's best-known description of God.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Greek Old Testament uses it to translate Hebrew raḥum (related to reḥem, 'womb'). It appears in the self-description God gives in Exodus 34:6 ('The LORD… compassionate and gracious, slow to anger…'), which is repeated in Ps 86:15; 103:8; 111:4 ('the Lord is gracious and compassionate', eleēmōn kai oiktirmōn ho kyrios); 145:8; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2.

From the study of Luke 6:36

Range of meaning

An adjective from the word-family of οἶκτος (oiktos, "pity, lament over someone's misfortune") and οἰκτίρω (oiktirō, "to pity, to have compassion"). It describes someone who feels pity and is moved by another's trouble, and in biblical use someone who then acts kindly toward them. BDAG glosses it "merciful, compassionate". It focuses more on the inner movement of compassion than its near-synonym ἐλεήμων (eleēmōn, "merciful", G1655), though the two overlap heavily and often appear as a pair.

Against the English

Most versions say "merciful" (KJV, BSB, NIV, ESV, NASB). The NLT says "compassionate". "Merciful" is not wrong, but in modern English it leans toward leniency: not punishing someone who deserves it, as with a judge or a king granting pardon. Oiktirmōn is wider and warmer. It is the compassion that feels for the needy, the ungrateful and even the enemy, and does them good.

How it drifted

English "mercy" comes through Old French merci from Latin merces ("wages, reward", later "favor, pity"). In Christian English it came to sit mainly in the courtroom and the confessional, where it means sparing punishment. Popular teaching sharpened this with the slogan "mercy is not getting what you deserve". That captures one side of the word and leaves the compassionate, active, generous side underplayed.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament) oiktirmōn usually translates Hebrew רַחוּם (raḥum, H7349), the compassion word in Israel's best-known description of God: "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious (οἰκτίρμων καὶ ἐλεήμων), slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love" (Exod 34:6). The same formula comes back in Ps 86:15, 103:8, 111:4, 145:8, Joel 2:13, Jonah 4:2, Neh 9:17, 31, and Sirach 2:11. Hebrew raḥum belongs to the same root as רֶחֶם (reḥem, "womb"), and the plural raḥamim means "compassion", which is why some describe it as a deep, almost visceral, family kind of feeling. The link is real, but ordinary use is simply "compassion", so the "womb-love" picture should not be pushed too far. In the New Testament the adjective appears only here and in James 5:11 ("the Lord is full of compassion and oiktirmōn"). The related noun οἰκτιρμός (G3628) appears in "the Father of compassions" (2 Cor 1:3) and "by the compassions of God" (Rom 12:1).