רָחַם

Exodus 33:19 וְרִחַמְתִּ֖י אֲרַחֵֽם׃ and I will have compassion on, I will have compassion

“I will cause all My goodness to pass before you,” the LORD replied, “and I will proclaim My name—the LORD—in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

Here: 'And I will have tender compassion.' The word is related to rechem, 'womb'. It is the deep, gut-level pity of a parent for a child (Ps 103:13; Isa 49:15). It is offered to a people who have just made a golden calf.

Deuteronomy 13:17 וְרִֽחַמְךָ֣ and he will have compassion on you

Nothing devoted to destruction shall cling to your hands, so that the LORD will turn from His fierce anger, grant you mercy, show you compassion, and multiply you as He swore to your fathers,

Here: 'And He will have compassion on you.' The verb from the same root repeats the idea, so the noun and verb together pile up tenderness right after the burning anger.

Deuteronomy 30:3 וְרִחֲמֶ֑ךָ and he will have compassion on you

then He will restore you from captivity and have compassion on you and gather you from all the nations to which the LORD your God has scattered you.

Here: Deep, gut-level tenderness of the kind a parent feels for a child. The related noun means "womb". This compassion is the motive behind the restoration and shows itself in what God does.

1 Kings 8:50 וְרִֽחֲמֽוּם׃ and they will have compassion on them

May You forgive Your people who have sinned against You and all the transgressions they have committed against You, and may You grant them compassion in the eyes of their captors to show them mercy.

Here: The result Solomon hopes for: the captors actually treat them with mercy. The verse closes by turning the noun "compassion" into a verb. The pity becomes something the captors do.

2 Kings 13:23 וַֽיְרַחֲמֵם֙ and he had compassion on them

But the LORD was gracious to Israel and had compassion on them, and He turned toward them because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And to this day, the LORD has been unwilling to destroy them or cast them from His presence.

Here: 'And he had compassion on them.' This is the deep, felt pity of a parent for a suffering child. It is paired with 'show favor' just as in Exodus 33:19 and 34:6.

Psalm 18:1 אֶרְחָמְךָ֖ I love you

For the choirmaster. Of David the servant of the LORD, who sang this song to the LORD on the day the LORD had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said: I love You, O LORD, my strength.

Here: A very rare word. This is the only place in the Hebrew Bible where this verb, in its simple form, means 'to love'. The same word family elsewhere means compassion, and its noun is 'womb', so the word suggests a deep, inward, tender attachment. The verb form can mean 'I love you' (a present, ongoing fact) or 'I will love you' (a resolve).

Psalm 102:13 תְּרַחֵ֣ם you will have compassion on

You will rise up and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to show her favor—the appointed time has come.

Here: Deep, gut-level compassion, the root shared with the word for 'womb'. It is placed straight after 'rise' with no 'and', so the two verbs run together: God's rising is his compassion going into action.

Psalm 103:13 כְּרַחֵ֣ם רִחַ֥ם as has compassion, he has compassion

As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.

Here: The prefix kə- ("like, as") is joined to a verb form that works like a noun ("the having-compassion of"), so the line opens with "Like a father's compassion…". It sets up a comparison, and it echoes kirḥōq ("as far as") at the start of verse 12.

Psalm 116:5 מְרַחֵֽם׃ [is] compassionate

The LORD is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.

Here: A verb form (participle) meaning "one who shows compassion". It describes continuing, habitual action, not just a quality. The root is tied to the word for "womb" and to tender, protective feeling for the weak, like a parent's for a child.

Proverbs 28:13 יְרֻחָֽם׃ he will be shown mercy

He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.

Here: 'He will be shown compassion.' The verb is passive and the giver is not named. The line moves from what the concealer cannot achieve by himself to what the confessor receives from someone else. The root is tied to the word for 'womb' (rechem) and suggests deep, parent-like tenderness.

Isaiah 9:17 יְרַחֵ֔ם he has compassion on

Therefore the Lord takes no pleasure in their young men; He has no compassion on their fatherless and widows. For every one of them is godless and wicked, and every mouth speaks folly. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.

Here: 'He will not show compassion': tender, protective, womb-like mercy (related to reḥem, 'womb'). The same verb with 'not' gives the name Lo-ruhamah, 'Not pitied', in Hosea 1:6.

Isaiah 13:18 יְרַחֵ֔מוּ they will have compassion on

Their bows will dash young men to pieces; they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb; they will not look with pity on the children.

Isaiah 14:1 יְרַחֵ֨ם he will have compassion on

For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob; once again He will choose Israel and settle them in their own land. The foreigner will join them and unite with the house of Jacob.

Here: Future: "he will feel and show tender compassion." The word carries the warmth a parent feels for a child, not merely a judge's decision to go easy.

Isaiah 27:11 יְרַחֲמֶ֣נּוּ he will have compassion on it

When its limbs are dry, they are broken off. Women come and use them for kindling; for this is a people without understanding. Therefore their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor.

Here: 'Will (not) feel tender compassion for it.' The root is tied to rechem, 'womb': the gut-level pity of a parent for its child. The emphatic ending with 'nun' sharpens the refusal.

Isaiah 30:18 לְרַֽחֶמְכֶ֑ם to have compassion on you

Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore He rises to show you compassion, for the LORD is a just God. Blessed are all who wait for Him.

Here: 'To have tender compassion on you (plural)'. The root is shared with the word for 'womb' and describes the instinctive, protective love of close kin. It matches 'show favor' in the first line.

Isaiah 49:10 מְרַחֲמָ֣ם [one who] has compassion on them

They will not hunger or thirst, nor will scorching heat or sun beat down on them. For He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water.

Here: 'The one who has compassion on them.' A verb form used as a title for God, describing what he does all the time. The root is the one behind the word for 'womb', and verse 15 makes the maternal picture explicit: 'Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the son of her womb?'

Isaiah 49:13 יְרַחֵֽם׃ ס he has compassion on

Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; break forth in song, O mountains! For the LORD has comforted His people, and He will have compassion on His afflicted ones.

Here: "He will have compassion." The verb is related to reḥem, 'womb', and stands for deep, protective, parent-like love. Two verses later (49:15) Isaiah makes the link explicit with a mother who could not fail to have compassion on the child of her womb.

Isaiah 49:15 מֵרַחֵ֖ם from having compassion on

“Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the son of her womb? Even if she could forget, I will not forget you!

Here: Literally 'from having compassion', a Hebrew way of saying 'so that she has no compassion'. The verb comes from the same root as reḥem, 'womb', so it means the tender, protective love a mother has for the child she carried.

Isaiah 54:8 רִֽחַמְתִּ֑יךְ I will have compassion on you

In a surge of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the LORD your Redeemer.

Here: From the root behind rechem, 'womb': deep, gut-level tender feeling, the kind a mother has for her child (compare 49:15). The verb is in the completed form, so it presents the compassion as already decided and certain, even though it is still working out.

Isaiah 54:10 מְרַחֲמֵ֖ךְ [one who] has compassion on you

Though the mountains may be removed and the hills may be shaken, My loving devotion will not depart from you, and My covenant of peace will not be broken,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

Here: "Your Compassionate One / the one who has compassion on you": this verb form describes an ongoing trait, almost a title. It echoes v.7 ("with great compassion I will gather you") and v.8 ("I will have compassion on you"). The root is the one used for a parent's deep, gut-level tenderness.

Isaiah 55:7 וִֽירַחֲמֵ֔הוּ so he may have compassion on him

Let the wicked man forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.

Here: 'And he will have compassion on him': the 'and' carries a sense of result, 'so that he will have compassion.' This is the deep, protective tenderness Isaiah compares to a mother with the child of her womb (49:15).

Isaiah 60:10 רִֽחַמְתִּֽיךְ׃ I have had compassion on you

Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Although I struck you in anger, yet in favor I will show you mercy.

Here: "I have had compassion on you." It is a past-tense (completed) form: the decision for compassion is already made, and the coming restoration simply carries it out. The word carries warm, parental tenderness, associated in Hebrew with *reḥem*, 'womb'.

Jeremiah 6:23 יְרַחֵ֔מוּ they have mercy

They grasp the bow and spear; they are cruel and merciless. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride upon horses, lined up like men in formation against you, O Daughter of Zion.”

Here: They will feel no pity and so will spare no one. In war that means no quarter for the beaten, the wounded, women or children.

Jeremiah 12:15 וְרִֽחַמְתִּ֑ים and I will have compassion on them

But after I have uprooted them, I will once again have compassion on them and return each one to his inheritance and to his land.

Here: The tender compassion of close family, a word related to the Hebrew for "womb." It is an attitude that acts: in Jeremiah it is the thing God says he will not show Judah in judgment (13:14) and does show in restoration (31:20; 42:12).

Jeremiah 13:14 אֲרַחֵ֖ם I will have compassion

I will smash them against one another, fathers and sons alike, declares the LORD. I will allow no mercy or pity or compassion to keep Me from destroying them.’”

Here: 'I will not have compassion.' This is the warmest of the three words. It is related to the word for 'womb' and describes the deep, almost parental tenderness Jeremiah elsewhere says God has for his people (12:15; 31:20).

Jeremiah 21:7 יְרַחֵֽם׃ he will have compassion

‘After that,’ declares the LORD, ‘I will hand over Zedekiah king of Judah, his officers, and the people in this city who survive the plague and sword and famine, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to their enemies who seek their lives. He will put them to the sword; he will not spare them or show pity or compassion.’

Here: The word family of tender, womb-deep compassion, such as a parent's for a child. The deepest kind of feeling is denied last.

Jeremiah 30:18 אֲרַחֵ֑ם I will have compassion

This is what the LORD says: “I will restore the fortunes of Jacob’s tents and have compassion on his dwellings. And the city will be rebuilt on her own ruins, and the palace will stand in its rightful place.

Here: 'I will have compassion on.' This is warm, protective feeling that leads to action. The word is related to reḥem, 'womb.' It answers the taunt in v.17 that Zion is the one 'no one cares for.'

Jeremiah 31:20 רַחֵ֥ם אֲֽרַחֲמֶ֖נּוּ surely <have compassion>, I will have compassion on him

Is not Ephraim a precious son to Me, a delightful child? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore My heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,” declares the LORD.

Here: The emphatic doubling again: 'I will surely, deeply have compassion.' The root is the same one found in rechem, 'womb'.

Jeremiah 33:26 וְרִחַמְתִּֽים׃ ס and I will have compassion on them

then I would also reject the descendants of Jacob and of My servant David, so as not to take from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore them from captivity and will have compassion on them.”

Here: The last word of the unit. It is the deep, inward compassion of a parent for a child (the related noun reḥem means 'womb'). In Jeremiah this verb is often what God withholds in judgment (13:14; 16:5), and here it is promised again.

Jeremiah 42:12 וְרִחַ֣ם and he will have compassion on

And I will show you compassion, and he will have compassion on you and restore you to your own land.’

Jeremiah 50:42 יְרַחֵ֔מוּ they will have mercy

They grasp the bow and spear; they are cruel and merciless. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride upon horses, lined up like men in formation against you, O Daughter of Babylon.

Here: To feel and act on tender, protective pity, the way a parent pities a child. The root is related to the word for 'womb.' Here it is denied completely: these attackers will not spare anyone.

Lamentations 3:32 וְרִחַ֖ם and he will have compassion

Even if He causes grief, He will show compassion according to His abundant loving devotion.

Here: 'And' joined to this verb form usually signals what follows as a consequence: 'then he will have compassion'. The verb names a warm, parent-like tenderness toward someone weak or hurt, the same family of words as 'his compassions' in 3:22.

Ezekiel 39:25 וְרִֽחַמְתִּ֖י and I will have compassion on

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Now I will restore Jacob from captivity and will have compassion on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for My holy name.

Here: 'And I will have compassion'. The word comes from the same root as 'womb'. It is the deep, protective feeling of a parent for their own child. The verb form continues the future promise.

Hosea 1:6 אֲרַחֵם֙ I will have compassion on

Gomer again conceived and gave birth to a daughter, and the LORD said to Hosea, “Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel, that I should ever forgive them.

Here: The active form of the same verb as in the name: 'I will tenderly pity'. The name and the reason use the same root, so the girl's name is God's own sentence.

Hosea 1:7 אֲרַחֵ֔ם I will have compassion on

Yet I will have compassion on the house of Judah, and I will save them—not by bow or sword or war, not by horses and cavalry, but by the LORD their God.”

Here: It is the same verb, word for word, that God has just withdrawn from Israel in verse 6 ('I will no longer have compassion'), and it echoes the daughter's name Lo-ruhamah, 'Not-pitied'. Judah gets what Israel loses: the tender, gut-level compassion of a parent.

Hosea 2:1 רֻחָֽמָה׃ she is Shown Compassion

“Say of your brothers, ‘My people,’ and of your sisters, ‘My loved one.’

Hosea 2:4 אֲרַחֵ֑ם I will have compassion on

I will have no compassion on her children, because they are the children of adultery.

Hosea 2:23 וְרִֽחַמְתִּ֖י רֻחָ֑מָה and I will have compassion on, Ruhamah

And I will sow her as My own in the land, and I will have compassion on ‘No Compassion.’ I will say to those called ‘Not My People,’ ‘You are My people,’ and they will say, ‘You are my God.’”

Here: The tender, protective feeling of a parent for a child. The word is related to reḥem, 'womb'. It directly reverses the name of Hosea's daughter.

Hosea 14:3 יְרֻחַ֥ם he is shown compassion

Assyria will not save us, nor will we ride on horses. We will never again say, ‘Our gods!’ to the work of our own hands. For in You the fatherless find compassion.”

Here: 'Is shown compassion', a passive verb from the same root and in the same form as the name of Hosea's daughter Lo-Ruhamah, 'Not shown compassion' (1:6). The verse quietly reverses that name.

Micah 7:19 יְרַֽחֲמֵ֔נוּ he will have compassion on us

He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast out all our sins into the depths of the sea.

Here: "He will have compassion on us." The verb comes from the same root as the word for "womb." It is the love a parent has for their own child, and it shows itself in what the parent does for the child.

Habakkuk 3:2 רַחֵ֥ם to have compassion

O LORD, I have heard the report of You; I stand in awe, O LORD, of Your deeds. Revive them in these years; make them known in these years. In Your wrath, remember mercy!

Here: A verb form ('to have compassion') used as the thing to be remembered. This is tender, deeply felt pity, the word family linked to reḥem, 'womb.'

Zechariah 1:12 תְרַחֵ֣ם will you have compassion on

Then the angel of the LORD said, “How long, O LORD of Hosts, will You withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which You have been angry these seventy years?”

Here: "Will you have compassion." This is the verb related to raḥam, "womb": the tender, gut-level love of a parent (Ps 103:13). The verb form describes something ongoing, so the complaint is that God keeps on not showing this compassion.

Zechariah 10:6 רִֽחַמְתִּ֔ים I have compassion on them

I will strengthen the house of Judah and save the house of Joseph. I will restore them because I have compassion on them, and they will be as though I had not rejected them. For I am the LORD their God, and I will answer them.

Here: 'I have had compassion on them.' The root is linked to rechem, 'womb,' and carries a deep, almost parental tenderness. The past-tense form shows the compassion is already settled and comes before the rescue.