Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Maylan Schurch
Sunday and Monday, August 16 and 17, 2026
Sunday morning during a mile-long walk through our neighborhood I spotted this Chevy Silverado pickup with the word HESED as its license plate “number.” It’s a Hebrew word often used in the Old Testament to give details about God’s love. In the Wikipedia entry below, you’ll see the different ways it has been translated.
From the Wikipedia entry on chesed (also spelled hesed):
“[Hesed] occurs 248 times in the Hebrew Bible. In the majority of cases (149 times), the (KJV) translation is mercy, following the Septuagint (LXX) eleos. Less frequent translations are: kindness (40 times), lovingkindness (30 times), goodness (12 times), kindly (five times), merciful (four times), favour (three times) and good, goodliness, pity (once each). Only two instances of the noun in its negative sense are in the text, translated reproach in Proverbs 14:34, and wicked thing in Leviticus 20:17.”
As you can see above, “mercy” is the way hesed has been most often translated, at least in the King James Version. Click the link below for three Bible passages where God’s mercy is described.