The Significant Name of God (22)
The riches of the Title אֵל רַחוְּם
- ’El Rachum
André H. Roosma
13 March 2021
Some time ago I studied the Godly title אֵל שַׁדַּי - ’El Shaddai - the God Who
lavishes us richly with His love and life. I consider that now one of the
most beautiful titles, epithets or descriptions the Bible gives to God
YaHUaH1.
If possible, still more beautiful is the title אֵל רַחוְּם - ’El Rachum. This title is very special.
Below I will first briefly say something about the meaning of this title
and then mention some Bible passages in which it occurs. Subsequently we
will look at related expressions the Bible applies to God. Finally we also
have a look at the New Testament and how the same picture of God plays a big
role there too.
The word רַחוְּם - rachum derives from
the verbal root רָחַם - rácham,
for which a dictionary gives: to love, love deeply, have mercy, be
compassionate, have tender affection, have compassion; and another dictionary:
to fondle; by implication to love especially to compassionate: - have
 compassion (on upon) love
(find have obtain shew) mercy (-iful on upon) (have) pity.
The same word רָחַם - rácham as a noun also
represents the womb (as enveloping and cherishing the unborn child with tender
love and care); or tender lovde, (tender) compassion, pity.
That makes ’El Rachum a God of intense love, mercy, and compassion,
Who gives life, Who protects His children, cherishing and nourishing them, and
disposing of all their dirt. And if necessary, He does so, even at the expense
of His Own Life, like a womb lets all nourishment go to the unborn child, even
at the expense of the mother.
I say: wow, what a magnificent and wonderful God! I stand in awe.
And I observe that indeed He proved to be so, in the Messiah Yeshu‘a; that He loves and cherishes us tenderly
– even at the expense of His Own Life!
This picture goes even deeper than the image of the vine and the branches
(John 15:1-14). Or the one of the hen gently but sternly protecting her
chickens under her wings (Matthew 23:37-39; cf. Psalm 36:7).
This image shows God as He tenderly gives us life, cherishing us
in His warmth, protects us by His own body, nurturing and nourishing us –
more than Himself, softening all our pain and carrying away all our ‘dirt’.
In short: an active God full of tenderness and graceful compassion and
indescribable great love.
In Exodus we read about how YaHUaH had freed the people of Israel
from Egyptian slavery. Shortly after that they had to wait a while for the
return of Moses (actually Mosheh) who had climbed the mountain Sinai to meet
God there, and receive directions. Immediately, they started to construct a
large idol. What a blow in the face of their God, YaHUaH! Upon his
return, out of shock and dismay, Moses had dropped the stone tablets, with
the summary of God’s instructions, to pieces.
After that he climbed the mountain anew and had a second close encounter with
YaHUaH in which he said he wanted to get to know YaHUaH better.
YaHUaH then revealed Himself to him as follows:
וַיַּעֲבֹר יְהוָה עַל־פָּנָיו וַיִּקְרָא יְהוָה יְהוָה אֵל רַחוְּם
וְחַנּוְּן אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם וְרַב־ חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת
נֹצֵר חֶסֶד לָאֲלָפִים נֹשֵׂא עָוֹן וָפֶשַׁע וְחַטָּאָה וְנַקֵּה לֹא יְנַקֶּה פֹּקֵד
עֲוֹן אָבֹות עַל־בָּנִים וְעַל־בְּנֵי בָנִים עַל־שִׁלֵּשִׁים וְעַל־רִבֵּעִים
And YaHUaH passed before his face, and YaHUaH proclaimed:
YaHUaH, God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in
goodness and truth.
Who keeps mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.
Thus declaring parents innocent, He does not
declare innocent but sheds light on [or: pays attention
to, brings to light, counts] the ongoing
contaminating effect of the iniquity of parents among the children and
their children, even into the third and fourth generation.
Exodus 34: 6-7; see also my study of this text
The very first thing God declares and reveals about Himself is His glorious
Name יהוה - YaHUaH; He is there.
What an awesome promise!
The second thing YaHUaH declares is that He is: אֵל רַחוְּם וְחַנּוְּן - ’El Rachum ve
channun - God of mercy/compassion and grace. In all His dealings with
Israel this characteristic of YaHUaH stands at the front.
Especially in this situation that is remarkable! When we have made a mess,
God YaHUaH reveals Himself as ’El Rachum - a God of
mercy and compassion!
Especially the first part of this description, ’El Rachum - God of
mercy/compassion, we see more often throughout the Tanakh - The First
Testament of the Bible, for example in Deuteronomy:
כִּי אֵל רַחוְּם יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לֹא יַרְפְּךָ וְלֹא יַשְׁחִיתֶךָ וְלֹא יִשְׁכַּח
אֶת־בְּרִית אֲבֹתֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע לָהֶם
For a merciful God is YaHUaH, your God; He will not forsake you,
nor destroy you; He will not forget the covenant with your fathers that He
confirmed by oath to them.
Deuteronomy 4: 31;
other appearances a.o. in Nehemiah 9: 17, 31; Psalm 86: 15; Joel 2: 13;
Jonah 4:2.
Apart from the description that YaHUaH is an אֵל רַחוְּם - ’El Rachum - God of mercy / God of compassion,
the root word רָחַם - rácham - (to
have) compassion, mercy, a mother’s womb, is also applied to our God
YaHUaH quite often throughout the Tanakh - the First Testament
of the Bible, amongst others in: Exodus 33:19, Psalm 102:13; 103:13; 116:5;
Yesha‘-yahu 14:1; 49:13,15; Yirme-yahu 30:18; 31:20; 42:12; Lamentations 3:32;
Hoshe‘ah 1:7; 14:3; Habakuk 3:2; Zakhar-yah 1:12.
In the plural form רַחֲמִ֥ים - rachamim it
is even stronger. We encounter this form applied to God a.o. in Deut.13:17;
Is.54:6-8; Dan.9:9; Hos.2:18; Ps.145:8-9. For example the text from
Yesha‘-yahu:
6 For YaHUaH
has called you as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of
youth, when you were rejected, says your God. 7 For a little moment I have left you; but with great mercies
[or with manyfold compassion] I will
gather you unto Me. 8 In a little wrath I hid
My face from you for a moment; but with
everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you, says YaHUaH your
Redeemer.
In Psalm 103:13 it’s wonderful how the image of the racham
is combined with God’s tender Fatherhood:
13 As a father
has compassion [racham] on his
children, so YaHUaH has compassion [racham] on those who respect Him.
The same notion of God’s great compassion we regularly encounter in the
New Testament as well. For example, in his Spirit-led praise song, the
priest ZakharYah prophecies about his son John the Baptist and God:
76 “... And you, child,
will be called a prophet of the Most High. For you will go before the face of
the Lord to prepare His ways, 77 that He may give
His people the knowledge of life, and forgiveness of their sins, 78 through the compassion of the mercy of our God (Delitzsch’ Hebrew translation2: בְּחֶסֶד אֱלֹהֵינוּ וּבְרַחֲמָיו - be-chesed eloheinu u-be-rachmav - lit: in the
lovingkindness of our God and in His rachamim/compassions);
whereby the Dayspring from on high will visit us, 79
to give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death;
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Luke 1:76-79; translated with an eye on the Aramaic Peshitta.
In Marc 1 we read about the heart of Jesus (Yeshu‘a):
39 ... He went into all
of Galilee preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.
40 Then a leper came to Him and fell to his knees,
pleading for help. “If You want to, You can make me clean,” he said.
41 Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched
out His hand and touched him, saying, “I do want to. Be clean!”
42 And when He had said this, the leprosy left him
at once, and he was clean.
John begins his second letter with these words:
1 The elder to the
chosen lady and her children, whom I genuinely love, and not only I but also
all who ave come to know the truth, 2 because of
the truth which abides in us and will be with us for ever: 3 Grace, mercy (Delitzsch’ Hebrew
translation: רַחֲמִים - rachamim),
and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus the Messiah
the Father’s Son, in truth and love.
And the apostle Paul writes to the Christian community in Rome:
8 For I tell you that
Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in
order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs,
9 and in order that the nations might glorify God
for His mercy (Delitzsch’ Hebrew: רַחֲמָיו - rachamav - His rachamim).
As it is written, “Therefore I will praise You among the nations, and sing
Psalms to Your Name”; 10 and again it is said,
“Rejoice, O nations, with His people”. 11 And once
more, “Praise you YaHUaH, all nations, and praise you Him, all
peoples.” Romans 15:8-11; with reference to
2 Sam.22:50/Ps.18:49; Deut.32:43a; Ps.117:1.
To the Christian community in Corinth, Paul writes:
3 Blessed be the God
(or: The blessed God; see footnoot in the NET
Bible) and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of
mercies (Delitzsch’ Hebrew: אַב הָרַחֲמִים - abh ha-rachamim) and God
of all comfort, 4 Who comforts us in all our
troubles, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble,
with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
5 For just as we share abundantly in Christ’s
sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.
6 But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort
and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort that you experience
in your patient endurance of the same sufferings that we also suffer.
7 Our hope for you is stable; for we know that as
you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. 2 Corinthians 1:3-7; see also:
Ephesians 2:4-5.
And in the letter to the Hebrews we read about Jesus:
14 Therefore, since
those children share in flesh and blood, He
likewise shared in those, so that through death He would destroy the one who
holds the power of death (that is, the devil), 15
and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of
death. 16 For surely His concern is not for angels,
but He is concerned for Abraham’s descendants. 17
Therefore he had to be made like His brothers and sisters in every respect,
so that He would become a merciful (Delitzsch’ Hebrew: רַחֲמָן - rachman) and faithful High Priest in things relating
to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 For since He Himself suffered when He was tempted,
He is able to help those who are being tempted.
Hebrews 2:14-18
Wow, what a God! Words come far short as I continue to ponder longer about
this wonderful characteristic of YaHUaH, the God of the Bible...
Hallelu YaHUaH !
I can only advise you to meditate further about this, for example on the
Bible passages mentioned above, and let the immensity and beauty of this
wonderful characteristic of YaHUaH sink in further and bring you to
awe for Him.
Besides all that, the Bible also calls us to adopt some of this wonderful
characteristic of God into our character:
Therefore be merciful, even as your Father
is merciful.
(Delitzsch has: לָכֵן הֱיוּ
רַחֲמָנִים כַּאֲשֶׁר גַּם־אֲבִיכֶם רַחוּם הוּא – Therefore be
compassionate people - rachmanim - like your
Father is compassionate - rachum.)
Luke 6:36
By His compassionate and merciful Holy Spirit He is willing to work that
out in our hearts! We only need to receive it and go along with Him.
That will express itself in how we treat ourselves and others.
Hallelu YaHUaH !
Notes
| 1 |
The glorious Name of God I represent here as accurately
as possible from the oldest Hebrew original, instead of replacing this grand
personal Name of The Most High by a common word, such as ‘Lord’. For more
background information see:
André H. Roosma, ‘The
wonderful and lovely Name of the God Who was there, Who is there, and Who
will be there’  , extensive Accede! / Hallelu-YaH! study, July 2009.
See also the other articles on the
significant Name of God, on the articles page here. |
| 2 |
Franz Delitzsch
was a theologian and Hebraist who was very knowledgable in the Hebrew language
and culture. On that basis he made an excellent Hebrew translation of the
New Testament of the Bible, fitting very closely with thinking and vocabulary
of the First Testament. Though he completed this work already in 1877, it is
still considered the best up to today (the translation by Isaac Salkinson and
Christian David Ginsburg from 1887 is close). I use the version of 1886
available in TheWord Bible software. |
Previous articles in this series on The significant
Name of God:
‘(21) Why Christianity often ignored The Name YaHUaH’,
21 June 2020;
‘(20) YaHUaH - the true God of the Bible - is involved!’,
19 June 2020;
‘(19) The riches of the Title אֵל שַׁדַּי
- ’El Shaddai’, 17 June 2020;
‘(18) Why Rabbinic Judaism refuses to mention THE NAME’,
14 June 2020;
‘(17) What we learn from Jesus’ temptation in the desert’,
12 June 2020.
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