Ḥesed is the covenantal, steadfast love of God. It is the thread that binds the entire Bible together, revealing a God whose loyalty endures even when His people do not.
Last week we began our journey into the Old Testament by discovering that it is not a book of divine wrath but a book of divine love. This week we go deeper by exploring one word: Ḥesed (חֶסֶד).
If the Bible were a house, Ḥesed would be the foundation. Every promise, act of mercy, and story of redemption rests on it. Translators have tried “mercy,” “steadfast love,” “loving-kindness,” “covenant loyalty,” “faithfulness.” All are true, none complete.
Ḥesed is love in motion.
Ḥesed love that keeps its promises even when it is hard.
Hesed in Its Ancient World
In the Ancient Near East, relationships were built on covenants, formal agreements between rulers and subjects. Breaking one meant destruction.
But when God made His covenant with Israel, He changed the pattern. He remained faithful even when His people were not.
When the Lord revealed His character to Moses, after the Israelites rebelled against him at Mount Sinai, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in Ḥesed and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6), He described not what He sometimes does but who He always is.
Ḥesed is loyalty that outlasts betrayal.
Ḥesed is constancy that is bounded by neither time nor space.
It just is. Like God. Always.
Hesed in Human Stories
We meet Ḥesed in the lives of ordinary people.
Ruth shows Ḥesed when she stays with Naomi, saying, “Where you go, I will go.” Her loyalty reflects divine love in action.
David shows Ḥesed when he spares Saul’s life and later blesses Saul’s grandson Mephibosheth, asking, “Is there yet anyone of the house of Saul to whom I may show the Ḥesed of God?” (2 Samuel 9:3).
Hosea shows Ḥesed when he pursues his unfaithful wife Gomer, a living parable of God’s relentless love for His people.
Ḥesed goes beyond mere kindness to include covenant commitment. This is love that endures even when it is not returned.
Hesed and the Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon continues this same theme. When Alma’s people suffer bondage, God does not remove their burdens immediately; He strengthens them to bear them “with ease” (Mosiah 24:15). That is Ḥesed, divine love through sustaining presence.
When the resurrected Christ invites the Nephites one by one to feel the prints in His hands, that too is Ḥesed, love that descends, stays, and endures forever.
Even the name Mormon, meaning love endures forever, echoes this covenant truth. The Book of Mormon is not a separate story but a renewed witness of the same Ḥesed that began in Eden, was revealed at Sinai, and fulfilled in Christ.
Hesed and You
We live in a world that often confuses love with convenience. But God never quits. His Ḥesed means you are never too far gone or too broken.
To live covenantally is to love as He loves, to forgive when it is undeserved and to endure when it would be easier to quit.
Read Psalm 136 aloud this week. Each verse repeats the same refrain: “For His Ḥesed endures forever.” Let it become your own testimony: “God’s love endures for me.”
And remember, when you read “His Ḥesed endures forever” the equivalent phrase in ancient Egyptian is Mormon!
Yes, the very purpose of The Book of Mormon is to provide 500+ pages of evidences that God’s Love Endures Forever.
If you remember one thing this week, let it be this:
God’s love is not fragile or conditional. It endures because He does.
Ḥesed holds the Bible together. And it can hold your life together too.
Next week, we will see how that love takes form in the covenant pattern, where God’s promises and our participation intertwine in the great story of His redeeming Ḥesed.
—Taylor Halverson, Ph.D.
Learn Deeply. Live Meaningfully. Spread Light and Goodness!
[Note that I’ve created audio narration using experimental AI enhancement of my voice. I think the narration is functional…but not quite authentic! Share your feedback with me; it is helpful? bearable? should I drop it?]
Ḥesed (חֶסֶד) means loyal, covenant-keeping love—love in motion.
In the Ancient Near East, covenants demanded mutual loyalty, but God uniquely remained faithful even when Israel failed.
Key examples: Ruth’s devotion to Naomi, David’s mercy to Saul’s house, and Hosea’s pursuit of Gomer embody divine Ḥesed.
The Book of Mormon echoes this same theme through God’s sustaining love in Mosiah 24 and Christ’s enduring compassion in 3 Nephi.
Application: To live Ḥesed is to love faithfully, forgive deeply, and stay committed even when it costs.
Core truth: “God’s love endures forever”—and that same Ḥesed can hold your life together today.