רָחַם
racham · have compassion
Hebrew word · Strong’s number H7355 · appears 47 times in the Bible
What is the Strong number?
Strong’s number identifies this word: use it to find the same word in other study tools.What it means
racham (רָחַם) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “have compassion”.
Feel tenderness for someone, as a mother for her child, and treat him with mercy.
How to say it
ra·cham
Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.
Its senses in the Bible
- To feel tenderness for someone, like a mother for her child.
- To love with deep tenderness, as the psalmist says to YHWH.
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)
Word study
To have mercy, to have compassion: to feel and show tenderness for one who suffers or has fallen. It is from the same root as רֶחֶם, ‘womb’, and רַחֲמִים, ‘compassion’ (H7356): a mother’s tenderness. Once, in Psalm 18:1, it means ‘love’.
- “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy” Exodus 33:19Deuteronomy 30:3
- “As a father has compassion on {his} sons” Psalms 103:13Isaiah 49:15
- “I will have compassion”: the return after the punishment Isaiah 54:8Jeremiah 31:20Isaiah 55:7
- Lo-ruhamah: not pitied Hosea 1:6Hosea 2:23
- “I love you, YHWH” Psalms 18:1
Historical and cultural background
Isaiah 49:15 compares YHWH’s compassion with a mother’s: “Can a woman forget her nursing child, so as not to have compassion on the son of her womb?”.
How we translate it
“Have mercy” (8 times) in the Law and some other places (Exodus 33:19; Deuteronomy 30:3), and “have compassion” (20, “has compassion” 5) in the Psalms and above all in the prophets (“I will have compassion on you”, Isaiah 54:8). The name of Hosea’s daughter is transcribed, “Lo-ruhamah”. In Psalm 18:1 it is rendered “I love you”, with a note.
How it is translated
The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.
- have compassion ×20
- have mercy ×8
- compassion ×7
- has compassion ×5
- mercy ×3
- Ruhamah ×2
- I love you ×1
- I will surely ×1
Related words
Words that come from it
Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.
Where it appears
- Exodus×2
- Deuteronomy×2
- 1 Kings×1
- 2 Kings×1
- Psalms×5
- Proverbs×1
- Isaiah×12
- Jeremiah×10
- Lamentations×1
- Ezekiel×1
- Hosea×7
- Micah×1
- Habakkuk×1
- Zechariah×2
- Exodus 33:19
And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of YHWH before you; and I will favor whom I favor, and I will have mercy on whom I have mercy.”
- Deuteronomy 13:17
Nothing of what is devoted to destruction shall cling to your hand, so that YHWH may turn from the burning of his anger and give you mercy and have mercy on you and multiply you, as he swore to your fathers,
- Deuteronomy 30:3
then YHWH your Elohim will restore your captivity and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where YHWH your Elohim has scattered you.
- 1 Kings 8:50
and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions that they have transgressed against you; and grant them mercy before their captors, that they may have mercy on them;
- 2 Kings 13:23
But YHWH showed favor to them and had mercy on them and turned toward them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and he was not willing to destroy them, and he did not cast them from before his face until now.
- Psalms 18:1
For the director. Of the servant of YHWH, of David, who spoke to YHWH the words of this song on the day YHWH delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said: “I love you, YHWH, my strength.
- Psalms 102:13
You will arise and have mercy on Zion, for it is the time to show her favor, for the appointed time has come.
- Psalms 103:13
As a father has compassion on his sons, YHWH has compassion on those who fear him.
- Psalms 116:5
Gracious is YHWH, and righteous, and our Elohim has compassion.
- Proverbs 28:13
Whoever covers his transgressions will not prosper, but whoever confesses and abandons them will obtain compassion.
- Isaiah 9:17
Therefore Adonai does not rejoice over its young men, and on its orphans and its widows he has no compassion; for every one of them is godless and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks infamy. For all this his anger has not turned back, and his hand is still stretched out.
- Isaiah 13:18
And their bows will dash to pieces the young men, and on the fruit of the womb they will have no compassion; on children their eye will not have pity.
- Isaiah 14:1
For YHWH will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel, and will settle them on their own ground; and the resident alien will join them, and they will attach themselves to the house of Jacob.
- Isaiah 27:11
When its boughs dry up, they will be broken; women will come and set it on fire. For it is not a people of understanding; therefore its Maker will not have compassion on it, and the one who formed it will not show it favor.
- Isaiah 30:18
And therefore YHWH waits to show you favor, and therefore he rises up to have compassion on you; for an Elohim of justice is YHWH; happy are all who wait for him.
- Isaiah 49:10
They will not hunger nor thirst, and neither the scorching ground nor the sun will strike them; for he who has compassion on them will lead them, and by springs of water he will guide them.
- Isaiah 49:13
Shout for joy, heavens, and rejoice, earth; break forth, mountains, into joyful shouting; for YHWH has comforted his people, and on his afflicted ones he will have compassion.
- Isaiah 49:15
“Can a woman forget her nursing child, so as not to have compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.
- Isaiah 54:8
In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with eternal loyal love I will have compassion on you,” says your Redeemer, YHWH.
- Isaiah 54:10
For the mountains will move, and the hills will totter, but my loyal love will not move from you, and my covenant of peace will not totter,” says the one who has compassion on you, YHWH.
- Isaiah 55:7
Let the wicked abandon his way, and the man of wickedness his thoughts; and let him return to YHWH, and he will have compassion on him; and to our Elohim, for he will abound in forgiving.”
- Isaiah 60:10
And foreigners will build your walls, and their kings will serve you; for in my wrath I struck you, but in my favor I have had compassion on you.
- Jeremiah 6:23
Bow and javelin they grasp; it is cruel, and they do not show compassion. Their voice roars like the sea, and on horses they ride, set in array like a man for war against you, daughter of Zion.”
- Jeremiah 12:15
And it will be, after I have uprooted them, I will turn back and have compassion on them, and I will bring them back, each to his inheritance and each to his land.
- Jeremiah 13:14
And I will dash them one against another, the fathers and the sons together, declares YHWH; I will not show pity, nor spare, nor have compassion that would keep me from destroying them.’”
- Jeremiah 21:7
And afterward, declares YHWH, I will give Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and those who are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life; and he will strike them with the edge of the sword; he will not pity them, and he will not spare, and he will not have compassion.’
- Jeremiah 30:18
Thus says YHWH: Look, I am bringing back the captivity of the tents of Jacob, and on his dwellings I will have compassion; and the city will be built on its mound of ruins, and the palace on its rightful place will stand.
- Jeremiah 31:20
Is Ephraim a dear son to me, or a child of delight? For as often as I speak of him, I still remember him; therefore my inward parts are stirred for him; I will surely have compassion on him, declares YHWH.
- Jeremiah 33:26
then also I will reject the offspring of Jacob and of David my servant, so as not to take from his offspring rulers over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; for I will bring back their captivity, and I will have compassion on them.”
- Jeremiah 42:12
And I will grant you compassion, and he will have compassion on you and let you return to your land.
- Jeremiah 50:42
Bow and javelin they grasp; they are cruel, and they do not show compassion. Their voice roars like the sea, and on horses they ride, set in array like a man for war against you, daughter of Babylon.
- Lamentations 3:32
For though he afflicts, he will also have compassion according to the abundance of his loyal loves.
- Ezekiel 39:25
Therefore, thus says Adonai YHWH: Now I will bring back the captivity of Jacob, and I will have compassion on all the house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name.
- Hosea 1:6
And she conceived again and bore a daughter. And he said to him: Call her name Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel, but I will surely take them away.
- Hosea 1:7
But on the house of Judah I will have compassion, and I will save them by YHWH their Elohim; and I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war, by horses or by horsemen.
- Hosea 2:1
Say to your brothers, “Ammi,” and to your sisters, “Ruhamah.”
- Hosea 2:4
And on her children I will not have compassion, for they are children of prostitutions.
- Hosea 2:23
And I will sow her for myself in the land, and I will have compassion on Lo-ruhamah; and I will say to Lo-ammi, “You are my people,” and he will say, “My Elohim.”
- Hosea 14:3
Assyria will not save us; on horses we will not ride; and we will no longer say, ‘Our god,’ to the work of our hands; for in you the orphan finds compassion.”
- Micah 7:19
He will again have mercy on us; he will subdue our iniquities; and you will cast into the depths of the sea all their sins.
And 7 more times.