Summary/Abstract Hesed is one of the most ubiquitous and important principles of the Old Testament, defining both the nature of God and the theological framework of God’s relationship with human beings. The primary qualities of hesed include loyalty, kindness, justice, and grace. Hesed also describes the reciprocity of God’s covenant with human beings. God addresses and responds to sin, transgression, and rebellion with the principles of hesed throughout the Old Testament, including a righteous combination of forgiveness and fairness. In fact, hesed can also be described as a paternal form of love, one that flows freely and unconditionally from parent to child, which is filled with grace and kindness and yet which is also willing and able to guide, teach, and even to punish when necessary. Hesed is significant from a theological standpoint but also an ethical one because it showcases how human beings can respond to moral turpitude in biblical ways.

Principles of Love

Loyalty

One of the ways hesed is distinguished from other types of love in the Old Testament is via the quality of loyalty, expressed both by God and by His people. Hesed is mentioned twice in Exodus 34:67, in which God reveals Himself to Moses as the Lord who abounds in loyal love and faithful commitment to His people. Thus, hesed is linked conceptually to the covenants between God and His people, which are bilateral agreements rooted in fidelity and love (Sproul, 2013). Furthermore, God’s loyal love for His people can become an ideal for human loyalty, steadfastness, and commitment. Associated concepts include devotion, which is linked to the mutual respect required to maintain loyalty and fulfill one’s promises. Loyalty and love expressed as hesed are also unconditional and authentic (Cooper, 2005). There is no deception with hesed, and there are no boundaries or limitations on God’s love. Furthermore, hesed is eternal and enduring:...

Hesed is expressed “not merely in terms of warm emotional feelings but in acts of love and service that we owe to the other person simply because he is part of the covenant community,” (Duguid, 2011, p. 1). Hesed is acting with loving kindness, which God exemplifies. Furthermore, God encourages His people to practice loving kindness towards others. Hesed is “never merely an abstract feeling of goodwill but always entails practical action on behalf of another,” (Kynes, 2010, p. 2). Loving kindness can also be expressed or experienced as mercy: the mercy shown by God or by other human beings (Duguid, 2011; Kynes, 2010).
Although the first instances of the term hesed in the Old Testament are in God’s own self-referential statements when revealing Himself to Moses, hesed becomes a broader and more complex concept as the events of the Bible unfold. Hesed is not just about God’s unqualified, unconditional, loyal, and kind love for His people, but also the type of love that can and should be practiced between human beings. All human relationships entail a degree of mutuality, even those that are hierarchical. Therefore, hesed is set forth as the guiding principle of human relationships even though it is most commonly connected to “the vertical plane of God’s relationship with people,” (Kynes, 2010, p. 2).

Justice, Grace, and Responding to Rebelliousness With Hesed

Loyalty itself requires reciprocity. Hesed is a bilateral flow of love between God and His people. Because hesed is relational by definition, one or both parties are in the position of being able to break the commitment or to be disloyal. However, given the inherent inequities…