Hebrew Word Study – The Kindness of God – Chasad Elohim  חםד אלהים  Cheth, Samek Daleth  Aleph Lamed Hei Yod Mem

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II Samuel 9:1: “And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God unto him? And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his feet.”

David and Jonathan were very close friends which were surprising since Jonathan was the son of King Saul and next in line for the throne. However, God removed the House of Saul from the kingly line and replaced it with the house of David. Jonathan should have had a real bone to pick with David who was destined to take the position that Jonathan was being groomed to perform. Yet, a deep friendship developed between the two. 

Many have tried to depict the relationship between David and Jonathan as a homosexual relationship but there is no evidence of this. David after all could not control his lust for Bathsheba and the evidence that he went both ways is just not there. David and Jonathan were best buds, brothers in arms who shared many adventures together. 

Friendships meant just as much in those days as they do today and in many respects, the bond often went deeper. Today, in our society, we have many private and governmental safety nets that people can take advantage of if they are in need. In ancient times friendships often meant the difference between life and death, a full stomach or starvation.  There were no police forces or fire departments like we have today, and no hospitals and clinics. You either had to fend for yourself or depend upon family and friendships to bridge the gaps. 

Probably the best example of such friendships today are those forged in the military where men often fight together, depending on their teammate or best bud to watch their back. The term “band of brothers” is often used with special ops or even among your regular warriors.  Soldiers in the Western world are trained to look after each other and watch each other’s backs and much of the training is designed to forge close bonds of friendship. 

I drive many veterans to the veteran’s hospital on my disability bus and I am amazed at the bonds that quickly formed between veterans, and how they are very quick to offer assistance to help a “brother” off my bus.  The opportunity to form such friendships is not as prevalent today as in the past. Although there are athletic teams, first responders, activists fighting for a cause, or the comradeship between employees struggling to make a business survive they can form these types of lasting friendships. 

David and Jonathan are an example of this type of friendship. They were not just “drinking buddies” or friends on social media, they actually depended upon each for their very survival. They learned to trust each other and be open and honest with each other and when Jonathan died, it grieved David very deeply. It grieved him so much that he sought to find someone that was close to his dear friend who might be in need so that he could still show his love for his friend in some way even after his passing. 

He wanted to not only show a chasad but a chasad Elohim to the one that his late friend loved. That was Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth which means “from the mouth of shame.”  Mephibosheth was five years old when both his father Jonathan and grandfather King Saul died at the Battle of Mount Gilboa.  After their deaths, Mephibosheth was taken by his nurse who fled in fear of the life of Mephibosheth who would be targeted as a successor to the throne by King Saul’s enemies. In her panic, she dropped the child who was rendered as a paraplegic for the remainder of his life.

After a period of transition, the monarchy was united under King David and David sought to show a chasad Elohim a kindness of God toward a member of Jonathan’s family. When he was told of the plight of Mephibosheth David restored the personal wealth of the inheritance of his grandfather, King Saul, and actually permitted him to live in his palace in Jerusalem. 

The word chasad in itself is difficult to translate.  It is the kindness of devoting oneself entirely to ministering to the needs of another.  Yet, David took this word to an even greater height by calling it a chasad of Elohim, a kindness of God. God is the ultimate example of kindness and thus this is a kindness that is not even deserved by the one receiving it. David knew nothing about Mephibosheth, and never met him but because of his deep friendship with Mephibosheth’s father, Jonathan, he treated him with equal kindness that he would have treated Jonathan.

There is an old rabbinical story of a man who had eleven sons.  He chose to give each son their share of their inheritance before he died and he longed to see how the sons would invest his life’s work.  He called each son to him and gave each an equal share of his estate.  However, when the eleventh son appeared, the father realized he miscalculated and had given his entire estate away leaving nothing for the eleventh son.  However, instead of giving him a portion of his fortune, he gave his son a sheet of paper. On that paper were just ten names.

After a year the father called his sons together to give an accounting of how they invested their inheritance.  The one with the biggest return, in fact, more than all the other sons put together, was the son who received the sheet of paper with just a list of ten names, the names of the father’s best friends.   

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