Dick Kroneman serves as a senior translation consultant with SIL International. His current focus is on consulting for translation projects in Papua, Indonesia (in partnership with the mission of the Netherlands Reformed Congregations and with the GJRP church in Indonesia). He also teaches translation courses for consultants in training (MA-level).
Kindness and Loyalty Beyond Expectation: Interpreting and Translating the Word HESED in the Old Testament
Abstract
The Hebrew word hesed poses one of the most challenging problems for exegetes and translators of the Old Testament. A wide range of renderings has been suggested for this elusive term, including ‘loving kindness’, ‘grace’, ‘loyal love’, and ‘obligation’. Most Bible translations use multiple words to render this term in different contexts, but they seem to be inconsistent in the way they render it.
This paper discusses various interpretations of the term hesed (Glueck 1967; Sakenfeld 1978; Clark 2015), while addressing the following questions: 1. What is the core meaning of the term hesed across various contexts? 2. What is the difference in meaning between hesed and other related words like hen (‘grace’), rahum (‘compassionate’), and ’ahabah (‘love’)? 3. In what types of relationship and/or what kinds of situation is the term hesed used? 4. What is the best way to translate hesed (more) consistently in various contexts?
One of the conclusions of the research presented is that in many contexts the term hesed involves the meaning of ABUNDANT LOVE or KINDNESS BEYOND EXPECTATION. The term fits in very well with patron - client relationships, in which the patron (king, master) freely extends hesed beyond expectation and where this act of kindness implicitly obliges the client to be loyal to his patron.
The methodology of this research is based on insights from semantic theory (Barr 1961; Sawyer 1972; Nida 1975) and cognitive linguistics (Van Wolde 2009 in particular).
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