Compassion or pity

These words have become entirely sj'nonymous, and, with two ex. ceptions, they are so employed in A V. But in 1 P 3' and He ICP, compassion retains its original mean- ing of si/n\pa1h>j, being used to tr. respectively (Ti'/iTaCiis (see R\ m) and a-vfiTradelv. With these exceptions the words are used in- differently both in AV and RVof the OT to translate the Heb. verbs V"n and cr-i (and adj. and subst. from latter). The second of them is frequently rendered 'have mercy.' The plural D'CDt (Gr.

ffirXdTx^a) is also tr. ' bowels.' ' Pity ' tr. also D'n, po (usually = ' to be gracious'), ifn (once Job 6"), and 153 (once Ps 69^ marg. ' lament '). The equivalents in the LXX are olKTclpeiv, with the cognates oUTLpfxitSf olKrlpfiwv, ^Xceti', and ^efSftr^at, used indifferently. In Ezk 24'-' ' that which your soul pitieth ' (marg. ' pity of your soul ') is equiva- lent to 'object of affection' (cf. v.*"). There is a play upon words in the Hebrew. In NT <o be moved icith c. tr.

aTrXayxytl^fcSai, while iXfeip is twice represented by have c. (Mt 18"^, Ro 910 quoted from Ex 33" LS:X:). In the former of these passages, on its repetition, iXeeiv is rendered hnvepity. W ith this exception j3i<y only appears in NT in 1 P 3*, where pitiful tr. f (SffirXayx""". an<l in Ja 5", where ' the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy ' represents the common Heb. formula Dirn i!:n)(Ex34«etc.) C. is in the Bible a Di\ine as well as a human quality.

But its attribution to God has raised certain questions among theologians. The relation between pity and ^raa {iKtot and x*m) 'B one of these. In the Divine mind, it is said, and in the order of our salvation pity precedes grace, but in the order of the mani- festation of Goa's purposes of salvation the grace must go before the pity (Trench, N.T. Synonymi, p. 205). Another point was raised by the ilanichseans.

who objected that to call God compassionate was to make Him capable of suffering The Latin miar ricnrs lent itself to such a perversion of truth. and Augustine brushes it aside as a mere pretence of logomacbT {De Civ. Dei, ix. b; De Div. Qucest. ii. 2 ; Lib. de mar. EccL Cath. 27). See the question also discussed in Aquinas (.^umrntf QucESt. xxi. art. iii.) It is not God, but only Nature, that is pitiless ; only the stars that ' would as soon look down on a Gethsemane as an Eden.'

We may be thankful that the OT exulted in speaking of the compassion of God for human misery and human sin, and that the NT tells how the Divine pity went forth in the fulness of time, incarnate in the Son, to seek and to save that which was lost. With their sense of the pity that was in the heart of God, the prophets could not do other than impress on the Heorews the duty of pity for each other. Religion without kindness was unmeanin" (Hos 6').

It became a proverb that he who pitied the poor lent to the Lord (Pr 19"). 'To him that is afflicted,' said Job, ' pity should be showed from his friend' (6"). The fatherless and widow were to be to man, as they were to God, special objects of compassion (Ps 146°, cf. Ja 1^), But in regard to foreigners Heb. morality was that common to all the ancients. There is no trace in OT of compassion towards a beaten foe.

The solitary stranger who might be ' in their gates' was respected, but for aliens generally pity did not exist. 'Thine eye shall have no pity on them' (Dt 7") was the law of Israel in regard to enemies. It needed the revelation of NT, the parable of the good Samaritan, and the example of Christ's ' com- passion for the multitude' to create the modem idea of general benevolence.

The OT religiom and ethical standard on the subject is presented in the verse ' Execute true judgment, ana show mercy and compassion every man to his brother' (Zee 7'). A. S. Aglen.