THE LORD GRANT
MERCY TO THE HOUSE OF ONESIPHORUS: doe (3SAAO) eleos o kurios to Onesiphorou oiko:
May the Lord show special kindness to Onesiphorus and all his family
(NLT)
I hope the Lord will be kind to all the family of Onesiphorus (NJB)
I pray that the Lord will show mercy to the family of Onesiphorus (ICB)
The house of Onesiphorus - Not the literal physical house of
course but the household.
Paul first prays for the family of Onesiphorus.
Grant
(1325)
(didomi) means a granting based on a decision of the will of
the Giver and not on any merit of the recipient, especially in regard to
what is being granted here - mercy. This verse is a wonderful
illustration of the truth
Blessed are the merciful for they
shall receive mercy (see note
Matthew 5:7).
The optative mood in the NT
usually indicates a prayer in this case a request for mercy
(see discussion on "mercy"
below). Note well that here we see Paul in dire straits himself
and yet still interceding for the needs of
others (cf
Acts 20:35)
Mercy (1656)
(eleos) is the outward manifestation of pity and assumes need
on the part of those who are recipients of the mercy and sufficient resources to meet the need on the part of
those who show it.
The idea of mercy is to show kindness or
concern for someone in serious need or to give help to the wretched, to
relieve the miserable. Here the essential thought is that mercy gives
attention to those in misery.
Larry Richards notes that...
Originally (eleos) expressed only the
emotion that was aroused by contact with a person who was suffering. By
NT times, however, the concept incorporated compassionate response. A
person who felt for and with a sufferer would be moved to help. This
concept of mercy--as a concern for the afflicted that prompts giving
help--is prominent in both the Gospels and the Epistles. (Richards,
L O: Expository Dictionary of Bible Words: Regency)
Vincent commenting on Luke
1:50 (see verses at end of this verse note) writes that eleos...
emphasizes the misery with which
grace deals; hence, peculiarly the sense of human wretchedness coupled
with the impulse to relieve it, which issues in gracious ministry.
Bengel remarks, “Grace takes away the fault, mercy the misery.”
---
Mercy for past sins; grace
for future work, trial, and resistance to temptation. (Ed: see
more below on distinction between mercy and grace)
---
The pre-Christian definitions of the
word eleos include the element of grief experienced on account of
the unworthy suffering of another. So Aristotle. The Latin misericordia
(miser “wretched,” cor “the heart”) carries the same idea.
So Cicero defines it, the sorrow arising from the wretchedness of
another suffering wrongfully. Strictly speaking, the word as applied to
God, cannot include either of these elements, since grief cannot be
ascribed to Him, and suffering is the legitimate result of sin. The
sentiment in God assumes the character of pitying love. Mercy is
kindness and good-will toward the miserable and afflicted, joined with a
desire to relieve them. (Vincent, M. R. Word Studies in the New
Testament) (Bolding added)
In Classical Greek...
eleos was used as a technical
term for the end of the speech for the defence, in which the accused
tried to awaken the compassion of the judges. (Brown,
Colin, Editor. New International Dictionary of NT Theology. 1986.
Zondervan)
Trench adds that...
Aristotle defined eleos this
way: "Let mercy [eleos] be a certain grief for an apparently destructive
and painful evil toward one who experienced what was undeserved in
respect to what he himself or one of his family might expect to suffer."
(Trench's Synonyms of the New Testament)
Wuest writes that eleos
is...
God’s “kindness and goodwill toward
the miserable and afflicted, joined with a desire to relieve them”
(Vincent). Grace meets man’s need in respect to his guilt and lost
condition; mercy, with reference to his suffering as a result of that
sin.
(Wuest,
K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans
or
Logos)
Broadus writes that mercy
includes also the idea of compassion,
and implies a desire to remove the evils which excite compassion. It
thus denotes not only mercy to the guilty, but pity for the suffering,
and help to the needy. (Broadus, J. Sermon on the Mount).
A debtor to mercy alone,
Of covenant mercy I sing;
Nor fear, with thy righteousness on,
My person and offering to bring;
The terrors of law and of God
With me can have nothing to do;
My Saviour's obedience and blood
Hide all my transgressions from view.
Augustus M. Toplady
(Click
to play his hymn)
Vincent comments on another
Greek word for mercy
oiktirmos (Ed: “pity,
compassion for the ills of others”), from oiktos, pity or mercy, the
feeling which expresses itself in the exclamation "Oh!" on seeing
another's misery. The distinction between this and eleos,
according to which oiktirmos signifies the feeling, and eleos
the manifestation, cannot be strictly held, since the manifestation is
often expressed by oiktirmos. See Sept., Psalm 24:6; 102:4;
118:77. (Adapted Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament) (Bolding
added)
Eleos is found 27 times in the
NAS (click
to see all 27 verse below)
and is translated as compassion, 2; mercy, 25.
Eleos is used over 170 times in the OT (Septuagint)
with 91 of those uses being in the psalms most often for the Hebrew word for "lovingkindness" (02617)
(hesed) a very prominent word in the OT (used some 248 times)
which is defined as not merely an attitude or an emotion but an emotion
that leads to an activity beneficial to the recipient. Hesed differs
somewhat from the NT meaning of eleos in that hesed is a
beneficent action performed, in the context of a deep and enduring
commitment between two persons or parties (it is closely associated with
the concept of
Covenant
- see Greek word
diatheke),
by one who is able to render assistance to the needy party who in the
circumstances is unable to help him or herself.
One needs to distinguish between
grace and mercy. Grace or
Charis is God’s free gift for
the forgiveness to guilty sinners whereas His mercy is the gift He gives
to alleviate the consequences of our sins.
Charis or grace emphasizes the
free, unmerited aspect of salvation whereas mercy is in a sense the
application of grace. Grace is shown to the undeserving, while
mercy is compassion to the miserable. Grace is God’s solution
to man’s sin. Mercy is God’s solution to man’s misery. Thus
grace is especially associated with men in their sins, while mercy
is usually associated with men in their misery. Grace covers the
sin, while mercy removes the pain. Grace forgives, while
mercy restores. Grace gives us what we don’t deserve while
mercy withholds what we do deserve.
Grace is getting what we do not deserve.
Justice is getting what we do deserve.
Mercy is not getting what we do deserve.
In the distinction between grace and
mercy, Trench adds that...
While
charis (grace) has reference to
the sins of men, and is that glorious attribute of God which these sins
call out and display, His free gift in their forgiveness, eleos
(mercy) has special and immediate regard to the misery which is the
consequence of these sins, being the tender sense of this misery
displaying itself in the effort, which only the continued perverseness
of man can hinder or defeat, to assuage and entirely remove it.… In the
divine Mind, and in the order of our salvation, as conceived therein,
the mercy precedes the grace: God so loved the world with a pitying love
(herein was the mercy), that He gave His only begotten Son (herein is
the grace), that the world through Him might be saved. But in the order
of the manifestation of God’s purposes in salvation, the grace must go
before, and make way for the mercy. (Trench,
R. C. Synonyms of the New Testament. Hendrickson Publishers. 2000)
Eleos is often used in the
Septuagint (LXX)
for the Hebrew word hesed which refers to God's covenant faithful love.
Mercy includes at least three
elements - recognizing the need, motivation to meet the need and taking
action to meet the specific need...
1. ”I see the need”
2. “I am moved by the need”
3. “I move to meet the need”
Mercy says "I have the feeling
of sorrow over another person's "sad" situation and I make the
volitional choice to seek to do something about their need." This is
mercy in action, preeminently portrayed by our Mercy Filled
(Merciful) God Who sees the sad state of lost sinners, feels compassion
for them (Eph 2:1-3) and acts to grant them His mercy.
Mercy is more than a feeling, but not less than that. Mercy
begins with simple recognition that someone is hurting around you. But
mere seeing or feeling isn’t mercy. Mercy moves from feeling to
action. It is active compassion for those in need or distress.
Nowhere do we imitate God more than
in showing mercy. - Albert Barnes
The more godly any man is, the more
merciful that man will be. -Thomas Brooks
Mercy prefers to deal with the needy
in terms of what is needed rather than what is deserved. - D. Edmond
Hiebert
If God should have no more mercy on
us than we have charity one to another, what would become of us? -
Thomas Fuller
Show your piety by your pity. -
Thomas Watson
Mercy imitates God and disappoints
Satan. - Chrysostom
Our presence in a place of need is
more powerful than a thousand sermons. - Charles Colson
If the end of one mercy were not the
beginning of another, we were undone. - Philip Henry
There is nothing little in God; His
mercy is like Himself—it is infinite. - Spurgeon
He who demands mercy and shows none
burns the bridges over which he himself must later pass.
God's throne is mercy—not marble.
Remembrance of past mercies is a
great stimulus to present faith. - Jerry Bridges
All our past mercies are tokens of
future mercies. - C. H. Spurgeon
There’s a wideness in God’s mercy,
Like the wideness of the sea
- Frederick W. Faber
(Play
hymn)
Mercy is God's Benjamin; the last
born and best beloved of his attributes. - C. H. Spurgeon
If God should have no more mercy on
us than we have charity one to another, what would become of us? -
Thomas Fuller
If God dealt with people today as he
did in the days of Ananias and Sapphira, every church would need a
morgue in the basement. - Vance Havner
Have mercy on us, God most high,
Who lift our hearts to Thee;
Have mercy on us worms of earth,
Most holy Trinity.
- Frederick W. Faber
(Play
Hymn)
God has two sheepdogs: Goodness and
Mercy (Ed: cp Psalm 23:6). He sends them to us from his throne of grace;
sometimes to bark at us, to badger us; sometimes to woo us by persuading
us that his will is good and perfect for our lives. - Sinclair Ferguson
Spurgeon comments on this
phrase goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life
(Psalm 23:6) - This is a fact as indisputable as it is encouraging, and
therefore a heavenly verily, or "surely" is set as a seal upon it. This
sentence may be read, "only goodness and mercy," for there shall be
unmingled mercy in our history. These twin guardian angels will always
be with me at my back and my beck. Just as when great princes go abroad
they must not go unattended, so it is with the believer. Goodness and
mercy follow him always -- all the days of his life -- the black days as
well as the bright days, the days of fasting as well as the days of
feasting, the dreary days of winter as well as the bright days of
summer. Goodness supplies our needs, and mercy blots out our sins.
What a world this would be if God sat
on a throne of justice only, and if no mercy were ever to be shown to
men! - Albert Barnes
We are saved by God's mercy, not by
our merit—by Christ's dying, not by our doing.
God's wrath comes by measure; His
mercy without measure.
Depth of mercy! Can there be
Mercy still reserved for me?
Can my God His wrath forbear,
Me, the chief of sinners, spare?
- Charles Wesley
(Play
"Depth of Mercy")
An actress in a town in England,
while passing along the street, heard singing in a house. Out of
curiosity she looked in through the open door and saw a number of people
sitting together singing this hymn (Depth
of Mercy). She listened to
the song, and afterwards to a simple but earnest prayer. When she went
away the hymn had so impressed her that she procured a copy of a book
containing it. Reading and re-reading the hymn led her to give her heart
to God and to resolve to leave the stage. The manager of the theater
pleaded with her to continue to take the leading part in a play which
she had made famous in other cities, and finally he persuaded her to
appear at the theater. As the curtain rose the orchestra began to play
the accompaniment to the song which she was expected to sing. She stood
like one lost in thought, and the band, supposing her embarrassed,
played the prelude over a second and a third time. Then with clasped
hands she stepped forward and sang with deep emotion:
“Depth of mercy, can there be
Mercy still reserved for me?”
This put a sudden stop to the
performance; not a few were impressed, though many scoffed. The change
in her life was as permanent as it was singular. Soon after she became
the wife of a minister of the Gospel (Ed: What a great tale of
His great mercy.) (Sankey, Ira David. My Life and the Story of the
Gospel Hymns. Harper & Brothers, 1906)
(Download
from Google Books)
God of mercy, God of grace,
Show the brightness of Thy face;
Shine upon us, Savior, shine,
Fill Thy Church with light divine,
And Thy saving health extend,
Unto earth’s remotest end.
- Henry F Lyte
(Play
hymn)
The Blue Letter Bible has this helpful
note...
Mercy is when that which is deserved is
withheld to the benefit of the object of the mercy. God has demonstrated
this attribute in abundance with respect to mankind. We from nearly the
beginning of our existence have deserved nothing but wrath; having
sinned and fallen short of eternal life in glory, we can do nothing to
commend ourselves to or defend ourselves before God. But thankfully, God
has been so amazing in His mercy. Over and against merely having the
mercy to allow us to live out our miserable lives without destroying us
instantly, God has chosen us to greatness and glory by the hand of His
Son. The believer finds himself in Christ and enjoys full well the
fruits of God's mercy. (Blue Letter Bible)
Tasker explains,
The merciful are those who are
conscious that they are themselves the unworthy recipients of God’s
mercy, and that but for the grace of God they would be not only sinners,
but condemned sinners."
The mercy of God is an ocean divine,
A boundless and fathomless flood.
Launch out in the deep, cut away the shore line,
And be lost in the fullness of God.
- Albert B. Simpson,
(Play
Hymn)
William Barclay noted the
Hebrew word (hesed) for "merciful" has the idea of
"the ability to get right inside the
other person's skin until we can see things with his eyes, think things
with his mind, and feel things with his feelings." (He adds in
another article)
Eleos is a word which acquired
a new meaning in Christian thought. The Greeks defined it as pity for
the man who is suffering unjustly; but Christianity means far more than
that by eleos.
(a) In Christian thought eleos means
mercy for the man who is in trouble, even if the trouble is his own
fault. Christian pity is the reflection of God’s pity; and that went out
to men, not only when they were suffering unjustly, but when they were
suffering through their own fault. We are so apt to say of someone in
trouble, “It is his own fault; he brought it on himself,” and,
therefore, to feel no responsibility for him. Christian mercy is mercy
for any man who is in trouble, even if he has brought that trouble on
himself.
(b) In Christian thought eleos
means mercy which issues in good fruits, that is, which issues in
practical help. Christian pity is not merely an emotion; it is action.
We can never say that we have truly pitied anyone until we have helped
him. (Barclay,
W: The Daily Study Bible Series. The Westminster Press
or
Logos)
Leon Morris observes
These are people who show by their
habitual merciful deeds that they have responded to God's love and are
living by His grace. They will receive mercy on the last day.
Nothing proves that we have been
forgiven (received God's mercy) better
