A Year Of Kindness (II): Definitions

 As a writer and life-long reader, I love words.  I am especially fascinated with where they come from and how they came to mean what they mean to us now - in that sense, English is an incredibly rich language that, like the mound at Hisarlik Turkey that contains the layers of the city called Troy, has layers of language that have been laid down over the years (in some cases the languages themselves have died out and only their English versions survive.

So, what should we make of the word "kindness"?

Kindness (kīnd′nĭs):  The state, quality, or habit of being kind; kind act or treatment; (archaic) kind feeling, affection, goodwill.

Kind (noun) (kīnd): Sympathetic, friendly, gentle, tenderhearted, generous; cordial; (archaic) loving, affection.

Kind (synonym):  The possession of sympathetic or generous qualities, either habitually or specifically, or as applied to actions manifesting these.

- Webster's New World Dictionary (Second College Edition),  Simon and Schuster, New York: 1984

The word we know as "kindness" is a good, solid, original English word.  Its current spelling dates from circa A.D. 1300  and meant "courtly or noble deeds"' it was only later (14th Century A.D.) that it came to include more of our current definition (source)

Prior to that it was the Anglo-Saxon word kyndnes, which dates back to at least A.D. 800.  Kyn or Kin meant nature or family:  thus, kyndnes was something that was extended only to group or individuals within one's one sphere of knowledge (to be fair to the Anglo-Saxons and to many peoples of the time, given the situation of the world extending kyndnes to one's foes was likely a risky proposition).

So much then for our English word. How, then did we get from the original languages of the Bible (Hebrew and Greek) to English?  What did the translators see in Scripture that was the equivalent of the English?

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Koine Greek used two different words.  The first is chrestotes (χρηστότης), which means "goodness of heart, kindness" and is translated as such in 2 Corinthians 6:6, Galatians 5:22, Ephesians 2:7, Colossians 2:12, and Titus 3:4.  The second, used less, is philanthropia (φιλανθρωπία) in Acts 28.2 and Titus 3:2 meaning "love of people (philo + anthropos)  - which, not surprising, we get our word "philanthropy" from an almost direct transition.

Hebrew is a bit more difficult, at least using my Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary as the word does not appear there.  However, I have a back-up, based on some teaching I learned long ago:  the Hebrew word hesed.

Hesed (Hebrew חֶסֶד)  is used to describe the kindness of people to other people to other people or the kindness of God to his people. It can be translated as various things, such as "mercy", "loving kindness", "kindness".  But the way I heard it visually described years ago by Chuck Swindoll years ago was the idea of an anointing oil, covering the head and running down into one's beard. It is the image of God's love, covering and drenching us in His mercy, love, and kindness.  In the Old Testament, it is used most often (to my knowledge anyway) to describe how God relates to Israel. 

Paul, as one educated in the Jewish tradition, would have clearly understood the word hesed when he wrote the epistles.  He would have in his mind that overflowing, loving kindness of God that overflowed to him on the road to Damascus.  I propose that this is what bore in mind when he wrote the epistles: that the same loving kindness (overflowing and drenching) God practiced to His people would by practiced by His people towards others.

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It strikes me as I look at how the definition of the English word changed over time, from practicing kyndnes from those within our "group" to those without our group, how much that reflects the journey that Christians find themselves on.

We all start out very focused on ourselves:  our needs, our wants, our desires, what makes things best for us.  Over time we perhaps work to include others outside of our immediate circle.

Then Christ comes and calls us out of ourselves. to practicing a goodness of heart towards others and a love that drenches others with its goodness and kindness - to show others, in some way, a reflection of His nature and the nature of His Father.

If anything, I find any practice of kindness I may have too shallow and pale for that depth of definition.