Reference: Pity
Hastings
This word is entirely synonymous with compassion both in OT and NT, except, perhaps, in 1Pe 3:8, where 'sympathetic' would better express the meaning of the original word (see Revised Version margin). Pity was regarded by OT writers as holding an essential place in the relations of God and His people (see Ps 78:38; 86:15; 103:13; 111:4; 112:4; 145:8; Isa 63:8; cf. Jas 5:11). One of the ways in which this Divine feeling became active on their behalf reveals an incipient belief in the dealings of Jehovah with nations other than Israel; for He is often represented as infusing compassion for His chosen into the hearts of their enemies (cf. 1Ki 8:50; 2Ch 30:9; Ps 106:46; Ezr 9:9; Ne 1:11; Jer 42:12). An objective manifestation of the feeling of pity in the heart of God was recognized in the preservation of His people from destruction (La 3:22 f.), and in the numerous instances which were regarded as the interventions of mercy on their behalf (cf. Ex 15:13; Nu 14:19; De 13:17; 30:3; 2Ki 13:23; 2Ch 36:15). The direct result of this belief was that Israelites were expected to display a similar disposition towards their brethren (cf. Mic 6:8; Isa 1:17; Jer 21:12; Pr 19:17). They were not required, however, to look beyond the limits of their own race (De 7:16, See De 7:9) except in the case of individual aliens who might at any time be living within their borders (see Ex 22:21; 23:9; De 10:18 f. etc.).
In the parable of the Unmerciful Servant, Jesus inculcates the exercise of pity in men's dealings with each other, and teaches the sacredness of its character by emphasizing its identity with God's compassion for sinners (Mt 18:33; cf. Lu 6:36; Mt 5:7; 9:18). The teaching of Jesus, moreover, broadened its conception in the human mind by insisting that henceforth it could never be confined to the members of the Jewish nation (cf. the parable of the Good Samaritan, Lu 10:25-37). At the same time His own attitude to the thronging multitudes surrounding Him was characterized by profound pity for their weaknesses (Mt 15:32 = Mr 8:2; cf. Mt 9:36; 14:14). Under His guidance, too, Divine pity for the world was transmuted into that Eternal Love which resulted in the Incarnation (Joh 3:16). Side by side with this development, and in exact correspondence with it, Jesus evolves out of human pity for frailty the more fundamental, because it is the more living, quality of love, which He insists will be active even in the face of enmity (Mt 5:43 f., Lu 6:27 ff.).
J. R. Willis.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Thou by thy mercy hast led forth the people that thou hast redeemed; Thou hast guided them by thy strength unto the abode of thy holiness.
Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him; for ye have been strangers in the land of Egypt.
And the stranger thou shalt not oppress; for ye know the spirit of the stranger, for ye have been strangers in the land of Egypt.
Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of thy loving-kindness, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.
And thou shalt know that Jehovah thy God, he is God, the faithful God, who keepeth covenant and mercy to a thousand generations with them that love him and keep his commandments;
And thou shalt consume all the peoples that Jehovah thy God will give up unto thee; thine eye shall not spare them, and thou shalt not serve their gods; for that would be a snare unto thee.
who executeth the judgment of the fatherless and the widow, and loveth the stranger, to give him food and clothing.
And thou shalt not let anything cleave to thy hand of the devoted thing; that Jehovah may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and shew thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers;
that then Jehovah thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will gather thee again from all the peoples whither Jehovah thy God hath scattered thee.
and forgive thy people their sin against thee, and all their transgressions whereby they have transgressed against thee, and give them to find compassion with those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them
For we are bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us before the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God and to repair the ruins thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.
O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants who delight to fear thy name; and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. Now I was the king's cupbearer.
But he was merciful: he forgave the iniquity, and destroyed them not; but many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his fury:
But thou, Lord, art a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in goodness and truth.
As a father pitieth his children, so Jehovah pitieth them that fear him.
And he caused them to find compassion of all those that had carried them captives.
Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness; he is gracious, and merciful, and righteous.
Jehovah is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of great loving-kindness.
He that is gracious to the poor lendeth unto Jehovah; and what he hath bestowed will he repay unto him.
learn to do well: seek judgment, gladden the oppressed, do justice to the fatherless, plead for the widow.
And he said, They are indeed my people, children that will not lie; and he became their Saviour.
House of David, thus saith Jehovah: Judge with justice in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go forth like fire and burn, and there be none to quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
And I will grant mercies to you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.
It is of Jehovah's loving-kindness we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not;
He hath shewn thee, O man, what is good: and what doth Jehovah require of thee, but to do justly, and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with thy God?
Blessed the merciful, for they shall find mercy.
Ye have heard that it has been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy.
As he spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler coming in did homage to him, saying, My daughter has by this died; but come and lay thy hand upon her and she shall live.
But when he saw the crowds he was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed, and cast away as sheep not having a shepherd.
And going out he saw a great crowd, and was moved with compassion about them, and healed their infirm.
But Jesus, having called his disciples to him, said, I have compassion on the crowd, because they have stayed with me already three days and they have not anything they can eat, and I would not send them away fasting lest they should faint on the way.
shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow-bondman, as I also had compassion on thee?
I have compassion on the crowd, because they have stayed with me already three days and they have not anything they can eat,
But to you that hear I say, Love your enemies; do good to those that hate you;
Be ye therefore merciful, even as your Father also is merciful.
And behold, a certain lawyer stood up tempting him, and saying, Teacher, having done what, shall I inherit life eternal? And he said to him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? read more. But he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thine understanding; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said to him, Thou hast answered right: this do and thou shalt live. But he, desirous of justifying himself, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbour? And Jesus replying said, A certain man descended from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers, who also, having stripped him and inflicted wounds, went away leaving him in a half-dead state. And a certain priest happened to go down that way, and seeing him, passed on on the opposite side; and in like manner also a Levite, being at the spot, came and looked at him and passed on on the opposite side. But a certain Samaritan journeying came to him, and seeing him, was moved with compassion, and came up to him and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine; and having put him on his own beast, took him to the inn and took care of him. And on the morrow as he left, taking out two denarii he gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, Take care of him, and whatsoever thou shalt expend more, I will render to thee on my coming back. Which now of these three seems to thee to have been neighbour of him who fell into the hands of the robbers? And he said, He that shewed him mercy. And Jesus said to him, Go, and do thou likewise.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believes on him may not perish, but have life eternal.
Behold, we call them blessed who have endured. Ye have heard of the endurance of Job, and seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is full of tender compassion and pitiful.
Finally, be all of one mind, sympathising, full of brotherly love, tender hearted, humble minded;