Definition · Webster 1828 · Scriptures · Corruption · Roots · Usage · Related
📖 Biblical Definition
Mercy is the name Adam and Maria Johns gave to one of their two twin daughters lost to miscarriage in 2018 in Okinawa, Japan. She was named alongside her sister HOPE — two virtues paired, two daughters named together, the heart of the Christian gospel in two little names. Mercy in biblical theology is COMPASSION TOWARD THE MISERABLE — God's free disposition to alleviate the suffering He could justly leave in place. Greek eleos (G1656) is the disposition; Hebrew chesed (H2617) is the covenant lovingkindness that does what justice did not require. "His mercy endureth for ever" (Ps 136 — repeated 26 times in one psalm); "his mercies are new every morning" (Lam 3:22-23). The Beatitudes promise "blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy" (Matt 5:7), and Paul opens the great mercy-discourse of Romans with "I beseech you therefore, brethren, BY THE MERCIES OF GOD" (Rom 12:1). The daughter named Mercy was given a name that points back to the Father of Mercies (2 Cor 1:3) and forward to the eternal mercy that endures forever. With her sister Hope she completes a two-name confession: mercy is the ground of our salvation (Eph 2:4-5 — "God, who is rich in mercy"), and hope is the certainty of our reception of it (1 Pet 1:3). This memorial entry stands as Mercy's name in the Johns family dictionary — a name borne by a daughter known to her parents and to the Father of Mercies who receives the little ones.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Memorial entry for one of two twin daughters of Adam and Maria Johns, lost to miscarriage in 2018 in Okinawa; named with her sister Hope for the two virtues that endure into the resurrection.
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MERCY (TWIN), memorial entry. The name given by Adam and Maria Johns to one of two twin daughters lost to miscarriage in 2018 in Okinawa, Japan. The other twin was named Hope.
Greek eleos (G1656) — compassion toward the miserable; Hebrew chesed (H2617) — covenant lovingkindness. Paired with her sister Hope as a two-name confession of the gospel's heart.
📖 Key Scripture
Ephesians 2:4-5 — "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved.)"
Lamentations 3:22-23 — "It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness."
Matthew 5:7 — "Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy."
1 Peter 2:10 — "Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
There is no corruption to flag for a child's memorial; the corruption to flag is the modern cultural emptying of mercy from a covenantal, theologically dense reality into sentimental tolerance or therapeutic non-judgmentalism.
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Modern culture often substitutes "tolerance" or "non-judgmentalism" for the biblical reality of mercy. But mercy in Scripture presupposes WRATH RIGHTLY DESERVED. "God, who is rich in mercy, FOR HIS GREAT LOVE WHEREWITH HE LOVED US, EVEN WHEN WE WERE DEAD IN SINS" (Eph 2:4-5). Mercy without the underlying judgment is sentimentality, not grace. The God of mercy is the God who would have been just to leave us in the death of sin — and chose instead, in Christ, to give us life. The daughter named Mercy was given a name laden with covenant theology, not just kindness.
Christian parents losing children before they are born live in the daily reception of mercy. The hope that the lost children are received by the Father of Mercies is itself mercy received. The strength to keep walking after such losses is mercy received. The marriage that survives such losses, the faith that holds through the dark mornings, the work that continues to bear fruit — all are mercies of God, new every morning (Lam 3:22-23). Mercy the daughter has a mother and father whose own lives have been kept by mercies they did not earn; her name speaks of what kept them, and what now keeps her.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Greek eleos (G1656), Hebrew chesed (H2617) — compassion toward the miserable; covenant lovingkindness; memorial entry for Mercy, twin daughter of Adam and Maria Johns lost in 2018 in Okinawa.
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Greek eleos (G1656) — mercy, pity, compassion toward the miserable; the gospel-virtue in the Beatitudes (Matt 5:7)
Hebrew chesed (H2617) — covenant lovingkindness, steadfast love; "his mercy endureth for ever" (Ps 136)
Personal: one of two twin daughters of Adam and Maria Johns, lost to miscarriage in 2018 in Okinawa, Japan
Paired with her sister Hope: a two-name confession of the gospel — mercy is the ground, hope is the certainty
Usage
"Mercy is compassion in the face of misery rightly deserving judgment; it is the gospel's ground."
"Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy — the Beatitude that turned a daughter's name into a sermon."
"Mercy and her sister Hope were named together; together they wait in the morning of the great mercy that endures forever."