The Hebrew hesed — God's covenant-faithful, loyal-loving steadfast love. The word appears 245 times in the OT and is variously translated lovingkindness, steadfast love, mercy, or unfailing love. It is the defining attribute of God's covenant relationship with His people: The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy [hesed] for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin (Ex 34:6-7). Psalm 136 returns to it twenty-six times: his mercy endureth for ever. Hesed is not romantic affection; it is the loyal love that keeps covenant promises even when the covenant partner has failed. The NT corresponding word is agape — the self-giving love of God in Christ. Both names point at the same divine reality: a love that does not change with the beloved's changes, that does not lessen with the beloved's failures, that finally overcomes every obstacle to fellowship.