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Pity the Fool!
The first time this Hebrew word is used in the bible surprised me. It wasn’t ever in Genesis although the idea was there. Seeing how this Hebrew word is translated other places also surprised me yet became constructive, such as “spare” and “have compassion”. Often it is used negatively, “do not spare” or “do not have compassion”.
This helped me better understand what I should be thinking when using this word. That’s because, too often I think we use it in a disdainful manner, maybe even condescending. NET Notes suggests a colloquial expression, such as “feeling sorry” for someone, really doesn’t grasp the gravity. The scholars behind that note state this verb is “stronger than that”, and I am beginning to see that.
The first time this Hebrew word is used is in an ironic situation, wherein what was perceived by many to be a “womanly weakness” is “strong enough to prompt the woman to defy orders”.
“The ruler had thought sparing women was safe, but the midwives, the Hebrew mother, the daughter of Pharaoh, and Miriam, all work together to spare one child – Moses.” (NET Notes)
Exodus 2:6 is the first time this word, chamal¸ is used and is translated by the NASB as “pity”. When we see the actions of Pharaoh’s daughter, and how it is also translated elsewhere as “spare”, we learn that having pity on someone is stronger than just “feeling sorry” – it carries action, to the degree of sparing someone something within our control to remedy. And when circumstances force us to only experience the emotion of pity, we can still spare them our negative feelings towards them. Pitying someone should lead to something positive. When my sons were experiencing difficulties at school by bullies, it helped when I told them to “pity” those other children. They must be experiencing their own heartaches at home. That helped my sons spare these children their own emotional anger and hatred.
Christians don’t “pity the fool” to use a phrase of aggression that shows my age. When we “pity the fool,” we offer help and understanding. Or, quite to the contrary, when we pity someone, do we not even spare them from our own lack of compassion? We “pity them without really pitying them”. With disdain we think, “Well, it’s their own fault”? Even though sin is our own fault, aren’t you forever thankful that God had pity on us, in that “He did not even spare his own Son but offered him up for us all” (Romans 8:32). Without pity, or mercy, there is no grace.
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