God’s Grace
Herman Hoeksema provides a theological and linguistic analysis of the concept of grace in Scripture, examining both Hebrew (ḥên) and Greek (kháris) terminology and their etymological roots. Through careful exegesis of passages from Proverbs, Psalms, and the Gospels, Hoeksema demonstrates that grace fundamentally denotes pleasantness and attractiveness rooted in ethical goodness and divine favor, establishing the foundation for understanding God's gracious character as revealed in His Word.
Herman Hoeksema As the Holy One, God is gracious. The term grace as it occurs in Holy Writ has many different connotations. Its basic notion, from which all the other meanings may readily be derived, is that of gracefulness, pleasantness or attractiveness. The Hebrew word חֵ֥ן (ḥên—grace) is derived from the verb חָנַן (ḥênan), which means “to incline” and, in piel [a Hebrew “tense”], signifies “to make fair, pleasant, gracious.” The noun occurs in Proverbs 22:11: “He that loveth pureness of...