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pit´i (חמל, hÌ£aÌ„mal, חוּס, hÌ£uÌ„sÌ£; ἐλεεÌω, eleeÌoÌ„): “Pity,†probably contracted from “piety,†is tender feeling for others in misery or distress. It is allied to compassion (which see), but differs in respect of the object that causes the distress (or feeling). The feeling of pity is excited chiefly by the weakness, miserable or degraded condition of the object; compassion by his uncontrollable and inevitable misfortunes: “We pity a man of weak understanding who exposes his weakness; we compassionate the man who is reduced to a state of beggary and want†(Crabb, English Synonyms). Pity often becomes allied to contempt; “a pity†is something to be regretted. See PITIFUL. In the Old Testament “pity†is closely akin to “mercy.†It is most frequently the translation of hÌ£aÌ„mal, “to pity,†“to spare,†e.g. in Nathan's parable of the poor man's one lamb, it is said that the rich man was worthy to die because he had “no pity†().
In we have, “I will not pity nor spare, nor have mercy,†the Revised Version (British and American) “compassionâ€; compare ; ; ; , in all of which passages “pity†stands in a negative connection; we have it positively attributed to God in , “I had pity for mine holy name,†the Revised Version (British and American) “regardâ€; ; hÌ£uÌ„sÌ£, probably meaning, primarily, “to cover,†“protect,†hence, to pity, to spare, is translated “pity†(; ; , etc., all negative; , positive: “Thou hast had pity on the gourd (the Revised Version (British and American) “regard forâ€) and should not I spare (the Revised Version (British and American) “have regard for,†hÌ£uÌ„sÌ£) Nineveh,†etc.); hÌ£aÌ„nan, “to incline, toward,†“be gracious,†“pity,†is thrice rendered “pity†(, “Have pity upon me, have pity upon meâ€; ; , “he that hath pity upon the poorâ€); raÌ„hÌ£am, “to feel warm,†“to love,†twice (, “like as a father pitieth his childrenâ€; , “no pityâ€); once in plural rahÌ£ămı̄m (); other words once so translated are hÌ£emlaÌ„h, “pity†(); hÌ£esÌ£edh, “loving-kindness†(, the Revised Version (British and American) “kindnessâ€); mahÌ£maÌ„l, “object of pity†(); nuÌ„dh,†to move,†“bemoan†(). In the New Testament “pity†occurs once only as the translation of eleeoÌ„, “to be kind,†“tender†(, the Revised Version (British and American) “mercyâ€). In 2 Macc 3:21 we have (the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American)) “pitied†in the obsolete sense of exciting pity, “Then it would have pitied (eleeıÌn) a man to see the multitude,†etc.
The Revised Version (British and American) has “pity†for “mercy†(); “have pity on†for “spare†(); for “favour†(; , ), “Have pity upon her dust.†See MERCY; COMPASSION.