Dear Compassionate Congregation:

While working on another project about compassion, I was looking to see how many times in the Bible Jesus was “moved with compassion” to heal, feed, weep, etc. The answer is twelve. Although not every instance specifically uses the verb “moved”, in every case Jesus does something having felt compassion. The breakdown is as follows: five times in the Gospel of Matthew, four times in the Gospel of Mark and three in the Gospel of Luke. Interestingly, there are no references to Jesus’ compassion in the Gospel of John. But, wanting to see how these occasions parallel, I needed to consider the underlying Greek word in each instance.

What accounts for today’s musing is this fascinating word translated as compassion. The word is σπλάγχνα, which refers in a literal sense to the inner organs of the belly. Pronounced splangkh'-na, it occurs to me that the word may be an onomatopoeia for the noise your stomach makes when you’re hungry.