Chen #88

Chen describes graciousness — the favor one person extends to another, often when there is no obligation to do so. It is used of physical beauty and persuasive charm as well as relational kindness, but its most theologically weighted use is the recurring phrase “find chen in the eyes of,” describing someone who is shown favor they did not necessarily earn. Chen is widely regarded as the Hebrew Old Testament counterpart to the New Testament’s Greek charis, usually translated “grace.”

Biblical Usage

Genesis introduces the phrase at a pivotal moment: in a world God is about to judge, “Noah found grace [chen] in the eyes of the LORD” (Genesis 6:8), securing his survival not because the text credits him with having earned it but simply by stating the fact of God’s favor toward him. Moses uses the same language repeatedly when interceding for Israel after the golden calf, telling God, “I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight,” and asking, “if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way” (Exodus 33:12-13, 17). Proverbs applies the word more generally: “he giveth grace unto the lowly” (Proverbs 3:34). Zechariah looks ahead to God pouring out “the spirit of grace” on Jerusalem (Zechariah 12:10).

Theological Significance

Because chen describes favor rather than merit, it plays a role in the Old Testament parallel to what charis later plays in the New: it is the basis on which God chooses to relate to sinful people, extending kindness that the text consistently frames as given, not owed. The word’s presence throughout the Hebrew Bible shows that the concept translators later called “grace” was not a New Testament innovation but rooted deep in Israel’s own account of how God treats those he favors.