In the pages that follow we will listen to the word hesed in its immediate context in a number of passages and try to understand just what the meaning was for the author at that particular point in time. This will give us the best preliminary introduction to the world of hesed. Let’s begin with a broad overview of our word. It’s composed of three Hebrew consonants, khet (ח), samek (ס), and dalet (ד), read from right to left. Its first syllable is pronounced with a hard guttural h.