# H2580 - chen **Strong's:** [H2580](https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h2580/) · BLB lookup **Pronunciation:** khen **Part of speech:** masculine noun (from the verbal root H2603 *ḥanan*, "to show favor / be gracious") **Frequency:** ~69 occurrences in the Hebrew Bible, distributed across the Pentateuch, the historical books (esp. Ruth, 1-2 Samuel, Esther), and the prophets (esp. Zechariah). **LXX equivalent:** χάρις (*charis*), direct correspondent. See [G5485 - charis](/codex/g5485-charis/). **Cognate forms:** *ḥanan* (verb, "to show favor"), *ḥannun* (adjective, "gracious", applied 13× to YHWH), *ḥannah* (proper name "Hannah," "favored one"), *Yochanan* / *John* (יוֹחָנָן, "YHWH has shown favor"). ## Semantic range (Brown-Driver-Briggs) 1. **Favor / favorable disposition**, the standing toward another that grounds gracious action; the relational orientation that *precedes* the gift. 2. **Grace / gracious gift**, the gift itself, given without strict desert; the bestowal-toward-the-undeserving. 3. **Charm / loveliness / beauty**, the quality that *evokes* favor in the beholder ([Prov 11:16](/codex/proverbs-11-16/); 17:8, "a bribe is a *chen*-stone in the eyes of him who possesses it"; 22:11; 31:30, "*chen* is deceitful and beauty is vain"). 4. **Idiomatic, "to find *chen* in the eyes of"**, the dominant idiom; ~40 occurrences. To find favor before someone (whether God or human), typically as the relational-personal precondition for the favor to be granted. ## Theological force, the OT grace-vocabulary *Chen* is the foundational OT vocabulary for grace, predating and conceptually undergirding the New Testament's *charis* (χάρις). The OT does not lack a doctrine of grace, it has the doctrine in *chen* / *ḥesed* / *raḥamim*. The Christian theological project is the *unfolding* of OT grace, not the *introduction* of it. **The trio that defines OT grace-vocabulary:** 1. **H2580 *chen***, *favor* (gracious disposition + gift), the *act* of grace 2. **[H2617 - hesed](/codex/h2617-hesed/)**, *covenant loyalty / steadfast love*, the *enduring* grace within covenant 3. **H7356 *raḥamim*** (compassion / tender mercies), the *emotional* dimension of grace **The Noahic locus classicus.** **[Genesis 6:8](/codex/genesis-6-8/)**, "*Noach matza chen b'einei YHWH*", "but Noah found *chen* in the eyes of the LORD." This is the *first* explicit *chen* in the Hebrew Bible, and it is *grace-against-judgment*: the world is being judged for wickedness; Noah finds favor; the rest of the narrative depends on this gracious distinction. The Noahic *chen* establishes a pattern that runs throughout the OT and into the NT: in the midst of humanity's general guilt, particular individuals "find favor" with God by gracious election. Mary's annunciation ([Luke 1:30](/codex/luke-1-30/), "*charin* in the sight of God") deliberately echoes the *chen*-pattern. **The Mosaic intercession scenes.** Moses repeatedly intercedes for Israel with the *chen*-formula: - [Exodus 33:12-17](/codex/exodus-33-12-17/), "now if I have found *chen* in your sight, let me know your ways", Moses pressing into God's presence on the basis of having *found favor* - [Exodus 33:13](/codex/exodus-33-13/), [16](/codex/exodus-33-16/), [17](/codex/exodus-33-17/), the formula repeated - [Exodus 34:9](/codex/exodus-34-9/), "if now I have found *chen* in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in our midst" The *chen*-formula is the *prayer-language* of intercession; it appeals to the relational orientation of God's prior grace as the basis for further gracious action. **The Aaronic blessing.** **[Numbers 6:25](/codex/numbers-6-25/)**, "*yaer YHWH panav elecha vichunneka*", "the LORD make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you (*ḥanan*)." The benediction's central petition is for *chen / ḥanan*. The face-shining is the visual metaphor for gracious favor. **The God-revealed-character formulas.** [Exodus 34:6-7](/codex/exodus-34-6-7/) (the LORD's self-revelation to Moses): "the LORD, the LORD God, *raḥum* and *ḥannun*", *compassionate and gracious*. *Ḥannun* (gracious) is the adjectival form of *chen*-action, and it is one of YHWH's primary self-disclosed attributes throughout the OT ([Pss 86:15](/codex/psalms-86-15/); 103:8; 111:4; 112:4; 116:5; 145:8; [Joel 2:13](/codex/joel-2-13/); [Jonah 4:2](/codex/jonah-4-2/), the formula repeats with such density that it functions as a covenantal-creedal statement). ## Notable verses ### The Noahic anchor - **[Genesis 6.8](/codex/genesis-6-8/)**, "Noah found favor (*chen*) in the eyes of the LORD" ### Patriarchal use - **[Genesis 18:3](/codex/genesis-18-3/)**, Abraham to the three visitors: "if I have found favor in your sight" - **[Genesis 19:19](/codex/genesis-19-19/)**, Lot to the angels at Sodom: "your servant has found favor in your sight" - **[Genesis 32:5](/codex/genesis-32-5/)**, Jacob to Esau's messengers: "that I may find favor in your sight" - **[Genesis 33:8](/codex/genesis-33-8/), [10](/codex/genesis-33-10/), [15](/codex/genesis-33-15/)**, Jacob's reconciliation language with Esau - **[Genesis 39:4](/codex/genesis-39-4/), [21](/codex/genesis-39-21/)**, Joseph in Potiphar's house and in prison: finding favor; the LORD shows *chen* - **[Genesis 47:29](/codex/genesis-47-29/); 50:4**, Joseph and Jacob ### Mosaic / Exodus - **[Exodus 3:21](/codex/exodus-3-21/)**, "I will give this people *chen* in the sight of the Egyptians" - **[Exodus 11:3](/codex/exodus-11-3/); 12:36**, Israel finding *chen* with the Egyptians; the plundering motif - **[Exodus 33:12-17](/codex/exodus-33-12-17/); 34:9**, Moses's intercession formula (above) - **[Numbers 6:25](/codex/numbers-6-25/)**, the Aaronic blessing - **[Numbers 11:11](/codex/numbers-11-11/), [15](/codex/numbers-11-15/)**, Moses pleading; "if I have found favor in your sight, please kill me at once" - **[Deuteronomy 24:1](/codex/deuteronomy-24-1/)**, finding *chen* in the marriage / divorce context ### Ruth, *chen* as the structural verb of the Boaz-Ruth narrative - **[Ruth 2:2](/codex/ruth-2-2/)**, "let me go to the field and glean ears of grain after one in whose sight I may find *chen*" - **[Ruth 2:10](/codex/ruth-2-10/), [13](/codex/ruth-2-13/)**, "why have I found *chen* in your sight?" ### David / Samuel - **[1 Samuel 16:22](/codex/1-samuel-16-22/)**, Saul to David: "let David now stand before me, for he has found *chen* in my sight" - **[2 Samuel 14:22](/codex/2-samuel-14-22/); 15:25; 16:4**, David in the Absalom narrative - **[Esther 2:9](/codex/esther-2-9/), [15](/codex/esther-2-15/), [17](/codex/esther-2-17/); 5:2, 8; 7:3; 8:5**, Esther repeatedly finding *chen* (the central narrative-thread of her story) ### Wisdom literature, *chen* with broader senses - **[Proverbs 1:9](/codex/proverbs-1-9/); 3:22; 4:9**, wisdom adorns the seeker with *chen* - **[Proverbs 11:16](/codex/proverbs-11-16/); 22:11; 31:30**, *chen* and beauty - **[Ecclesiastes 9:11](/codex/ecclesiastes-9-11/)**, "neither is bread to the wise, nor riches to men of intelligence, nor *chen* to men of ability" ### Prophetic, eschatological grace - **[Zechariah 4:7](/codex/zechariah-4-7/)**, "shouts of *chen, chen* to it!", over the temple-finishing capstone - **[Zechariah 12:10](/codex/zechariah-12-10/)**, "I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of *chen* and supplication, and they will look upon Me whom they have pierced" - **[Jeremiah 31:2](/codex/jeremiah-31-2/)**, "the people who survived the sword found *chen* in the wilderness" ### NT activation The LXX renders *chen* with *charis* with near-mechanical regularity. The NT's grace-doctrine traffics in the *charis*-vocabulary the LXX inherited from *chen*: - **[Luke 1:30](/codex/luke-1-30/)**, Mary: "you have found *charin* in the sight of God", direct echo of [Gen 6:8](/codex/genesis-6-8/) / Mosaic *chen*-formula - **[Acts 2:47](/codex/acts-2-47/); [Acts 4:33](/codex/acts-4-33/)**, early-church *charis* usage echoing the OT pattern - **[Romans 3:24](/codex/romans-3-24/)**, "justified as a gift by His *chariti*" - **[Ephesians 2.8-9](/codex/ephesians-2-8-9/)**, "by *chariti* you have been saved through faith" ## Patristic / scholarly note The OT grace-vocabulary has been the subject of major theological-historical attention, esp. since the rise of biblical-theology movements emphasizing the OT-NT continuity. **Walter Brueggemann** (*The Land*, 1977; *Theology of the Old Testament*, 1997), emphasizes the *chen* / *ḥesed* tradition as the ground of OT covenant theology. **Jon Levenson**, Jewish-side engagement with OT grace tradition. **Gordon McConville** (*Grace in the End*, 1993), Reformed engagement. **Patristic.** The pre-Augustinian tradition rarely engaged Hebrew lexically (most Fathers worked from the LXX *charis*). Augustine (*De Gratia Christi et de Peccato Originali*) develops the doctrine of grace primarily from Pauline *charis*, but his treatment of [Genesis 6:8](/codex/genesis-6-8/) (*City of God* XV) brings the OT *chen*-pattern into focus: Noah's "finding favor" is grace-against-judgment. **Reformation tradition.** Calvin (*Institutes* III.21-24), the Reformed doctrine of unconditional election grounds itself in part on the OT *chen* pattern (gracious favor is *given*, not *earned*; Noah does not deserve to find *chen*; Israel does not deserve God's favor). The Reformed *sola gratia* runs through the OT-Hebrew vocabulary as well as the NT-Greek. **Critical engagement with "two-Testament grace."** The historic Lutheran-Reformed claim that the OT presents law and the NT grace is *false* on lexical grounds, the OT has the same grace-doctrine, in *chen* / *ḥesed* / *raḥamim* vocabulary, that the NT articulates in *charis*. The error of the Marcionite tradition was to ignore the Hebrew grace-lexicon. Modern Reformed scholarship (Sinclair Ferguson, *The Whole Christ*, 2016; Michael Horton, *Pilgrim Theology*, 2011) explicitly affirms the OT grace-tradition's continuity with the NT. ## Verses in this codex _See Obsidian's backlinks pane for every verse page linking here._ Anchors: [Genesis 6.8](/codex/genesis-6-8/) (the locus classicus), [Exodus 34.6-7](/codex/exodus-34-6-7/) (the *ḥannun* self-revelation), [Numbers 6:25](/codex/numbers-6-25/) (Aaronic blessing), [Luke 1:30](/codex/luke-1-30/) (Mary's annunciation), [Ephesians 2.8-9](/codex/ephesians-2-8-9/) (the NT consummation). ## See also - [G5485 - charis](/codex/g5485-charis/), *charis* (grace), Greek correspondent - [H2617 - hesed](/codex/h2617-hesed/), *ḥesed* (covenant loyalty), companion in the OT grace-trio - H7355 - raham / *H7356 - rachamim*, *raḥamim* (compassion), third in the trio - H2603 - chanan, *ḥanan* (verb: to be gracious), the verbal root - [Justification by Faith](/codex/justification-by-faith/), the doctrine the OT grace-tradition prepares - [Sola Fide](/codex/sola-fide/), Sola Gratia, Reformation grounding - Passages: [Genesis 6.8](/codex/genesis-6-8/), [Exodus 34.6-7](/codex/exodus-34-6-7/), [Luke 1:30](/codex/luke-1-30/), [Ephesians 2.8-9](/codex/ephesians-2-8-9/)