to pity
chus denotes compassion, commonly expressed in sparing from harm and sometimes sought for people in need.
The dominant attested use concerns compassion that would restrain destructive action, frequently stated as its refusal when judgment or punishment proceeds. A smaller cluster shows compassion positively—toward a people, the poor, a plant, or a city—and in appeals that such mercy be shown.
Senses in use
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Compassion that spares from harm · dominant
In Deuteronomy 19:13 and Deuteronomy 19:21, the third-feminine-singular imperfect occurs with “eye” in commands that compassion must not prevent the stated penalty. In Ezekiel 20:17 the sequential imperfect describes an eye sparing people from destruction, while Ezekiel 7:4 and Ezekiel 9:5 place the same form in declarations or commands that no such restraint will be shown.
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Compassion shown or requested for a recipient · occasional
In Joel 2:17, the Qal imperative is the priests’ appeal concerning the people; the APB renders the plea, “Pity, O LORD, upon your people.” Jonah 4:10 and Jonah 4:11 contrast compassion for a plant with the stated question about compassion for Nineveh, and Psalm 72:13 describes pity toward the poor and needy.
In the Anselm Project Bible: Across these verses, the APB variously uses “pity,” “spare,” “compassion,” and “mercy” in clauses involving this term. Because the APB is a whole-verse translation, these renderings show the clauses’ presentation rather than fixed one-for-one equivalents.