Question 1

What does "Compassion" mean in the King James Bible?

Accepted Answer

In the KJV, "Compassion" means "feeling sorry for." The bodily convulsion. Every time the Gospels say Jesus was 'moved with compassion,' the Greek means His internal organs churned. This was not a thought but a physical event -- the empathic pain was so intense it convulsed His body. And every time splanchnizomai appears, it immediately leads to action: healing, feeding, touching. Compassion was a bodily anguish that could not rest until it acted.

Question 2

Why did the word "Compassion" disappear from modern English?

Accepted Answer

Greek splanchnizomai ('to be moved in the bowels/to have one's internal organs churned with anguish/a full-body physical response of empathic pain') sentimentalized into 'feeling sorry for someone.' The word was at peak usage around 1611 and declined by still used but sentimentalized (~1900).

Question 3

What modern word replaced "Compassion"?

Accepted Answer

"Compassion" was replaced by: "sympathy" (though this mental understanding of another's pain; splanchnizomai was a gut-wrenching physical experience); "pity" (though this condescending; compassion was a convulsive bodily response that compelled action); "empathy" (though this emotional mirroring; jesus's compassion was a full-body anguish that immediately produced healing).

What Does “Compassion” Mean in the Bible?

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