Archaic KJV Word
Mercy
Modern equivalent: compassion
What Was Lost
Two distinct Hebrew concepts collapsed into one English word. Chesed was covenant faithfulness expressed through kindness. Rachamim was the gut-wrenching compassion a mother feels for her child -- derived from rechem, 'womb.' English 'mercy' lost both the covenant structure and the bodily ache.
Closest Survivor in Modern English
mercy (still used but understood as 'withholding punishment' rather than 'fierce covenant love')
Peak Usage (1611)
KJV Micah 6:8 -- 'What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy'
Died still used but narrowed (~1900)
Flattened from Hebrew chesed ('covenant loyalty/lovingkindness') and rachamim ('womb-compassion') to merely 'not punishing someone who deserves it.' Lost both the covenantal and visceral dimensions.
What Replaced It
“forgiveness”
Reactive -- only activated by wrongdoing; mercy included proactive kindness and covenant faithfulness
“leniency”
Legal and cold; mercy in Hebrew was tied to the womb (rechem) -- a mother's fierce, protective tenderness
“compassion”
Close but disembodied; rachamim was literally 'womb-feelings,' the most visceral word in the Hebrew Bible