The Collaborative International Dictionary
Mercy \Mer"cy\ (m[~e]r"s[y^]), n.; pl. Mercies. [OE. merci, F. merci, L. merces, mercedis, hire, pay, reward, LL., equiv. to misericordia pity, mercy. L. merces is probably akin to merere to deserve, acquire. See Merit, and cf. Amerce.]
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Forbearance to inflict harm under circumstances of provocation, when one has the power to inflict it; compassionate treatment of an offender or adversary; clemency.
Examples of justice must be made for terror to some; examples of mercy for comfort to others.
--Bacon. Compassionate treatment of the unfortunate and helpless; sometimes, favor, beneficence.
--Luke x. 37.-
Disposition to exercise compassion or favor; pity; compassion; willingness to spare or to help.
In whom mercy lacketh and is not founden.
--Sir T. Elyot. -
A blessing regarded as a manifestation of compassion or favor.
The Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.
--2 Cor. i. 3.Mercy seat (Bib.), the golden cover or lid of the Ark of the Covenant. See Ark, 2.
Sisters of Mercy (R. C. Ch.),a religious order founded in Dublin in the year 1827. Communities of the same name have since been established in various American cities. The duties of those belonging to the order are, to attend lying-in hospitals, to superintend the education of girls, and protect decent women out of employment, to visit prisoners and the sick, and to attend persons condemned to death.
To be at the mercy of, to be wholly in the power of.
Syn: See Grace.
Wiktionary
n. (context Christianity English) The lid of the Ark of the Covenant, on which God is said to have been enthroned; taken to represent the throne in heaven.
WordNet
n. the throne of God
the golden covering of the ark of the covenant
Wikipedia
According to the Hebrew Bible, the mercy seat ( ha-kappōreṯ) was the gold lid with two cherubim beaten out of the ends of it to form a covering over this gold lid and placed on the Ark of the Covenant. This was connected with the rituals of the Day of Atonement; where God did appear. The term also appears in later Jewish sources, and twice in the New Testament, from where it has significance in Christian theology.
The English phrase mercy seat is a translation of the Hebrew kapporeth (in the Masoretic text) and Greek ἱλαστήριον (hilasterion; in the Septuagint) by William Tyndale influenced by the German word Gnadenstuhl as in the Luther Bible; Gnadenstuhl, literally meaning seat of grace.
Mercy seat may refer to:
- The mercy seat in the Bible, which sat atop the Ark of the Covenant
- A misericord, a small wooden shelf on the underside of a folding seat in a church
- "The Mercy Seat" (song), a 1988 song by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
- The Mercy Seat (play), a 2002 play by Neil LaBute
- The Mercy Seat, a late 1980s gospel-punk band formed by Violent Femmes singer/guitarist Gordon Gano
- The Mercy Seat (album), a 2000 album by Don Moen
Usage examples of "mercy seat".
For five hours we rowed, and came ere daybreak to this isle I have named Kapporeth, that is the mercy seat of the Luvakh Shabab, may Adonai have mercy upon us all.
Well, it wasn't, and now he'll squirm on the Mercy Seat for injuring a guardas soon as we can lay hands on him, that is.
With all other blessings sought at the mercy seat, I always prayed that God would, of His great mercy, and in His own good time, deliver me from my bondage.
Well, it wasn't, and now he'll squirm on the Mercy Seat for injuring a guard&mdash.
And I ask you, my family, to come with me now to the mercy seat and ask forgiveness for past sins and errors and guidance in the future.
Then David gave Solomon his son the plan of the vestibule of the temple, and of its houses, its treasuries, its upper rooms, and its inner chambers, and of the room for the mercy seat.