The aim of this paper is to investigate the adjective ἐλεήμων —"compassionate, merciful". The analysis will be conducted on the biblical texts against the background of the Hebrew text and of classical and Hellenistic Greek literature. Consideration will also be given to pseudepigraphal writings as well as to Jewish literature in Greek, with the purpose of identifying both continuity and discontinuity in the use of the term ἐλεήμων across the various corpora.