Quite often the Hebrew words for compassion and compassionate are translated into English as mercy and merciful. But compassion is quite different from mercy, and being compassionate quite different from being merciful. In English mercy and merciful most commonly imply a superior in relationship to a subordinate, and also a situation of wrongdoing: one is merciful toward somebody to whom one has the right (or power) to act otherwise. Compassion suggests something else. To paraphrase William Blake, mercy wears a human face, and compassion a human heart.
Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, Marcus Borg (via ellesugars)