οἰκτιρμός oiktirmos

A noun for compassion or pity. In the Septuagint it is often plural, matching a Hebrew plural for tender mercies. The plural with a genitive of God, as in Rom 12:1 (τῶν οἰκτιρμῶν τοῦ θεοῦ), names God's compassion as the ground of an appeal. Related phrases speak of a heart of compassion or of God as the Father of compassions. The entry records the lexical sense; it does not decide how the appeal functions in the argument.