The Gemara on Amud Aleph uses a phrase to characterize an event where a person’s animal that was doomed to drown was miraculously saved, “Min Shamayim Rachimu Aleh - from Heaven they manifested Rachimu.” Many translations of this Gemara translate “Rachimu” as mercy, seeing the Hebrew root R-CH-M from Rachamim, mercy.

I believe this translation to be in error. The Aramaic Rachimu, though of the same root, actually means love. For example, Targum Onkelos on Bereishis (25:28) describes Yitschok’s love for Esau, “ve-recham”, amd same in regard to Achashveirosh’s love for Esther (Esther 2:18). We also find the mystical states of love and fear, known as “Dechilu U-Rechimu” (Tikunnei Zohar 25), clearly meaning “love and fear”, not ”mercy and fear.”

There is one use of a similar Aramaic words “ve-tircham alai” in the Berich Shmey prayer, which is often translated as, “Have mercy on me.” However, it might be more correctly translated as “Being loving toward me”, although I must admit that from this particular context, it sounds like it is mercy.  But still, I just do not believe that it is the correct Aramaic word for mercy.  “Chayyas” is the Aramaic word for mercy.  In Arabic, rachima is mercy, similar to Hebrew, but I have not seen anywhere the word form of “Rachimu” in Aramaic meaning anything other than love. Even that particular word form, Ve-Tircham, is used in other places in the Zohar to unequivocally mean love, not mercy, such as Zohar (Eschanan 10:68, Terumah 64:660), where one is instructed to “Tircham” Hashem. This must mean love hashem, and cannot mean to have mercy on Hashem, for obvious reasons.  Even if we were to grant that the form of Tircham means to have mercy in Aramaic, there is no such usage for Rechimu, which only is used to mean the word love.

Therefore, I believe the correct translation in our Gemara is, “They granted love upon him from Heaven.” Admittedly, from the context, and from the grammar, it still fits better to say it means mercy because if it was love, it might be more correct, to have the following construction to the sentence: “Min Shemaya yahavu Rachimu alei”, one gives mercy as opposed to their existing mercy. So, perhaps a translations are correct. Nevertheless, doing a word search one will find that there is absolutely no use of that particular word form Rachimu in Aramaic that means anything other than love as opposed to mercy.

The joint root of both Rachamim, mercy in Hebrew, and Rachimu, love in Aramaic, presumably come from the same Semitic root, R-Ch-M, womb. Language often gives a flavor of the culture and values of the community . Such as, there is no Biblical Hebrew word for retirement, because in Biblical society, that was not a thing. My father Z”L would often point out that Biblical Hebrew has no word for fail. Modern Hebrew uses “Kishalon”, but actually, its root is “K-Sh-L”, which is to stumble. Stumble has a different connotation than fail, as one usually gets back up from a fall, but not a fail. Similarly, the English word Charity comes from the word to care, but the Hebrew word is Tzedakka, which is related to justice or fairness. So when one gives tzedakah to a person, is it care or is it justice? Depends on the outlook and psychology of the culture.

In this light, consider the Aramaic word for love, “Rechimu.”  The Hebrew word for love is “A-Hav”, “I will give”. Hav in Hebrew can mean give, see Rachel’s grievance toward Yaakov: “Hava li banim “, “give me children.” We might consider, though that on occasion Aramaic forms, enter into the biblical lexicon and “Hav” is certainly an Aramaic word. Additionally, Rachel’s family spoke Aramaic (Bereishis 31:47), and when people are in distress they regress a bit, so perhaps Rachel spoke in Aramaic, her mother tongue when she was distraught with Yaakov about her childlessness.  Nevertheless, it is fair to say that “Hav” means “give” in Hebrew as well, and thus “A-hava”, probably comes from “I will give.”  Compare this to the Aramaic root of Love-Rechumi as mercy, and coming from the root word womb. 

Some people have not evolved past the infantile form of love, which is gratification and being taken care of by a lover like a mother. But Hebrew embodies a more mature form of love, based on giving, “A-Hava”, I will give.