Word study
Delight
13 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: delight, delighted, delights, delighting. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “delight” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- חָפֵץ châphêtsdelight intranslated this way 35 times of its 73 uses · Strong’s H2654Verb · Translated: delight 14, delighted 13, desire 8, pleases 5Full study and all 70 verses →
Genesis 34:19 The young man, who was the most respected of all his father’s household, did not hesitate to fulfill this request, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter.
Numbers 14:8 If the LORD delights in us, He will bring us into this land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and He will give it to us.
- רָצָה râtsâhbe pleased with, accept favourablytranslated this way 8 times of its 57 uses · Strong’s H7521Verb · Translated: accept 12, delight 6, pleased 5, accepted 4Full study and all 55 verses →
1 Chronicles 29:3 Moreover, because of my delight in the house of my God, I now give for it my personal treasures of gold and silver, over and above all that I have provided for this holy temple:
Job 34:9 For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing that he should delight in God.’
- שַׁעְשֻׁעַ shashuaenjoymenttranslated this way 8 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s H8191Noun · Translated: delight 7, delighting 1, delightful 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Psalm 119:24 Your testimonies are indeed my delight; they are my counselors.
Proverbs 8:30 Then I was a skilled craftsman at His side, and His delight day by day, rejoicing always in His presence.
- עָנַג ânagbe soft, delicate, daintytranslated this way 7 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s H6026Verb · Translated: delight 7, refined 1, mocking 1, delicate 1Full study and all 10 verses →
Job 22:26 Surely then you will delight in the Almighty and lift up your face to God.
Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.
- חָפֵץ châphêtsdelighting in, having pleasure intranslated this way 6 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s H2655Adjective · Translated: delights 4, wish 3, delight 2, anyone who desired 1Full study and all 11 verses →
Nehemiah 1:11 O Lord, may Your ear be attentive to my prayer and to the prayers of Your servants who delight to revere Your name. Give Your servant success this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” (At that time I was the cupbearer to the king.)
Psalm 5:4 For You are not a God who delights in wickedness; no evil can dwell with You.
- רָצוֹן râtsôngoodwill, favour, acceptance, willtranslated this way 6 times of its 54 uses · Strong’s H7522Noun · Translated: favor 15, delight 5, acceptable 3, acceptance 3Full study and all 54 verses →
Proverbs 11:1 Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD, but an accurate weight is His delight.
Proverbs 11:20 The perverse in heart are an abomination to the LORD, but the blameless in their walk are His delight.
- חֵפֶץ chêphetsdelight, pleasuretranslated this way 6 times of its 38 uses · Strong’s H2656Noun · Translated: desire 7, delight 6, pleasure 4, desired 3Full study and all 37 verses →
1 Samuel 15:22 But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams.
Job 22:3 Does it delight the Almighty that you are righteous? Does He profit if your ways are blameless?
- שָׁעַע shâabe smeared over, blindedtranslated this way 4 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s H8173Verb · Translated: delight 3Full study and all 8 verses →
Psalm 94:19 When anxiety overwhelms me, Your consolation delights my soul.
Psalm 119:16 I will delight in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.
- שָׂמַח sâmachrejoice, be gladtranslated this way 4 times of its 152 uses · Strong’s H8055Verb · Translated: rejoice 50, glad 27, rejoiced 20, gloat 6Full study and all 147 verses →
Psalm 46:4 There is a river whose streams delight the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.
Proverbs 23:24 The father of a righteous man will greatly rejoice, and he who fathers a wise son will delight in him.
- שׂוּשׂ sûsexult, rejoicetranslated this way 3 times of its 27 uses · Strong’s H7797Verb · Translated: rejoice 10, glad 3, exult 2, rejoice greatly 2Full study and all 24 verses →
Deuteronomy 30:9 So the LORD your God will make you abound in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your land. Indeed, the LORD will again delight in your prosperity, as He delighted in that of your fathers,
Isaiah 65:19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem and take delight in My people. The sounds of weeping and crying will no longer be heard in her.
- חָמַד châmaddesire, take pleasure intranslated this way 3 times of its 23 uses · Strong’s H2530Verb · Translated: covet 6, delight 2, desire 2, precious 2Full study and all 22 verses →
Proverbs 1:22 “How long, O simple ones, will you love your simple ways? How long will scoffers delight in their scorn and fools hate knowledge?
Song of Solomon 2:3 Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my beloved among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
- תַּעֲנוּג taănûgdaintiness, luxury, exquisite delighttranslated this way 2 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s H8588Noun · Translated: delights 2, Luxury 1, precious 1, pleasant 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Ecclesiastes 2:8 and I accumulated for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I gathered to myself male and female singers, and the delights of the sons of men — many concubines.
Song of Solomon 7:6 How fair and pleasant you are, O love, with your delights!
- מָשׂוֹשׂ mâsôsid.translated this way 2 times of its 16 uses · Strong’s H4885Noun · Translated: joy 6, joyful 2, delight 2Full study and all 15 verses →
Isaiah 32:14 For the palace will be forsaken, the busy city abandoned. The hill and the watchtower will become caves forever — the delight of wild donkeys and a pasture for flocks —
Isaiah 65:18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight.
Greek words (New Testament)
- εὐδοκέω eudokéōI am resolved, well-pleasedtranslated this way 6 times of its 21 uses · Strong’s G2106Verb · Translated: pleased 7, well pleased 5, delight 2, delighted 2Full study and all 21 verses →
Matthew 12:18 “Here is My Servant, whom I have chosen, My beloved, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will proclaim justice to the nations.
2 Corinthians 12:10 That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
- χαίρω chaírōI rejoice, am gladtranslated this way 4 times of its 71 uses · Strong’s G5463Verb · Translated: rejoice 26, rejoiced 7, Greetings 6, glad 6Full study and all 65 verses →
Mark 14:11 They were delighted to hear this, and they promised to give him money. So Judas began to look for an opportunity to betray Jesus.
Luke 22:5 They were delighted and agreed to give him money.
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.