Word study
Joy
12 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
In brief
The Hebrew simhah and the Greek chara are the general words for joy and gladness. Hebrew adds words for joy that is heard: rinnah and the verb ranan describe a ringing cry or shout, and sason is exultation. Chara is related to charis, "grace," in Greek.
Written and reviewed by our editorial team.
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “joy”. 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 “joy” 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)
- שִׂמְחָה simchâhjoy, gladness, mirthtranslated this way 52 times of its 91 uses · Strong’s H8057Noun · Translated: joy 48, gladness 14, rejoicing 6, pleasure 5Full study and all 87 verses →
Genesis 31:27 Why did you run away secretly and deceive me, without even telling me? I would have sent you away with joy and singing, with tambourines and harps.
Deuteronomy 28:47 Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart in all your abundance,
- רָנַן rânangive a ringing crytranslated this way 33 times of its 56 uses · Strong’s H7442Verb · Translated: shout for joy 18, sing for joy 12, sing 5, Rejoice 3Full study and all 53 verses →
Leviticus 9:24 Fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown.
1 Chronicles 16:33 Then the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the LORD, for He is coming to judge the earth.
- שָׂשׂוֹן sâsônexultation, rejoicingtranslated this way 18 times of its 22 uses · Strong’s H8342Noun · Translated: joy 17, Gladness 3, rejoicing 1, times of joy 1Full study and all 22 verses →
Esther 8:16 For the Jews it was a time of light and gladness, of joy and honor.
Psalm 45:7 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you above your companions with the oil of joy.
- שָׂמַח sâmachrejoice, be gladtranslated this way 12 times of its 152 uses · Strong’s H8055Verb · Translated: rejoice 50, glad 27, rejoiced 20, gloat 6Full study and all 147 verses →
Deuteronomy 24:5 If a man is newly married, he must not be sent to war or be pressed into any duty. For one year he is free to stay at home and bring joy to the wife he has married.
Nehemiah 12:43 On that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard from afar.
- רִנָּה rinnâhringing crytranslated this way 9 times of its 33 uses · Strong’s H7440Noun · Translated: cry 11, shouts of joy 5, song 5, joy 4Full study and all 33 verses →
Psalm 30:5 For His anger is fleeting, but His favor lasts a lifetime. Weeping may stay the night, but joy comes in the morning.
Proverbs 11:10 When the righteous thrive, the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy.
- מָשׂוֹשׂ mâsôsid.translated this way 7 times of its 16 uses · Strong’s H4885Noun · Translated: joy 6, joyful 2, delight 2Full study and all 15 verses →
Job 8:19 Surely this is the joy of his way; yet others will spring from the dust.
Psalm 48:2 Beautiful in loftiness, the joy of all the earth, like the peaks of Zaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the great King.
- תְּרוּעָה terûâhshout or blast of war, alarm, or joytranslated this way 5 times of its 31 uses · Strong’s H8643Noun · Translated: shouting 4, short blasts 2, shout 2, shout of joy 2Full study and all 29 verses →
Job 8:21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with a shout of joy.
Psalm 27:6 Then my head will be held high above my enemies around me. At His tabernacle I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD.
- שָׂמֵחַ sâmêachglad, joyful, merrytranslated this way 3 times of its 21 uses · Strong’s H8056Adjective · Translated: rejoicing 5, joyful 5, enjoy 2, rejoice 2Full study and all 21 verses →
Deuteronomy 16:15 For seven days you shall celebrate a feast to the LORD your God in the place He will choose, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that your joy will be complete.
Esther 5:9 That day Haman went out full of joy and glad of heart. At the king’s gate, however, he saw Mordecai, who did not rise or tremble in fear at his presence. And Haman was filled with rage toward Mordecai.
- חֶדְוָה chedvâhjoytranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H2304Noun · Translated: joy 2Full study and all 2 verses →
1 Chronicles 16:27 Splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and joy fill His dwelling.
Nehemiah 8:10 Then Nehemiah told them, “Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send out portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
- רוּעַ rûaraise a shouttranslated this way 2 times of its 44 uses · Strong’s H7321Verb · Translated: shout 10, Make a joyful noise 5, shout in triumph 4, shouted 3Full study and all 40 verses →
Job 38:7 while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
Psalm 98:6 With trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn shout for joy before the LORD, the King.
- גִּילָה gîlâhrejoicingtranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H1525Noun · Translated: joy 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Isaiah 35:2 It will bloom profusely and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God.
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.
- הֵידָד hêdâdshout, shouting, cheertranslated this way 2 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s H1959Noun · Translated: Triumphant shouts 1, cheering 1, shout 1, shouts of joy 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Jeremiah 48:33 Joy and gladness are removed from the orchard and from the fields of Moab. I have stopped the flow of wine from the presses; no one treads them with shouts of joy; their shouts are not for joy.
Greek words (New Testament)
- χαρά charájoy, gladnesstranslated this way 51 times of its 55 uses · Strong’s G5479Noun · Translated: joy 51, great delight 1, overjoyed 1, joyfully 1Full study and all 54 verses →
Matthew 13:20 The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.
Mark 4:16 Some are like the seeds sown on rocky ground. They hear the word and at once receive it with joy.
- ἀγαλλίασις agallíasisexultation, exhilarationtranslated this way 3 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G20Noun · Translated: joy 2, delight 1, gladness 1, great joy 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Luke 1:44 For as soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
Hebrews 1:9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You above Your companions with the oil of joy.”
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.
What the Bible says about joy: passages by topic →
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.