Word study

Pleasure

4 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: pleasure, pleasures. 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 “pleasure” 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)

  • חֵפֶץ chêphetsdelight, pleasuretranslated this way 6 times of its 38 uses · Strong’s H2656Noun  ·  Translated: desire 7, delight 6, pleasure 4, desired 3

    Ecclesiastes 5:4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, because He takes no pleasure in fools. Fulfill your vow.

    Isaiah 46:10 I declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’

    Full study and all 37 verses →
  • שִׂמְחָה simchâhjoy, gladness, mirthtranslated this way 5 times of its 91 uses · Strong’s H8057Noun  ·  Translated: joy 48, gladness 14, rejoicing 6, pleasure 5

    Proverbs 21:17 He who loves pleasure will become poor; the one who loves wine and oil will never be rich.

    Ecclesiastes 2:1 I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good!” But it proved to be futile.

    Full study and all 87 verses →
  • רָצָה râtsâhbe pleased with, accept favourablytranslated this way 4 times of its 57 uses · Strong’s H7521Verb  ·  Translated: accept 12, delight 6, pleased 5, accepted 4

    Psalm 51:16 For You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; You take no pleasure in burnt offerings.

    Haggai 1:8 Go up into the hills, bring down lumber, and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified, says the LORD.

    Full study and all 55 verses →
  • חָפֵץ châphêtsdelight intranslated this way 4 times of its 73 uses · Strong’s H2654Verb  ·  Translated: delight 14, delighted 13, desire 8, pleases 5

    Jeremiah 6:10 To whom can I give this warning? Who will listen to me? Look, their ears are closed, so they cannot hear. See, the word of the LORD has become offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it.

    Ezekiel 18:23 Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Lord GOD. Wouldn’t I prefer that he turn from his ways and live?

    Full study and all 70 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • ἡδονή hēdonḗpleasure, lust, strong desiretranslated this way 4 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G2237Noun  ·  Translated: pleasures 3, passions 1, pleasure 1

    Luke 8:14 The seeds that fell among the thorns are those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by the worries, riches, and pleasures of this life, and their fruit does not mature.

    Titus 3:3 For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures — living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

    Full study and all 5 verses →
  • εὐδοκία eudokíagood-will, favortranslated this way 2 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s G2107Noun  ·  Translated: well-pleasing 2, desire 2, good pleasure 2, favor rests 1

    Ephesians 1:5 He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will,

    Ephesians 1:9 And He has made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ

    Full study and all 9 verses →
How to study a word well
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
  4. 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.
  5. See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
  6. Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
  7. 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 pleasure: 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.