Joy
שִׂמְחָהStrong’s H8057simchah (sim-chah)
Appears in 89 verses of the Old Testament
In short
Simchah is the Hebrew word usually translated “joy”, “gladness” and “gladness of”. It appears in 89 verses of the Old Testament.
“Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace.”
Meaning
- Joy, mirth, gladnessmirth, gladness, joy, gaiety, pleasure · joy (of God) · glad result, happy issue
How it's translated
- joy 19
- with joy 12
- gladness 12
- and gladness 7
- with gladness 5
- and joy 5
- and gladness of 4
- joy of 3
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Psalms 13
- Isaiah 12
- Proverbs 8
- Ecclesiastes 8
- Jeremiah 7
- 1 Chronicles 6
24 books in all.
Explore in Scripture
- Genesis 31:27Wherefore didst thou flee away secretly, and steal away from me; and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, with tabret, and with harp?
- Numbers 10:10Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the LORD your God.
- Deuteronomy 28:47Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;
- Judges 16:23Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.
- 1 Samuel 18:6And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of musick.
- 2 Samuel 6:12And it was told king David, saying, The LORD hath blessed the house of Obededom, and all that pertaineth unto him, because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obededom into the city of David with gladness.
All 89 verses, by book
Hebrew dictionary
שִׂמְחָה simchah · joy
1) joy, mirth, gladness 1a) mirth, gladness, joy, gaiety, pleasure 1b) joy (of God) 1c) glad result, happy issue
From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “joy” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
JOY, noun
- The passion or emotion excited by the acquisition or expectation of good; that excitement of pleasurable feelings which is caused by success, good fortune, the gratification of desire or some good possessed, or by a rational prospect of possessing what we love or desire; gladness; exultation; exhilaration of spirits.
- Gayety; mirth; festivity.
- Happiness; felicity.
- A glorious and triumphant state.“--Who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross” Hebrews 12:2
All definitions and other forms of “joy”
- The cause of joy or happiness.“For ye are our glory and joy” 1 Thessalonians 2:20
- A term of fondness; the cause of you.
JOY, verb intransitive
To rejoice; to be glad; to exult.
- “I will joy in the God of my salvation” Habakkuk 3:18
JOY, verb transitive
To give joy to; to congratulate; to entertain kindly.
- To gladden; to exhilarate.
- To enjoy; to have or possess with pleasure, or to have pleasure in the possession of. [Little used.
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.
Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Hebrew, not from any one translation.