H8056 H8056
Glad, joyful, merry — describing a state of delight; as a substantive, one who rejoices
The adjective שָׂמֵחַ is the Hebrew Bible's most common word for a person in a state of gladness. It appears at feasts and coronations, in proverbs about the heart, and in psalms of thanksgiving. When Solomon's dedication of the Temple concludes, the people depart 'joyful and glad of heart' (1 Kgs 8:66); when Adonijah's guests hear the trumpet, they scatter because the city was 'rejoicing' with Solomon's anointing (1 Kgs 1:45). As a substantive, it names the person defined by joy — 'those who rejoice in doing evil' (Prov 2:14) or Amos's 'those who rejoice over nothing' (Amos 6:13). The word's warmth pervades every occurrence: it is always relational, always visible, always more than private feeling.
Senses
1. glad, joyful, merry — The adjectival sense describing a person, group, heart, or occasion as being in a state of gladness and joy — the dominant use with 15 occurrences. The multilingual glosses converge on joy vocabulary: Spanish 'alegre/alegres,' French 'se rejouissant,' German 'freute sich.' Deuteronomy 16:15 commands Israel to 'be altogether joyful' at the Feast of Tabernacles. Proverbs 15:13 teaches that 'a glad heart makes a cheerful face,' and 17:22 that 'a joyful heart is good medicine.' The word is predicative in 1 Kings 8:66 and attributive in Psalm 113:9 ('a joyful mother of children'), showing full adjectival flexibility. 15×
AR["فَرِحين", "فَرِحًا", "فَرِحٌ", "فَرِحَ", "فَرِحَة", "فَرِحِينَ", "وَفَرِحُونَ", "وَيَفْرَحُونَ"]·ben["আনন্দিত", "আনন্দিত-ছিল", "আনন্দিত।", "এবং-আনন্দ-করছিল", "ও-সুখী"]·DE["[שמח]", "[שמחים]", "freute-sich", "joyful", "rejoicing", "und-rejoicing"]·EN["and-rejoicing", "glad", "joyful", "rejoiced", "rejoicing"]·FR["[שמח]", "[שמחים]", "et-se-réjouissant", "joie", "joyeux", "joyful", "se-réjouissant"]·heb["ו-שמחים", "שמח", "שמחה", "שמחים"]·HI["आनंदित", "आनंदित-होते-हुए", "आनन्दित", "आनन्दित-था", "आनन्दितथी", "और-आनंदित-होते-हुए", "और-आनन्दित-थे", "खुश"]·ID["bersukacita", "dan-bersukacita", "dengan-gembira", "gembira", "yang-bersukacita"]·IT["allegro", "e-rallegrandosi", "gioioso", "joyful", "rallegrandosi"]·jav["bingah", "bingah.", "bungah", "ingkang-bingah", "kang-bungah", "lan-bungah"]·KO["그리고-기뻐하며", "그리고-기뻐하였다", "기뮰하고-있었다", "기믭다", "기믭하는", "기뻐하는-자들", "기뻐하며", "기쁜", "즐거운"]·PT["alegrava-se", "alegre", "alegres", "e-alegrando-se"]·RU["и-веселящиеся", "и-радующийся", "радовалось", "радостное", "радостной", "радостные", "радостный", "радостным", "радостными", "радостных", "радующийся", "радуясь"]·ES["alegre", "alegres", "alegrándose", "gozosa", "se-alegraba", "y-regocijándose"]·SW["akiwa-na-furaha", "furaha", "juu-ya", "mwenye-furaha", "na-wakifurahi", "ukiwa-na-furaha", "ulifurahi", "wakifurahi", "wanafurahi", "wenye-furaha"]·TR["sevindi", "sevinen", "sevinerek", "sevinçli", "ve-sevinenler", "ve-seviniyordu"]·urd["اور-خوش", "اور-خوش-ہو-رہی-تھی", "خوش", "خوش-تھا", "خوش-تھی", "خوش-تھے", "خوش-ہوتے-ہوئے", "خوشی-سے"]
Deut 16:15, 1 Kgs 1:40, 1 Kgs 1:45, 1 Kgs 4:20, 1 Kgs 8:66, 2 Kgs 11:14, 2 Chr 7:10, 2 Chr 23:13, Esth 5:9, Esth 5:14, Ps 113:9, Ps 126:3 (+3 more)
2. one who rejoices (substantival) — The substantival use where שָׂמֵחַ functions as a noun meaning 'one who rejoices' or 'the joyful ones,' appearing 4 times. In Proverbs 2:14 the wicked are 'those who rejoice in doing evil,' and in Isaiah 24:7 'the mirth of the joyful ones ceases.' The Spanish 'los que se alegran' and English 'those rejoicing at' mark the shift from describing a quality to naming a class of people defined by their joy. Psalm 35:26 uses the construct form to describe David's enemies: 'those who rejoice at my hurt' — joy weaponized as gloating. 4×
AR["الفَرِحونَ-بِ", "الْفَرِحِينَ", "فَرِحٌ", "فَرِحِي-"]·ben["আনন্দিত-", "যারা-আনন্দ-করে", "যারা-আনন্দিত-হয়", "যে-আনন্দ-করে"]·DE["[השמחים]", "[שמחי]", "freute-sich", "jene-rejoicing-bei"]·EN["merry", "rejoicing", "those-rejoicing-at", "those-who-rejoice"]·FR["[שמחי]", "joyeux", "le-joyeux"]·heb["ה-שמחים", "שמח", "שמחי"]·HI["आनन्दित-", "आनन्दित-होनेवाला", "आनन्दित-होनेवाले"]·ID["Yang-bersukacita", "siapa-bersukacita", "yang-bersukacita-"]·IT["[שמחי]", "allegro", "gioioso", "il-allegro"]·jav["ingkang-bingah-", "ingkang-bingah-bab", "tiyang-kang-bingah", "tiyang-kang-seneng"]·KO["기빠하는-자-들-은", "기뻐하는-자는", "기뻐하는-자들을", "즐거운-자들이-"]·PT["Os-que-se-alegram", "alegres-de-", "o-que-se-alegra", "os-que-se-alegram-de"]·RU["от-радующихся", "радующиеся", "радующиеся-", "радующийся"]·ES["Los-que-se-alegran", "el-que-se-alegra", "los-alegres-de", "los-que-se-alegran"]·SW["Wafurahiao", "anayefurahi", "wanaofurahi", "wenye-furaha"]·TR["sevincliileri-", "sevinen", "sevinenler"]·urd["خوش-ہونے-والا", "خوش-ہونے-والے", "خوشی-والے"]
3. to rejoice (verbal) — A single verbal occurrence where the form functions as a jussive of the cognate verb שָׂמַח rather than the adjective — 'let them rejoice' or 'let it be glad.' In 1 Chronicles 16:31 David's psalm of praise calls out 'let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice.' The Spanish 'alegrense' (imperative/jussive 'let them rejoice') and English 'let rejoice' confirm the verbal force. This occurrence likely belongs morphologically to the verb שָׂמַח (H8055) rather than the adjective, but the clustering algorithm grouped it here due to overlapping form. 1×
AR["تَفْرَحُ"]·ben["আনন্দ-করুক"]·DE["[ישמחו]"]·EN["let-rejoice"]·FR["[ישמחו]"]·heb["ישמחו"]·HI["आनन्दित-हों"]·ID["biarlah-bersukacita"]·IT["gioioso"]·jav["Bingah"]·KO["기믭하라"]·PT["Alegrem-se"]·RU["да-радуются"]·ES["Alégrense"]·SW["na-zifurahi"]·TR["Sevinsin"]·urd["خوش-ہوں"]
Related Senses
G2309 1. want, desire (166×)G0025 1. to love actively (133×)H0157 1. love (verb, active Qal) (129×)H8055 1. Qal: rejoice, be glad (123×)H7453 1. neighbor, fellow man (120×)G0026 1. of love (115×)H1058 1. Qal: to weep, cry (112×)H0954 1. to be ashamed, feel shame (Qal) (95×)H8057 1. joy, gladness, delight (90×)H2781 1. disgrace, shame, dishonor (68×)G2307 1. will, desire, purpose (63×)G5463 1. rejoice, be glad (63×)G0027 1. beloved (61×)H8130 1. Qal: to hate, detest (60×)G5479 1. (59×)G1680 1. (53×)H8130 2. Qal ptcp: hater, enemy (53×)H0014 1. be willing, want (51×)H0157 2. lover, friend (Qal participle substantive) (51×)H1945 1. woe (50×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† שָׂמֵחַ adj.verb. glad, joyful, merry;—abs. שׂ׳ Dt 16:15 +, f. שְׂמֵחָה ψ 119:9; pl. שְׂמֵחִים 1 K 1:45 +, cstr. שִׂמְחֵי Is 24:17, שְׂמֵחֵי ψ 35:26;— 1. a. as adj. joyful, shewing joy, 1 K 1:45; Est 5:9 (+ טוֹב לֵב), v 14; אֵם שְׂמֵחָה ψ 113:9; לֵב שׂ׳ Pr 15:13; 17:22; at feast of tab. Dt 16:15, in thankfulness to י׳ ψ 126:3 (both pred. c. הָיָה), 1 K 8:66 (+ טוֹבֵי לֵב) = 2 Ch 7:10. b. = pt.…