Delight

DELIGHT [ISBE]

DELIGHT - de-lit' (verb, chaphets, ratsah, sha`a`; sunedomai): "To delight" is most frequently expressed by chaphets, which means originally "to bend" (compare Job 40:17, "He moveth his tail"), hence, "to incline to," "take pleasure in." It is used of God's pleasure in His people (Nu 14:8; 2 Sam 22:20; Ps 18:19, etc.), and in righteousness, etc. (Isa 66:4; Jer 9:24; Mic 7:18, etc.), also of man's delight in God and His will (Ps 40:8; 73:25; the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American), "There is none upon earth that I desire besides thee"), and in other objects (Gen 34:19; 1 Sam 18:22; Est 2:14; Isa 66:3); sha`a`, "to stroke," "caress," "be fond of," occurs in Ps 94:19, "Thy comforts delight my soul"; 119:16,47,70, "I will delight myself in thy statutes." Similarly, Paul says (Rom 7:22), "I delight (sunedomai) in (margin, the Revised Version (British and American) "Greek with") the law of God after the inward man." This is the only occurrence of the word in the New Testament.

"To delight one's self" (in the Lord) is represented chiefly by `anagh (Job 22:26; 27:10; Ps 37:4,11; Isa 58:14).

Delight (noun), chiefly chephets (1 Sam 15:22; Ps 1:2; 16:3), ratson (Prov 11:1,20; 12,22; 15:8), sha`ashu`im (Ps 119:24,77,92,143,174; Prov 8:30,31). the Revised Version (British and American) has "delight" for "desire" (Neh 1:11; Ps 22:8; 51:16), for "observe," different reading (Prov 23:26), "no delight in" for "smell in" (Am 5:21), "delightest in me" for "favorest me" (Ps 41:11), "his delight shall be in" (m "Hebrew `scent' ") for "of quick understanding" (Isa 11:3).

The element of joy, of delight in God and His law and will, in the Hebrew religion is noteworthy as being something which we are apt to fall beneath even in the clearer light of Christianity.

W. L. Walker