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 (Numbers 14:8 2 Samuel 22:20 Psalm 18:19, etc.), and in righteousness, etc. (Isaiah 66:4 Jeremiah 9:24 Micah 7:18, etc.), also of man's delight in God and His will (Psalm 40:8; Psalm 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 (Genesis 34:19 1 Samuel 18:22 Esther 2:14 Isaiah 66:3); sha`a`, "to stroke," "caress," "be fond of," occurs in Psalm 94:19, "Thy comforts delight my soul"; Psalm 119:16, 47, 70, "I will delight myself in thy statutes." Similarly, Paul says (Romans 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; Job 27:10 Psalm 37:4, 11 Isaiah 58:14).

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