Hebrew word · H6712

צְחֹק

tzechok

laughter

The basic form of the verb (Qal) means 'to laugh'. In Genesis it is the laughter of disbelief (Abraham in 17:17, Sarah in 18:12–15) and here the laughter that follows the birth. The noun tsechoq appears only here and in Ezekiel 23:32, where it means derision ('you shall be laughed at and mocked').

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

laughter, laughing stock

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Genesis 21:6

Range of meaning

The basic form of the verb (Qal) means 'to laugh'. In Genesis it is the laughter of disbelief (Abraham in 17:17, Sarah in 18:12–15) and here the laughter that follows the birth. The intensive form (Piel) covers a wider and often darker range: joking that is not taken seriously (19:14, Lot's sons-in-law), playing or mocking (21:9, Ishmael), intimate caressing (26:8, Isaac with Rebekah), making sport of someone (39:14, 17), and revelry (Exod 32:6). The noun tsechoq appears only here and in Ezekiel 23:32, where it means derision ('you shall be laughed at and mocked').

Against the English

English 'laugh' mostly suggests humour or amusement. The Hebrew word covers astonishment, joy, disbelief, scorn, play and erotic play. Context has to choose, and here it chooses astonished delight with an edge of the absurd.

Used elsewhere in the period

BDB and HALOT both list 'laugh' for the basic form and 'jest, play, make sport, fondle' for the intensive form. The Septuagint renders the noun gelōs ('laughter') and turns the second verb into synchairō ('rejoice with'), which shows that early Jewish translators read the verse as joyful.

Similar words

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 21:6 צְחֹ֕ק laughter

    Then Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears of this will laugh with me.”

    Here: The noun 'laughter', put first in the sentence for emphasis: 'Laughter is what God has made for me!' The word is rare. Its only other use is Ezekiel 23:32, where it means scorn, so it is not automatically a happy word.

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 23:32 לִצְחֹ֛ק <into> laughter

    This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘You will drink your sister’s cup, a cup deep and wide. It will bring scorn and derision, for it holds so much.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.