Hebrew word · H8173

שָׁעַע

shi'asha'eti

to delight

In the doubled (pilpel/pulpal) forms: to delight, take delight in, play delightedly, to be fondled or dandled. It is used of a nursing child playing (Isa 11:8), of children 'dandled on the knees' (Isa 66:12), and repeatedly of the psalmist's delight in God's instruction (Ps 119:16, 47, 70).

Appears 9 times in 8 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to sport, take delight in

1a) (Pilpel) to sport, delight in, take delight in, delight oneself

1b) (Palpal) to be fondled

1c) (Hithpalpel) to delight oneself

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 Psalm 94:19

Range of meaning

In the doubled (pilpel/pulpal) forms: to delight, take delight in, play delightedly, to be fondled or dandled. It is used of a nursing child playing (Isa 11:8), of children 'dandled on the knees' (Isa 66:12), and repeatedly of the psalmist's delight in God's instruction (Ps 119:16, 47, 70). The related noun šaʿăšuʿîm means 'delight, plaything, darling' (Prov 8:30–31; Jer 31:20, 'a darling child'; Ps 119:24, 77). Lexicons list a separate, homonymous šāʿaʿ meaning 'to smear over / blind' (Isa 6:10), which is not the one here.

Against the English

'Delight' (KJV, BSB, NASB, WEB, YLT) is accurate. ESV 'cheer' and NIV 'brought me joy' are fine but lose the lively, almost playful note the word has elsewhere.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isa 66:11–12 is notable: the same two roots appear together (tanḥûm 'consolation' and šʿʿ 'dandled'), in a picture of Jerusalem nursing her children and God comforting 'as a mother comforts'. Prov 8:30–31 uses the noun of Wisdom 'delighting' / 'playing' before God.

From the study of Isaiah 29:9

Range of meaning

There are two roots with the same letters. (1) To smear over, plaster, paste shut, especially the eyes, and so to be blind. Isaiah 6:10 'smear shut their eyes'. Isaiah 32:3 'the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed'. (2) To delight, take pleasure, play. Psalm 119:16, 47 'I will delight myself in your statutes'. Isaiah 11:8 the nursing child 'plays' over the cobra's hole. Isaiah 66:12 'dandled on the knees'.

Against the English

BSB, WEB and ESV 'blind yourselves and be blind' follow sense (1). KJV 'cry ye out, and cry' takes the word from a different root, shava' ('cry for help'); its margin offers 'take your pleasure, and riot', which is sense (2). YLT 'look ye, yea, look' derives it from sha'ah ('gaze'). These are three quite different pictures from the same letters.

How it drifted

This is not drift in the usual sense. Early translators were unsure which root was meant, so the English tradition split.

Used elsewhere in the period

Sense (1) ties the verse directly to Isaiah's call in chapter 6, where his preaching was to have exactly this blinding effect (6:9–10), and to its promised reversal in 29:18 and 32:3. Sense (2) is well attested in the same reflexive form ('delight oneself', Ps 119:16).

From the study of Isaiah 6:10

Range of meaning

HALOT and BDB list a root meaning 'smear over, paste, blind', distinct from a same-sounding root meaning 'delight, take pleasure' (Ps 119:16, 47). In the causative form it means 'smear the eyes shut'.

Against the English

KJV/WEB/BSB 'shut' or 'close', ESV 'blind', YLT 'declare dazzled'. 'Shut' sounds like a voluntary blink. The Hebrew pictures eyes plastered over.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isa 29:9: 'blind yourselves and be blind' (hishtaʿashʿû washōʿû, the same root). Isa 32:3: in the coming age 'the eyes of those who see will no longer be smeared shut' (tishʿênāh). Compare Isa 44:18: idol-makers' eyes are 'plastered (ṭaḥ) so they cannot see'.

Where it appears

Psalms · 4

  1. Psalm 94:19 יְֽשַׁעַשְׁע֥וּ they delighted

    When anxiety overwhelms me, Your consolation delights my soul.

    Here: 'They delight / gladden' (an intensive, doubled verb form). Elsewhere it describes a nursing child playing and a child dandled on the knees (Isa 11:8; 66:12), and taking delight in God's instruction (Ps 119). The imperfect form suggests what happens again and again: whenever worries multiply, God's consolations do this.

  2. Psalm 119:16 אֶֽשְׁתַּעֲשָׁ֑ע I will delight myself

    I will delight in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.

    Here: "I will delight myself" or "I take my delight". The stem is reflexive and the root is doubled (šaʿ-šaʿ), so the picture is of someone enjoying something for themselves, at length and again and again. The Hebrew future-or-ongoing form can mean a resolve ("I will") or a habit ("I do").

  3. Psalm 119:47 וְאֶשְׁתַּֽעֲשַׁ֥ע and I may delight myself

    I delight in Your commandments because I love them.

    Here: A doubled-root form of the verb meaning to take delight in something, often with a sense of fond, absorbed, even playful pleasure (the same root describes a toddler playing and a mother bouncing a child on her knees). The form points back at the speaker: 'I delight myself', I take my pleasure in it. The opening 'and' (ve-) gives the vav-letter that every line of this stanza has to start with, and it also links this verse to the chain of 'and I will...' promises that runs from v. 41.

  4. Psalm 119:70 שִֽׁעֲשָֽׁעְתִּי׃ I delight

    Their hearts are callous and insensitive, but I delight in Your law.

    Here: The verb is formed by doubling its root (šaʿ-šaʿ), and it describes delight, fond enjoyment and even play. The perfect form describes a settled state: 'I have taken, and still take, delight.' Here the delight is the opposite of the dull, closed heart in the first line.

Isaiah · 5

  1. Isaiah 6:10 הָשַׁ֑ע seal over

    Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

    Here: 'Smear over' or 'paste shut', as if the eyes were plastered closed. It is more vivid than simply 'close'.

  2. Isaiah 11:8 וְשִֽׁעֲשַׁ֥ע and he will play

    The infant will play by the cobra’s den, and the toddler will reach into the viper’s nest.

    Here: This is a doubled, intensive form of the verb. It describes carefree, absorbed play, the delight of a child entertaining itself. The 'and' continues the run of future pictures that begins in v.6 ('the wolf will dwell...'), so it means 'and [then] will play'.

  3. Isaiah 29:9 הִשְׁתַּֽעַשְׁע֖וּ וָשֹׁ֑עוּ blind yourselves, and be blind

    Stop and be astonished; blind yourselves and be sightless; be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not from strong drink.

    Here: 'Paste your own eyes shut!' A doubled, reflexive command: blinding is something they do to themselves. The same letters elsewhere mean 'amuse yourselves', so a hearer could also catch 'go on and enjoy yourselves'.

  4. Isaiah 66:12 תְּשָׁעֳשָֽׁעוּ׃ you will be fondled

    For this is what the LORD says: “I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flowing stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm, and bounced upon her knees.

    Here: 'You will be dandled / delighted in.' The root sounds its consonants twice, giving the playful repeated motion of bouncing a baby. The same root gives 'child of delight' in Jer 31:20.

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