שָׂשׂוֹן

Esther 8:16 וְשָׂשֹׂ֖ן and joy

For the Jews it was a time of light and gladness, of joy and honor.

Here: "And joy/exultation." Almost always paired with simchah in the Bible. Together they make a fixed phrase for loud, public celebration, the sound of weddings and festivals in Jeremiah's prophecies.

Esther 8:17 וְשָׂשׂוֹן֙ and joy

In every province and every city, wherever the king’s edict and decree reached, there was joy and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating. And many of the people of the land themselves became Jews, because the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them.

Here: Exuberant joy, often linked with weddings and festivals (Jer 7:34). Put together, the pair means full, public celebration.

Psalm 45:7 שָׂשׂ֗וֹן joy

You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you above your companions with the oil of joy.

Here: Loud, festive joy. It is the word for wedding joy in 'the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride' (Jer 7:34). 'Oil of joy' is the oil that marks a celebration.

Psalm 51:8 שָׂשׂ֣וֹן joy

Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones You have crushed rejoice.

Here: Joy that shows: festive, audible celebration. Here it is something you can hear, the sound of rejoicing.

Psalm 51:12 שְׂשׂ֣וֹן [the] joy of

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit.

Here: Loud, festive joy, the kind heard at weddings and festivals. It is not a quiet inner contentment. It is bound to what follows: 'the exultation that belongs to your rescue.'

Psalm 105:43 בְשָׂשׂ֑וֹן with joy

He brought forth His people with rejoicing, His chosen with shouts of joy.

Here: 'With exultation.' Sason is festive, outwardly visible joy, the joy of weddings, feasts and victory. The prefix 'with' describes the manner in which the going-out happened: it was a celebration, not a furtive escape.

Psalm 119:111 שְׂשׂ֖וֹן [are] [the] joy of

Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.

Here: "The exultation of": loud, celebrating joy, the kind heard at weddings, harvests and homecomings. This is not mild contentment.

Isaiah 12:3 בְּשָׂשׂ֑וֹן with joy

With joy you will draw water from the springs of salvation,

Here: "With joy": loud, festive gladness, the joy of weddings and of exiles coming home. It turns a tiring chore into a celebration. The main pause in the verse (marked by the accent) falls here, so 'with joy' closes the first half.

Isaiah 22:13 שָׂשׂ֣וֹן joy

But look, there is joy and gladness, butchering of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

Here: Loud, outward celebration, the noise of a party or wedding. It is set directly against the 'weeping and wailing' God had just called for.

Isaiah 35:10 שָׂשׂ֤וֹן joy

So the redeemed of the LORD will return and enter Zion with singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee.

Here: Exuberant rejoicing, especially the sound of a wedding or festival. Paired with simḥah, it forms a stock pair for full-volume celebration.

Isaiah 51:3 שָׂשׂ֤וֹן joy

For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and melodious song.

Here: Loud, festive joy, half of a fixed pair used for weddings and festivals.

Isaiah 51:11 שָׂשׂ֤וֹן joy

So the redeemed of the LORD will return and enter Zion with singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee.

Here: Exuberant, celebrating joy. With simchah it forms the classic Hebrew pair for wedding and festival joy.

Isaiah 61:3 שָׂשׂוֹן֙ joy

to console the mourners in Zion—to give them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.

Here: Loud, festive joy, the kind heard at weddings (Jer 7:34). 'Oil of joy' means the oil you put on for a celebration.

Jeremiah 7:34 שָׂשׂוֹן֙ joy

I will remove from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem the sounds of joy and gladness and the voices of the bride and bridegroom, for the land will become a wasteland.”

Here: Loud, festive exultation of the kind heard at feasts and celebrations. It is public celebration you could hear, not a private feeling.

Jeremiah 15:16 לְשָׂשׂ֖וֹן <into> a joy

Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words became my joy and my heart’s delight. For I bear Your name, O LORD God of Hosts.

Here: 'For exultation.' This is festive, celebrating joy. With the next word it forms Jeremiah's fixed pair for the joy of wedding feasts.

Jeremiah 16:9 שָׂשׂוֹן֙ joy

For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am going to remove from this place, before your very eyes and in your days, the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom.

Jeremiah 25:10 שָׂשׂוֹן֙ joy

Moreover, I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp.

Here: Loud joy that people show in public: festival shouting, the noise of a celebration. Paired with śimḥāh it means joy of every kind.

Jeremiah 31:13 לְשָׂשׂוֹן֙ into joy

Then the maidens will rejoice with dancing, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into joy, and give them comfort and joy for their sorrow.

Here: 'Into exultation'. In Jeremiah, śāśôn is half of the stock phrase 'the sound of joy and gladness, the sound of bridegroom and bride', which God had silenced (7:34; 16:9; 25:10) and promises to restore (33:11).

Jeremiah 33:9 שָׂשׂוֹן֙ joy

So this city will bring Me renown, joy, praise, and glory before all the nations of the earth, who will hear of all the good I do for it. They will tremble in awe because of all the goodness and prosperity that I will provide for it.

Here: Loud, festive joy, the kind heard at weddings and feasts (see v. 11). A 'name of joy' is a reputation for gladness, or a name that makes people glad. Either way it replaces the city's reputation for horror.

Jeremiah 33:11 שָׂשׂ֞וֹן joy

the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those bringing thank offerings into the house of the LORD, saying: ‘Give thanks to the LORD of Hosts, for the LORD is good; His loving devotion endures forever.’ For I will restore the land from captivity as in former times, says the LORD.

Here: Loud, outward rejoicing, the kind heard at festivals and weddings. It is paired with simchah as a fixed pair, 'joy and gladness'.

Joel 1:12 שָׂשׂ֖וֹן joy

The grapevine is dried up, and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, palm, and apple—all the trees of the orchard—are withered. Surely the joy of mankind has dried up.

Here: Loud, public gladness, the kind heard at weddings and festivals (Jeremiah 7:34). It is the grammatical subject of the verb, so joy itself is the last thing to wither.

Zechariah 8:19 לְשָׂשׂ֣וֹן <into> joy

“This is what the LORD of Hosts says: The fasts of the fourth, the fifth, the seventh, and the tenth months will become times of joy and gladness, cheerful feasts for the house of Judah. Therefore you are to love both truth and peace.”

Here: 'Into exultation': loud, public joy. With simchah it is the word pair Jeremiah used for wedding celebrations that judgment would silence (Jer 7:34; 33:11).