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# חָפֵץ

Biblical Hebrew · Strong's H2654

**delight in** — used 73 times in the Hebrew Bible. Below: its meanings with their sources, MACULA's glosses, and 2 verses word for word and in JPS 1917.

## Meaning

### OpenScriptures lexical index

delight in [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1495/2654/#m1)

### Brown–Driver–Briggs 1906

חָפֵץ: vb. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1495/2654/#m2)

**The whole BDB entry:** vb. delight in (cf. Arabic حَفِظَ be mindful of, attentive to, keep, protect, Aramaic ܚܦܛ whence ܚܦܺܝܛ eager, zealous, Arabic حَفِيظَةٌ anger (excitement), أَحْفَظَ enrage (Aramaic and Arabic of excited attention, Heb. of delighted attention), Dl Pr 168 Nö ZMG 1886, 742; NH חֵפֶץ weakened to thing, v. De Ec. Gloss., Ph. in n.pr. חפצבעל);— Pf. ח׳ Gn 34:19 + 28 times; f. חָפֵ֑צָה Is 66:3; 2 m. חָפַצְתָּ Dt 21:14 + 4 times; חָפָ֫צְנוּ Jb 21:14, etc., + 14 times Pf.; Impf. יַחְפֹּץ Dt 25:7 + 7 times; יֶחְפָּ֑ץ ψ 37:23; 147:10; pl. יַחְפְּצוּ Is 13:17; Je 6:10; יֶחְפָּ֑צוּ ψ 68:31; יֶחְפָּצוּ֑ן Is 58:2(×2) etc. + 9 times Impf.; Inf. abs. חָפֹץ Ez 18:23; on Pt. חָפֵץ = adj. verb., v. infr.;— of men: take pleasure in, delight in, c. בְּ, a woman Gn 34:19 (J), Dt 21:14; Est 2:14; a man 1 S 18:22; 19:1 2 S 20:11; in matters and things 2 S 24:3; Is 13:17; 66:3; Je 6:10 ψ 109:17; 112:1; 119:35; Pr 18:2; Est 6:6, 7, 9(×2), 11; c. acc. ψ 68:31 Is 58:2; Ec 8:3; implic. obj. ψ 73:25. delight, desire, be pleased to do a thing, would do it Dt 25:7, 8 1 K 9:1; Est 6:6 Ru 3:13 ψ 40:9; Jb 9:3; 13:3; 21:14; 33:32; Is 58:2; Je 42:22. abs. עַד שֶׁתֶּחְפָּ֑ץ until it please (of love) Ct 2:7; 3:5; 8:4. of God: delight in, have pleasure in, c. בְּ, persons Nu 14:8 (J), 2 S 15:26; 22:20 = ψ 18:20, 1 K 10:9 = 2 Ch 9:8, ψ 22:9; 41:12; Is 62:4; not in the strength of a horse ψ 147:10; in doing evil Mal 2:17; in the death of the sinner Ez 18:32; 33:11; but in mercy, justice, and righteousness Je 9:23; בחר באשׁר (לא) חפצתי Is 56:4; 65:12; 66:4; not with (acc.) the blood of bullocks Is 1:11; זבח(ים) ψ 40:7; 51:18, 21, or the death of the sinner Ex 18:23(×2); but with חסד Ho 6:6 Mi 7:18, אמת ψ 51:8; with the way of a man ψ 37:23; כל אשׁר חפץ ψ 115:3; 135:6 Pr 21:1; אשׁר חפץ Is 55:11; Jon 1:14. pleased to do a thing c. inf. Ju 13:23 1 S 2:25; Is 53:10. with impf. subj. (Ges§ 142(3)c) י׳ חָפֵץ יגדיל תּורה Yahweh was pleased to magnify teaching Is 42:21.—On Jb 40:17 v. חָפַץ.

Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 69 of its verses cited, 0 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (4 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 1 with the glosses (4 candidates)

## Glosses

MACULA's English glosses of the word in the text, with how often each is used: he delights (14); he delighted (7); I desire (6).

## In the verses

[Psalms 37:23](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.37.23/) · [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.37.23/#tree)

מֵ֭יְהוָה מִֽצְעֲדֵי־גֶ֥בֶר כּוֹנָ֗נוּ וְדַרְכּ֥וֹ יֶחְפָּֽץ׃

*Word for word:* from Yahweh \[the\].steps of.a.man they.are.established and way his he.delights.in

*JPS 1917:* It is of the LORD that a man's goings are established; and He delighted in his way.

[Psalms 51:18](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.51.18/) · [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.51.18/#tree)

כִּ֤י ׀ לֹא־תַחְפֹּ֣ץ זֶ֣בַח וְאֶתֵּ֑נָה ע֝וֹלָ֗ה לֹ֣א תִרְצֶֽה׃

*Word for word:* (dm) not you.desire sacrifice and I.will.give.\[it\] burnt.offering not you.are.pleased.with

*JPS 1917:* For Thou delightest not in sacrifice, else would I give it; Thou hast no pleasure in burnt-offering.

## On Mova

- [This word in the Tanakh dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/2654.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of its meanings](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1495/2654/): every English meaning parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.

Sources. The words, their counts, glosses and the word-for-word renderings: MACULA Hebrew (the Westminster Leningrad Codex; Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0). Meanings: the OpenScriptures lexical index (CC BY 4.0), Brown–Driver–Briggs 1906 and Jastrow 1903 (public domain, via Sefaria); Targum Onkelos from Sefaria (public domain). Translation: JPS 1917 (public domain, from eBible.org).