שָׂמַח (H8055) — Hebrew Lexicon

שָׂמַח

𐤔𐤌𐤇

sâmach

H8055 verb

SILEX Entry

Definition

To experience or express joy, gladness, or delight; to rejoice inwardly or outwardly. The verb primarily denotes a state or expression of happiness or pleasure, particularly in response to favorable circumstances, blessings, celebrations, or acts of divine intervention. Its semantic range includes emotional joy, public rejoicing, festive celebration, and making others glad.

Semantic Range

to experience gladness, to express joy, to celebrate, to be joyful, to make (oneself or others) glad, to cause to rejoice, to delight, to be merry, public celebration or festivity

Root / Etymology

From the root שׂמח (smḥ), meaning 'to rejoice, be glad.' The root connotes a sense of emotional uplift or positive feeling, and the verb form expresses the action or state of experiencing or causing joy. The development of the root centers on the emotional state of pleasure or happiness, often related to celebratory or favorable events.

Historical & Contextual Notes

In the Hebrew Bible, שָׂמַח is used broadly for both internal emotions and external expressions of gladness. It appears in diverse contexts: rituals (e.g., festival observances), personal experiences (e.g., birth, victory), and communal gatherings. The root is used in both qal (be glad/rejoice) and pi'el (make glad/cause to rejoice) stems, with the latter emphasizing the act of inducing gladness in others or oneself. The term can refer to both spontaneous emotional responses and ritualized or commanded rejoicing (e.g., Deut 16:14). In some psalms and prophetic texts, it is linked with deliverance or divine intervention. שָׂמַח is distinct from related roots such as גִּיל (gil, to exult, often denoting exuberant or leaping joy), and denotes a more general joy or gladness. Modern English translations using 'rejoice' or 'be glad' usually capture its core meaning, though the range of usage in Hebrew nuances both internal experience and external, communal festivity. Later Jewish tradition preserved the term in liturgical and folk usage.

Translation Consistency

primary "rejoice" 46 occurrences

'Rejoice' is the most natural, commonly used English verb that captures the primary sense of שָׂמַח (joy, gladness, celebration). It matches the typical usages (inward gladness, outward celebration, public festivity, and making others glad in context) and is the dominant rendering in the attested translations, so it provides the greatest consistency across all forms.

Alternatives (4 occurrences):

"glad" (1x) "gladdened" (1x) "who gladdens" (1x) "made him glad" (1x)

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

a primitive root; probably to brighten up, i.e. (figuratively) be (causatively, make) blithe or gleesome; cheer up, be (make) glad, (have, make) joy(-ful), be (make) merry, (cause to, make to) rejoice, [idiom] very.

Bantu Hebrew

Language	Bantu Word	Transliteration	Meaning
Kirundi	samka		feel joy

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Root Family

שׂמח (sâmach) — to rejoice, be glad, bring joy

Root שׂמח to rejoice, be glad, bring joy

Strong's	Lemma	SIBI-P1
H8056	שָׂמֵחַ	the rejoicing ones
H8057	שִׂמְחָה	in rejoicing

Word Forms

58 distinct forms

SIDANCE	Surface	Transliteration	Morphology	Common	SIBI-P1	SIBI-P2	Occurrences
`H8055-56`	יִשְׂמַ֕ח	yisemach	`HVqi3ms`	will rejoice	he will rejoice	he will rejoice	24
`H8055-58`	יִשְׂמְח֥וּ	yisemechu	`HVqi3mp`	let rejoice	let them rejoice	let them rejoice	10
`H8055-34`	וַ/יִּשְׂמַ֣ח	vayisemach	`HC/Vqw3ms`	and rejoiced	and he rejoiced	and he rejoiced	7
`H8055-36`	וַ/יִּשְׂמְח֤וּ	vayisemechu	`HC/Vqw3mp`	and they rejoiced	and they rejoiced	and they rejoiced	7
`H8055-53`	יְשַׂמַּ֣ח	yesamach	`HVpi3ms`	makes glad	he causes to rejoice	he will cause to rejoice	7
`H8055-41`	וְ/שָׂמַחְתָּ֗	vesamacheta	`HC/Vqq2ms`	and you shall rejoice	and you rejoiced	and you shall rejoice	6
`H8055-51`	וְ֝/יִשְׂמְח֗וּ	veyisemechu	`HC/Vqi3mp`	and let them be glad	and they will rejoice	and they will rejoice	5
`H8055-15`	שָׂמְח֤וּ	samechu	`HVqp3cp`	they rejoiced	they rejoiced	they rejoiced	4
`H8055-21`	שִׂמְח֧וּ	simechu	`HVqv2mp`	Rejoice	Rejoice!	Rejoice!	4
`H8055-24`	תִּשְׂמַ֨ח	tisemach	`HVqj2ms`	rejoice	she will rejoice	rejoice	4
`H8055-39`	וְ/נִשְׂמְחָ֖ה	venisemechah	`HC/Vqh1cp`	and be glad	and let us rejoice	and let us rejoice	4
`H8055-50`	וְ/יִשְׂמָ֑חוּ	veyisemachu	`HC/Vqi3mp`	and rejoice	and they will rejoice	and they will rejoice	4
`H8055-02`	אֶ֭שְׂמַח	esemach	`HVqi1cs`	I have rejoiced	I will rejoice	I have rejoiced	3
`H8055-11`	שָׂמַ֖ח	samach	`HVqp3ms`	is glad	he rejoiced	he rejoiced	3
`H8055-19`	שִׂמְּחָ֥/ם	simecham	`HVpp3ms/Sp3mp`	had made them rejoice	he gladdened them	he made them rejoice	3
`H8055-30`	וּ/שְׂמַחְתֶּ֗ם	usemachetem	`HC/Vqq2mp`	and you shall rejoice	and you rejoiced	and you shall rejoice	3
`H8055-32`	וַ/תִּשְׂמָ֑ח	vatisemach	`HC/Vqw2ms`	and rejoiced	and you rejoiced	and you rejoiced	3
`H8055-35`	וַ/יִּשְׂמָֽחוּ	vayisemachu	`HC/Vqw3mp`	and they rejoiced	they rejoiced	they rejoiced	3
`H8055-40`	וְ/שָׂמַ֥ח	vesamach	`HC/Vqq3ms`	and make glad	and he rejoiced	and make glad	3
`H8055-05`	הַ/שְּׂמֵחִ֖ים	hasemechim	`HTd/Aampa`	who rejoice	the rejoicing ones	the rejoicing ones	2
`H8055-08`	לִ/שְׂמ֔וֹחַ	lisemocha	`HR/Vqc`	that I may rejoice	to rejoice	to rejoice	2
`H8055-12`	שָׂמַ֖חְתִּי	samacheti	`HVqp1cs`	I rejoice	I rejoiced	I rejoiced	2
`H8055-13`	שַׂמֵּ֖חַ	samecha	`HVpa`	Make glad	joyful one	make joyful	2
`H8055-16`	שְׂמַ֥ח	semach	`HVqv2ms`	Rejoice	Rejoice!	Rejoice	2
`H8055-26`	תִּשְׂמְחִ֤י	tisemechi	`HVqj2fs`	rejoice	may you rejoice	rejoice	2
`H8055-38`	וְ/לִ/שְׂמֹ֖חַ	velisemocha	`HC/R/Vqc`		and to rejoice	and to rejoice	2
`H8055-44`	וְ/שָׂמְח֗וּ	vesamechu	`HC/Vqq3cp`	and be glad	and they rejoiced	and they shall rejoice	2
`H8055-46`	וְ/שִׂמַּחְתִּי/ם֙	vesimachetim	`HC/Vpp1cs/Sp3mp`	and-I-will-make-joyful-them	I gladdened them	and I rejoiced them	2
`H8055-47`	וְ/שִׂמְחִי֙	vesimechi	`HC/Vqv2fs`	and-be-glad	and rejoice (you feminine singular)	and rejoice (you feminine singular)	2
`H8055-55`	יְשַׂמְּחוּ	yesamechu	`HVpi3mp`	make glad	they cause to rejoice	they cause to rejoice	2
`H8055-57`	יִשְׂמָ֖חוּ	yisemachu	`HVqi3mp`	will rejoice	they will rejoice	they will rejoice	2
`H8055-01`	בּֽ/וֹ	bo	`HR/Sp3ms`	in him	in him	in him	1
`H8055-03`	אֶשְׂמְחָ֣ה	esemechah	`HVqh1cs`	I will rejoice	let me rejoice	I will rejoice	1
`H8055-04`	הַֽ/מְשַׂמֵּ֥חַ	hamesamecha	`HTd/Vprmsa`	which cheers	the one who gladdens	the one who gladdens	1
`H8055-06`	הִ֝שְׂמַ֗חְתָּ	hisemacheta	`HVhp2ms`	made rejoice	you caused to rejoice	you caused to rejoice	1
`H8055-07`	כִּ/שְׂמֹ֨חַ֙	kisemocha	`HR/Vqc`	as it rejoices	as rejoicing	as rejoicing	1
`H8055-09`	מְשַׂמְּחֵי	mesamechey	`HVprmpc`	rejoicing	joy-bringers of	bringing joy to	1
`H8055-10`	נִשְׂמְחָה	nisemechah	`HVqh1cp`	we rejoiced	let us rejoice	we rejoiced	1
`H8055-14`	שַׂ֭מְּחֵ/נוּ	samechenu	`HVpv2ms/Sp1cp`	Make us glad	Gladden us	Gladden us	1
`H8055-17`	שִׂמַּ֖חְתָּ	simacheta	`HVpp2ms`	you have made rejoice	you gladdened	you made rejoice	1
`H8055-18`	שִׂמַּחְתַּ֣/נִי	simachetani	`HVpp2ms/Sp1cs`	you have gladdened me	you have gladdened me	you have gladdened me	1
`H8055-20`	שִׂמְחִ֤י	simechi	`HVqv2fs`	be glad	Rejoice!	Rejoice	1
`H8055-22`	שִׂמְּחֽוּ/ךָ	simechukha	`HVpp3cp/Sp2ms`	gladden-you	they made you rejoice	gladdened you	1
`H8055-23`	שִׂמֳּחָֽ/הוּ	simochahu	`HVpp3ms/Sp3ms`	him very glad	he gladdened him	made him glad	1
`H8055-25`	תִּשְׂמַ֨חְנָה֙	tisemachenah	`HVqi3fp`	rejoice	they will rejoice	the daughters will rejoice	1
`H8055-27`	תִשְׂמְחוּ֙	tisemechu	`HVqi2mp`	you rejoice	you will rejoice	you all will rejoice	1
`H8055-28`	תשמחי	tshmchy	`HVqi2fs`	you rejoice	you will rejoice	you will rejoice	1
`H8055-29`	וּ֝/שְׂמַ֗ח	usemach	`HC/Vqv2ms`	and rejoice	and rejoice!	and rejoice	1
`H8055-31`	וּ/שְׂמָ֔חִי	usemachi	`HC/Vqv2fs`	and be glad	And rejoice	and rejoice	1
`H8055-33`	וַ/יְשַׂמַּ֤ח	vayesamach	`HC/Vpw3ms`	he has made rejoice	and he gladdened	and it made rejoice	1
`H8055-37`	וְ/אֶשְׂמְחָ֗ה	veesemechah	`HC/Vqh1cs`	and I will rejoice	and let me rejoice	and let me rejoice	1
`H8055-42`	וְ/שָׂמֵֽחַ	vesamecha	`HC/Vqq3ms`	and rejoices	and he rejoiced	and he will rejoice	1
`H8055-43`	וְ/שָׂמֵֽחָה	vesamechah	`HC/Vqp3fs`	and was glad	and she rejoiced	and it rejoiced	1
`H8055-45`	וְ/שִׂמַּ֖ח	vesimach	`HC/Vpq3ms`	and cheer	and he gladdened	and he gladdened	1
`H8055-48`	וְ/שִׂמְחוּ֙	vesimechu	`HC/Vqv2mp`	and-rejoice	Rejoice!	and rejoice	1
`H8055-49`	וְ/יִשְׂמַ֥ח	veyisemach	`HC/Vqi3ms`	and-may-he-rejoice	and he will rejoice	and he will rejoice	1
`H8055-52`	ו/ישמח	vyshmch	`HC/Vqi3ms`	and will rejoice	and he will rejoice	and he will rejoice	1
`H8055-54`	יְשַׂמְּחֶֽ/נָּה	yesamechenah	`HVpi3ms/Sp3fs`	makes-it-glad	he will gladden her	it will gladden her	1

Occurrences in Scripture

158 occurrences

Filter by SIDANCE:

SIDANCE	Reference	Word	Transliteration	Morphology	Common	SIBI-P1	SIBI-P2
`H8055-40`	Exodus 4:14	וְ/שָׂמַ֥ח	vesamach	`HC/Vqq3ms`	he will be glad	and he rejoiced	he will be glad
`H8055-30`	Leviticus 23:40	וּ/שְׂמַחְתֶּ֗ם	usemachetem	`HC/Vqq2mp`	and-you-shall-rejoice	and you rejoiced	and you shall rejoice
`H8055-30`	Deuteronomy 12:7	וּ/שְׂמַחְתֶּ֗ם	usemachetem	`HC/Vqq2mp`	and you shall rejoice	and you rejoiced	and you shall rejoice
`H8055-30`	Deuteronomy 12:12	וּ/שְׂמַחְתֶּ֗ם	usemachetem	`HC/Vqq2mp`	and you shall rejoice	and you rejoiced	and you shall rejoice
`H8055-41`	Deuteronomy 12:18	וְ/שָׂמַחְתָּ֗	vesamacheta	`HC/Vqq2ms`	you shall rejoice	and you rejoiced	and you shall rejoice
`H8055-41`	Deuteronomy 14:26	וְ/שָׂמַחְתָּ֖	vesamacheta	`HC/Vqq2ms`	and you shall rejoice	and you rejoiced	and you shall rejoice
`H8055-41`	Deuteronomy 16:11	וְ/שָׂמַחְתָּ֞	vesamacheta	`HC/Vqq2ms`	and you shall rejoice	and you rejoiced	and you shall rejoice
`H8055-41`	Deuteronomy 16:14	וְ/שָׂמַחְתָּ֖	vesamacheta	`HC/Vqq2ms`	and you shall rejoice	and you rejoiced	and you shall rejoice
`H8055-45`	Deuteronomy 24:5	וְ/שִׂמַּ֖ח	vesimach	`HC/Vpq3ms`	and cheer	and he gladdened	and he gladdened
`H8055-41`	Deuteronomy 26:11	וְ/שָׂמַחְתָּ֣	vesamacheta	`HC/Vqq2ms`	and you shall rejoice	and you rejoiced	and you shall rejoice
`H8055-41`	Deuteronomy 27:7	וְ/שָׂ֣מַחְתָּ֔	vesamacheta	`HC/Vqq2ms`	and you shall rejoice	and you rejoiced	and you shall rejoice
`H8055-16`	Deuteronomy 33:18	שְׂמַ֥ח	semach	`HVqv2ms`	Rejoice	Rejoice!	Rejoice
`H8055-04`	Judges 9:13	הַֽ/מְשַׂמֵּ֥חַ	hamesamecha	`HTd/Vprmsa`	which cheers	the one who gladdens	the one who gladdens
`H8055-21`	Judges 9:19	שִׂמְחוּ֙	simechu	`HVqv2mp`	rejoice	Rejoice!	Rejoice!
`H8055-49`	Judges 9:19	וְ/יִשְׂמַ֥ח	veyisemach	`HC/Vqi3ms`	and-may-he-rejoice	and he will rejoice	and he will rejoice
`H8055-34`	Judges 19:3	וַ/יִּשְׂמַ֖ח	vayisemach	`HC/Vqw3ms`	and rejoiced	and he rejoiced	and he rejoiced
`H8055-12`	1 Samuel 2:1	שָׂמַ֖חְתִּי	samacheti	`HVqp1cs`	I rejoice	I rejoiced	I rejoiced
`H8055-36`	1 Samuel 6:13	וַֽ/יִּשְׂמְח֖וּ	vayisemechu	`HC/Vqw3mp`	and rejoiced	and they rejoiced	and they rejoiced
`H8055-35`	1 Samuel 11:9	וַ/יִּשְׂמָֽחוּ	vayisemachu	`HC/Vqw3mp`	and they were glad	they rejoiced	they rejoiced
`H8055-34`	1 Samuel 11:15	וַ/יִּשְׂמַ֨ח	vayisemach	`HC/Vqw3ms`	and rejoiced	and he rejoiced	and he rejoiced
`H8055-32`	1 Samuel 19:5	וַ/תִּשְׂמָ֑ח	vatisemach	`HC/Vqw2ms`	and rejoiced	and you rejoiced	and you rejoiced
`H8055-25`	2 Samuel 1:20	תִּשְׂמַ֨חְנָה֙	tisemachenah	`HVqi3fp`	rejoice	they will rejoice	the daughters will rejoice
`H8055-34`	1 Kings 5:21	וַ/יִּשְׂמַ֣ח	vayisemach	`HC/Vqw3ms`	and he rejoiced	and he rejoiced	and he rejoiced
`H8055-34`	2 Kings 11:20	וַ/יִּשְׂמַ֥ח	vayisemach	`HC/Vqw3ms`	and rejoiced	and he rejoiced	and he rejoiced
`H8055-15`	Isaiah 9:2	שָׂמְח֤וּ	samechu	`HVqp3cp`	they rejoiced	they rejoiced	they rejoiced
`H8055-56`	Isaiah 9:16	יִשְׂמַ֣ח	yisemach	`HVqi3ms`	will rejoice	he will rejoice	he will rejoice
`H8055-15`	Isaiah 14:8	שָׂמְח֥וּ	samechu	`HVqp3cp`	rejoice	they rejoiced	they rejoiced
`H8055-26`	Isaiah 14:29	תִּשְׂמְחִ֤י	tisemechi	`HVqj2fs`	rejoice	may you rejoice	rejoice
`H8055-39`	Isaiah 25:9	וְ/נִשְׂמְחָ֖ה	venisemechah	`HC/Vqh1cp`	and rejoice	and let us rejoice	and let us rejoice
`H8055-34`	Isaiah 39:2	וַ/יִּשְׂמַ֣ח	vayisemach	`HC/Vqw3ms`	and he rejoiced	and he rejoiced	and he rejoiced
`H8055-46`	Isaiah 56:7	וְ/שִׂמַּחְתִּי/ם֙	vesimachetim	`HC/Vpp1cs/Sp3mp`	and-I-will-make-joyful-them	I gladdened them	and I will make them rejoice
`H8055-57`	Isaiah 65:13	יִשְׂמָ֖חוּ	yisemachu	`HVqi3mp`	will rejoice	they will rejoice	they will rejoice
`H8055-21`	Isaiah 66:10	שִׂמְח֧וּ	simechu	`HVqv2mp`	Rejoice	Rejoice!	Rejoice!
`H8055-13`	Jeremiah 20:15	שַׂמֵּ֖חַ	samecha	`HVpa`	making glad	joyful one	rejoicing one
`H8055-23`	Jeremiah 20:15	שִׂמֳּחָֽ/הוּ	simochahu	`HVpp3ms/Sp3ms`	him very glad	he gladdened him	made him glad
`H8055-24`	Jeremiah 31:13	תִּשְׂמַ֤ח	tisemach	`HVqi3fs`	will rejoice	she will rejoice	she will rejoice
`H8055-46`	Jeremiah 31:13	וְ/שִׂמַּחְתִּ֖י/ם	vesimachetim	`HC/Vpp1cs/Sp3mp`	and make them rejoice	I gladdened them	and I rejoiced them
`H8055-35`	Jeremiah 41:13	וַ/יִּשְׂמָֽחוּ	vayisemachu	`HC/Vqw3mp`	they rejoiced	they rejoiced	they rejoiced
`H8055-28`	Jeremiah 50:11	תשמחי	tshmchy	`HVqi2fs`	you rejoice	you will rejoice	you will rejoice
`H8055-27`	Jeremiah 50:11	תִשְׂמְחוּ֙	tisemechu	`HVqi2mp`	you rejoice	you will rejoice	you all will rejoice
`H8055-56`	Ezekiel 7:12	יִשְׂמָ֔ח	yisemach	`HVqj3ms`	rejoice	he will rejoice	rejoice
`H8055-32`	Ezekiel 25:6	וַ/תִּשְׂמַ֤ח	vatisemach	`HC/Vqw2ms`	and rejoiced	and you rejoiced	and you rejoiced
`H8055-07`	Ezekiel 35:14	כִּ/שְׂמֹ֨חַ֙	kisemocha	`HR/Vqc`	as it rejoices	as rejoicing	as rejoicing
`H8055-55`	Hosea 7:3	יְשַׂמְּחוּ	yesamechu	`HVpi3mp`	they make glad	they cause to rejoice	they cause to rejoice
`H8055-24`	Hosea 9:1	תִּשְׂמַ֨ח	tisemach	`HVqj2ms`	rejoice	she will rejoice	you will rejoice
`H8055-31`	Joel 2:21	וּ/שְׂמָ֔חִי	usemachi	`HC/Vqv2fs`	and be glad	And rejoice	and rejoice
`H8055-48`	Joel 2:23	וְ/שִׂמְחוּ֙	vesimechu	`HC/Vqv2mp`	and-rejoice	Rejoice!	and rejoice
`H8055-05`	Amos 6:13	הַ/שְּׂמֵחִ֖ים	hasemechim	`HTd/Aampa`	who rejoice	the rejoicing ones	the rejoicing ones
`H8055-24`	Obadiah 1:12	תִּשְׂמַ֥ח	tisemach	`HVqj2ms`	rejoice	she will rejoice	rejoice
`H8055-34`	Jonah 4:6	וַ/יִּשְׂמַ֥ח	vayisemach	`HC/Vqw3ms`	and-was-glad	and he rejoiced	and he rejoiced

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