Backwards Joy

In each and every province and in each and every city, wherever the king’s commandment and his decree arrived, there was gladness and joy for the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many among the peoples of the land became Jews, for the dread of the Jews had fallen on them.Esther 8:17  NASB

Gladness/joy– Here we have an example of translation confusion.  Typically the word śimḥâ is translated “joy,” but because there is a synonym in close proximity, śimḥâ in this verse is translated “gladness” so that śāśôn, the following expression of celebration, can be translated “joy.”  Gary Cohen notes: “(śāśôn). Joy, gladness, rejoicing, mirth. This masculine noun makes twenty-two appearances in the ot, and almost universally it speaks of human happiness and abounding delight. Typically in Jer 25:10 God announces that he will use Nebuchadnezzar to take from sinful Judah ‘the voice of mirth (śāśôn);’ and in Jer 31:13 he will turn the mourning of repentant Israel in the last days ‘into joy (śāśôn).’ See the synonym, śimḥâ.”[1]  Since it is related to political circumstances, the choice of this word in the book of Esther makes perfect sense.  Unfortunately, the English translation obscures that fact that this is the synonym of śimḥâ.  Perhaps the verse would have been better translated “there was joy and gladness,” reversing the order so that we would recognize that śimḥâ is the first word, and “gladness” (śāśôn) the second.

The root of śāśôn is śûś.  The original context provides an interesting contrast buried within the usage of the term. śûś is a word about joy, rejoicing, and exultation.  We expect that the use of this word will be associated with good things, as it is here in Esther with the defeat of Haman.  But when Moses uses the word four times in close succession, we discover that śûś has a counterintuitive use as well:

The four usages of the verb śûś in the Mosaic writings occur in Deut 28:63 and 30:9, twice in each verse. Here, amid the Mosaic warnings of the blessings and cursings, three times the Lord is pictured as one rejoicing over Israel to bless them for obedience to his Law, and once as rejoicing over them to destroy them for disobedience! “As the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good; so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you” (Deut 28:63.) śûś here thus seems to convey the idea of God’s enthusiasm to bless the righteous and to punish the wicked. Fortunately, by God’s mercy, Deut 30:9 shows that when Israel at last turns back to him, that “the Lord will again rejoice over thee for good.” Likewise in the prophets Israel is the object of his joy (Isa 62:5; 65:19; Jer 32:41; Zeph 3:17.)[2]

If God can rejoice over the destruction of His people, we are challenged to acknowledge that the truest sense of rejoicing comes from God’s perspective, not ours. In fact, this might lead us to realize that biblical language is not anthropomorphic but rather theomorphic, that is, the real definition of terms comes from the divine context and is only derivatively applied to human circumstances.  śāśôn and śûś point us toward a change in the way we understand the origin of language.  If we are created as speaking beings, then the real foundation of our ability to communicate is found in the author of our speaking, and that means that language is first and foremost a divine attribute.  This all sounds too academic until we apply the lesson to a word like “love.” If language begins in the divine, then “love” needs to be understood from the divine before we try to define it in human terms.  Just as śûś must mean “rejoicing” from God’s point of view.

Topical Index: śāśôn, śûś, śimḥâ, Deuteronomy 28:63, Deuteronomy 30:9, Esther 8:17

[1]Cohen, G. G. (1999). 2246 שׂוּשׂ. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament(electronic ed., p. 873). Chicago: Moody Press.

[2]Ibid.

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Rich Pease

To know God, to truly know Him in a deep and
transformational way, is a very joyous reality.
For in knowing Him, He’s informed you through
His Word that your relationship together centers
on Him and His will — and that changes you and
your will.
That’s a tough assignment for any human being,
but God knows upon the receipt of a new heart
from Him, the impossible becomes possible.
Skip, you’re right. Understanding God’s Word is to
know it’s a divine language. Yeshua said: “The words
I have spoken you are spirit and they are life.” Jn 6:63
To understand them, and put them in use, takes a new
heart and mind that are sensitive to the divine.
And that’s exactly what we receive when we receive
Him. Then, with Him, we work out our salvation.

MICHAEL STANLEY

 Skip, you wrote, “(If) we are created as speaking beings, then the real foundation of our ability to communicate is found in the author of our speaking, and that means that language is first and foremost a divine attribute.” Excellent observation, but it begs the question. While language began with YHWH, in humans it devolved into a tool for evil and strife as James 3:6 says  “Yes, the tongue is a fire, a world of wickedness. The tongue is so placed in our body that it defiles every part of it, setting ablaze the whole of our life; and it is set on fire by Gei-Hinnom itself.”
So when and where did language fall from being the instrument of the Divine image within human beings to the place we find ourselves today where our tongue (the instrument of speech) was “set on fire by Gei-Hinnom itself” and how do we extinguish this “hell fire” to regain the purity of the “real foundation of our ability to communicate” with YHWH and each other?

Judi Baldwin

We humans seems to have a knack for taking God’s good gifts and turning them into something destructive. Only when we keep our eyes, our hearts, and our behavior focused on Him can we avoid these pitfalls…and even then, it’s a challenge.