The Pleasure Principle (1)

Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Lord, why have You brought harm to this people? Why did You ever send me? Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done harm to this people, and You have not rescued Your people at all.”  Exodus 5:22-23

Have not rescued – Today I’ll share with you some of the research behind the question, “Is it possible to experience pleasure in serving God?”  That might seem to be a strange question simply because our immediate, trained, religious reaction would be, “Yes, of course.”  But now that we’ve spent so much time looking at Job’s story, and now that we’ve had time to reflect on the reality of our own unfiltered experiences, perhaps the question isn’t so odd.  Much of our experience serving God seems to be laced with sorrow, suffering, and even disappointment.  Maybe we need to start this investigation by understanding what the Greek and Hebrew terms are for “pleasure.”  [This is going to take some time]

Here are the Greek terms:

Greek

aréskō (as in 1 Thessalonians 2:4)

the Greek background:

aréskō originally meant “to set up a positive relation,” hence “to make peace,” then aesthetically “to please,” with such nuances as a. “to be well disposed,” b. “to take a pleasant attitude,” and c. “to please.”

In the NT the word means “to please” in Mk. 6:22; Acts 6:5, “to please oneself” in Rom. 15:1ff., “to please” in expression of an attitude or approach in 1 Th. 2:4; Gal. 1:10; Rom. 8:8; 1 Th. 2:15; 4:1.^[1]

euárestos, euarestéō (as in Romans 8:8: “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God”).

euárestos, euarestéō. Meaning “well-pleasing,” “acceptable,” euárestos in the NT always (except in Tit. 2:9) refers to God, and is never an evaluation (except in Phil. 4:18, describing the Philippians’ gifts) but always the goal of the Christian life (e.g., Rom. 12:1–2; 14:18; Col. 3:20), so that we are constantly to test what is euáreston(Eph. 5:10).^[2]

An example: Hebrews 13:16
“Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”

hēdonḗ (as in James 4:1)

1. 1. General Greek Usage. 1. Semasiological Development. a. Derived from the root hēdýs (“sweet,” “pleasant,” “delightful”), hēdonḗ first means what is pleasant to the taste, then to the senses in general, then what gives pleasure. b. The word then comes to mean the “desire for pleasure” (cf. Jms. 4:1 and perhaps Tit. 3:3). c. A final development is for that which kindles desire or pleasure (e.g., good news), or for pleasure with an enumeration of the pleasures at issue, with a tendency in the NT period to take on the sense of “sensual lust.”
   2. Ethical Evaluation. For the Greeks, hēdonḗ is ambivalent. It belongs to bíos and enriches it, yet it may also threaten and dissolve its true meaning. In Plato and Aristotle it may be noble pleasure in the good, true, and beautiful, and thus equivalent to chará (joy). But it may also be sensual pleasure, and hēdonokrasía is surrender to a life of dissipation. The restriction of meaning brings a decline in estimation and makes it the opposite of aretḗ.^[3]

hēdonḗ (as the opposite of lýpē)^[4]

1. 2. hēdonḗ and Man’s Relationship to God.
   3. hēdonḗ stands opposed to God. Those who disrupt the church in 2 Tim. 3:4 are lovers of pleasure (philḗdonoi) rather than lovers of God philótheoi). Love of the world is enmity against God, and yielding to hēdonái is disloyalty to him (Jms. 4:1ff.). It influences our relation to God’s will and word and to prayer.
   4. Human hēdonḗ opposes God’s will, for we live either according to this will or our own desires (cf. 1 Pet. 4:2). Cf. the evil impulse in the rabbis.
   5. It struggles, then, against God’s word (Lk. 8:14), which epithymíai are said to choke in Mk. 4:19. Cf. again the rabbinic evil impulse.^[5]
2. ēdonaí are the enemy of man no less than God, as we learn from the three biblical images that describe their operation: conflict, slavery, and thorns. hēdonaí bring constant conflict (Jms. 4:1ff.) instead of the peace (peace with God and peace of soul, Rom. 5:1; 15:13) that we have in Christ. This conflict is with God (Jms. 4:4), with others (v. 1), and probably with the self as well (v. 2; cf. Gal. 5:17; 1 Pet. 2:11; Rom. 7:23). Parallels for this inner conflict may be found in Thucydides, the rabbis, Philo, and Hermas among the apostolic fathers. In James, however the main stress is on the conflict with others.
3. If we will not fight hēdonaí, or are defeated by them, we become their slaves^[6]

It is the opposite of

lýpē, lypéō.

1. The Greek Understanding of lýpē.
2. lýpē means “pain,” “sorrow,” lypeín is “to cause pain,” and lypeísthai “to experience sorrow.” Both physical pain and mental anguish are covered by the words. Physically the pain is especially that caused by hunger, thirst, heat, cold, or sickness, while mentally it is especially the anguish of misfortune, death, annoyance, insult, or outrage.
3. Pain alternates with joy (hēdonḗ) in the Greek view of things. There is a natural desire to live without it, yet life in mere hēdonḗ would be vegetating.^[7]

eudokéō

eudokéō outside the NT. Developed from eú dokeí tiní ti, this popular Hellenistic word occurs in papyri and inscriptions as well as the LXX in various constructions.

1. 1. Its usual sense is “to take pleasure or delight in,” e.g., God in his people, or in the righteous, or in an offering, but also humans in the sanctuary, or the sabbath, or the truth. b. A further sense is “to decide for,” “to select,” “to prefer,” and even “to adopt.” c. From this evolves the sense “to want,” “to will,” “to be willing or ready.” d. A more social meaning is “to agree,” “consent,” “acquiesce,” “concede,” “comply.” e. Outside the Bible we often find “to be satisfied,” “happy.”^[8]

 Hebrew

רָצָה (rāṣâ)  be pleased with, be favorable to.

Derivative

2207a        רָצוֹן (rāṣôn) pleasure, delight, favor.^[9]

(rāṣôn). Pleasure, delight, favor. This masculine noun occurs over fifty times in the ot. It carries three major shades of meaning. The primary one is the “favor” or “good will” of God (Deut 33:16; Isa 60:10; Ps 5:12 [H 13]; 30:6, 8 et al). The root also refers to the “pleasure” or “favor” of kings (Prov only, 14:35; 16:13, 15) and all men (Prov 10:32; 11:27 et al.).

The second shade of meaning is the “delight” or “acceptance” of an individual (Ex 28:38) and always in a religious or ritual sense. The word rāṣôn describes the “permissibility” or “acceptance” of a gift or sacrifice (Lev 1:3; 22:20; Isa 56:7 et al.).

The third shade of meaning which attaches to this word is “desire,” “pleasure” in the specific sense of “will,” as the “will” of God (Ezr 10:11; Ps 40:9 et al.). Even more texts describe the “desire” or “will” of man (II Chr 15:15; Dan 8:4 et al.).^[10]

rāṣôn in the OT.

1. 1. This word, used some 56 times in the OT, mostly denotes God’s good pleasure: a. in sacrifices (Lev. 19:5 etc.), b. more generally as God’s “favor” (Ps. 5:12 etc.), e.g., God’s blessings (Dt. 32:33), and c. as the divine “will” (Ps. 40:8).
   2. Less commonly the term expresses a human disposition, either a. bad, “caprice,” “arrogance,” or “partiality” (cf. Gen. 49:6; Dan. 8:4) or b. good, royal “favor” (Prov. 14:35) or mutual “delight” (Prov. 14:9), and cf. c. the setting of the will of the righteous on God (Ps. 145:19; 2 Chr. 15:15).^[11]

חָפֵץ (ḥāpēṣ)  I, take delight in, be pleased with, desire.

Derivatives

712a          חָפֵץ (ḥāpēṣ) delighting in.

712b          חֵפֶץ (ḥēpeṣ) delight.

The basic meaning is to feel great favor towards something. Its meaning differs from the parallel roots, ḥāmad, ḥāšaq, and rāṣâ, in that they connote less emotional involvement. ḥāmad and ḥāšaq are usually translated “desire,” and rāṣâ “accept,” favor being based on need, or judgment of approval. In the case of ḥāpēṣ, the object solicits favor by its own intrinsic qualities. The subject is easily attracted to it because it is desirable. A fourth root, gîl, somewhat parallel, connotes even greater emotional involvement. Here the subject gives expression to his delight in a joyful attitude and conduct. The root ḥāpēṣ is used more frequently than the other words, a total of 123 times, including the verb and its derivatives.^[12]

חָמַד (ḥāmad)   חָמַד (ḥāmad)   desire, beauty, pleasant, precious

חָשַׁק (ḥāšaq)  be attached to, love^[13]

 in the case of emotions (to which the biblical usage is limited) it is that love which is already bound to its object. It should be distinguished from ʾāhab “love,” ʾāwâ “desire, wish,” ḥāmad “desire, take pleasure in.”^[14]  A deep inward attachment.

Now we’ve collected our vocabulary and examined the cultural meanings.  Next is the analysis and the application to our initial question.  But enough for today.

Topical Index: pleasure, aréskō, euárestos, hēdonḗ, lýpē, eudokéō, rāṣâ, ḥāpēṣ, ḥāmad, ḥāšaq, Exodus 5:22-23