to delight in
cha.phets denotes taking pleasure in someone or something, and also wanting or choosing a course or outcome.
The verb most often marks pleasure or favorable regard toward a person, object, or practice; it also marks wanting, choosing, or intending an action or outcome. The same wording can express either an approving disposition or a stated preference, depending on whether the clause concerns enjoyment of someone or a decision about what is to be done.
Senses in use
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Taking pleasure or favorable regard · dominant
The Qal forms describe delight directed toward people, things, or practices: in 1 Samuel 19:1 Jonathan's favorable disposition is toward David, and in 2 Samuel 22:20 rescue is linked to the LORD's favorable regard for the speaker. In Hosea 6:6 the first-person form contrasts kindness with sacrifice, while Ezekiel 33:11 denies pleasure in the death of the wicked and contrasts it with their turning and living.
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Wanting, choosing, or intending · common
In clauses about actions and outcomes, the verb marks a person's or ruler's preference: Deuteronomy 25:7 concerns a man who does not wish to take his brother's wife, and Esther 6:6 asks what should be done for the man the king wishes to honor. Isaiah 53:10 presents the LORD's will concerning the crushing described in the verse, and Jonah 1:14 attributes the event to what the LORD pleased to do.
In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB variously renders the surrounding clauses with “delights,” “pleasure,” “wish,” “will,” and “pleased.” Because its English is a whole-verse translation, these renderings show the verse-level contexts rather than fixed English equivalents.