Lexicon
שְׂחֹק
se.choq
H7814
H:N-M Hebrew

laughter

15
Occurrences
6
Books
Hebrew
Language

se.choq denotes laughter, whether joyful expression or the derision directed at a person.

The noun most often names laughter as an expressed or contemplated human response, including celebratory filling of the mouth and laughter judged fleeting or foolish; it also marks the condition of becoming an object of public derision.

Senses in use

  1. Laughter as expression or conduct · dominant

    The singular noun occurs where a mouth is filled and lips answer with a shout in Job 8:21, and where a mouth is filled in response to the LORD's great acts in Psalm 126:2. It is also evaluated in Ecclesiastes 2:2, Ecclesiastes 7:3, Ecclesiastes 7:6, and Proverbs 14:13: the APB renders clauses that call it mad, contrast it with sorrow, compare a fool's laughter to crackling thorns, or place heart-pain amid it.

  2. Being made an object of derision · common

    In these singular absolute-noun clauses, a person or people becomes the target of others' response: Jeremiah 20:7 and Lamentations 3:14 describe the speaker as a public object of mockery, while Jeremiah 48:26, Jeremiah 48:27, and Jeremiah 48:39 describe Moab or Israel in that condition. Job 12:4 similarly places the speaker before a neighbor as “laughter.”

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly uses “laughter,” including scenes of filled mouths, sorrow, and foolish conduct, while in Jeremiah and Lamentations it uses “laughingstock” for clauses in which someone becomes a target of mockery. These renderings reflect whole-verse translation rather than word-by-word alignment.

Passages featuring this word

Across Scripture