Original Word: צְחַק
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: tsachaq
Pronunciation: tsaw-khak'
Phonetic Spelling: (tsaw-khak')
KJV: laugh, mock, play, make sport
NASB: laugh, laughed, make sport, caressing, jesting, mocking, play
Word Origin: [a primitive root]

1. to laugh outright (in merriment or scorn)
2. (by implication) to sport

laugh, mock, play, make sport

A primitive root; to laugh outright (in merriment or scorn); by implication, to sport -- laugh, mock, play, make sport.

Word Origin
a prim. root
Definition
to laugh
NASB Translation
caressing (1), entertained* (1), jesting (1), laugh (4), laughed (2), make sport (2), mocking (1), play (1).

[צָחַק] verb laugh (Arabic , laugh, Syriac , compare Ba^{Es 34}; see also שׂחק); —

Qal Perfect3feminine singular צָֽחֲקָה Genesis 18:13, etc.; Imperfect3masculine singular יִצֲחַקֿ Genesis 21:6, וַיִּצְחָ֑ק Genesis 17:17; 3feminine singular וַתִּצְחַק Genesis 18:12; — laugh, Genesis 18:12,13,15 (twice in verse) (J), Genesis 17:17 (P); with ל at, concerning, Genesis 21:6.

Pi`el Imperfect וַיְצַחֵק Judges 16:25; Infinitive construct לְצַחֵק Exodus 32:6, לְצַ֫חֶק בָּנוּ (בִּיׅ Genesis 39:14,17; Participle מְצַחֵק Genesis 19:14; Genesis 26:8, מְצַחֶ֑ק Genesis 21:9; —

1 jest Genesis 19:14 (J).

2 sport, play Genesis 21:9 (E) Exodus 32:6 (J); make sport for Judges 16:25 (לִפְנֵי; "" וִישַׂחֶקלָֿ֑נוּ); toy with (אֶת), of conjugal caresses Genesis 26:8 (compare Doughty^{Arab. Des. i. 231}), make a toy of, with ב, Genesis 39:14,17 (all J).

Root Idea and Emotive Spectrum

צְחַק ranges from wholesome delight to cynical mockery. Scripture presents it in four primary shades: (1) incredulous laughter at God’s promise, (2) joyful amazement when the promise arrives, (3) sensual or frivolous “playing,” and (4) malicious sport made at another’s expense. The same sound of laughter can therefore signal faith or unbelief, purity or impurity.

Genesis Occurrences: Covenant Laughter and Derision

Abraham “fell facedown and laughed” when first told Sarah would bear a son in her old age (Genesis 17:17). Sarah echoed the laugh behind the tent flap: “So Sarah laughed to herself” (Genesis 18:12). The Lord exposed the hidden heart, “Why did Sarah laugh…? Is anything too difficult for the LORD?” (Genesis 18:13-14). These early uses reveal doubt mingled with dawning hope. When Isaac is born, Sarah proclaims, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears of this will laugh with me” (Genesis 21:6). The name Isaac memorializes redeemed laughter, binding the patriarchal promise to a sound of joy that will ripple through covenant history.

A darker tone returns when “Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking” (Genesis 21:9). Ishmael’s scornful laughter confirms the flesh’s enmity toward promise and helps explain Paul’s later allegory in Galatians 4:29.

Domestic Intimacy and Public Misreading: Genesis 26:8

When Abimelech spies Isaac “caressing” Rebekah (BSB: “Isaac was caressing his wife Rebekah”), the same root captures marital tenderness. What is pure within marriage is misread in the palace courts, demonstrating how context distinguishes innocent play from illicit conduct.

False Accusation and Personal Integrity: Genesis 39:14, 17

Potiphar’s wife twists צְחַק into a weapon: “Look, he has brought us a Hebrew to mock us” (Genesis 39:14). Her repeated charge (“This Hebrew slave came to me to make sport of me,” verse 17) portrays righteous Joseph as a lecherous jester. The episode warns that godliness may still be slandered as moral play-acting.

Corporate Rejoicing or Carnal Revelry? Exodus 32:6

“Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to revel” (Exodus 32:6). The golden-calf scene shows collective laughter unhitched from covenant obedience. When worship loses its object, celebration devolves into idolatrous sport—an enduring caution for congregational life.

Cruel Entertainment: Judges 16:25

Philistines summon blind Samson “to entertain them,” reveling in the humiliation of the LORD’s judge. צְחַק here depicts enemies exalting themselves over God’s servant, yet the jest ends with their ruin, illustrating divine reversal.

Theology of Laughter

1. God hears every laugh, discerning between unbelief and faith.
2. Fulfilled promise transforms skeptical laughter into worshipful joy.
3. Mockery of sacred things invites judgment (Proverbs 14:9; implicit in Exodus 32 and Judges 16).
4. Covenant laughter ultimately points forward. Luke 1:58 echoes Genesis 21:6 when neighbors “shared her joy” at John’s birth, and Jesus proclaims, “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh” (Luke 6:21).

Pastoral and Homiletical Reflections

• Encourage believers to bring incredulity to God; He can turn it into praise.
• Guard corporate gatherings so that celebration does not drift into fleshly revelry.
• Teach that marital joy is honorable, yet susceptible to misunderstanding in a fallen world.
• Warn against derision of the things of God; what begins in laughter may end in collapse, as with the Philistines.

Christological and Eschatological Horizon

The Child of promise named “He Laughs” foreshadows the greater Son through whom all nations will one day shout for joy. At Calvary the crowds “sneered,” but resurrection converts scorn to glad tidings. The consummation anticipates “the ransomed of the LORD… everlasting joy will crown their heads” (Isaiah 35:10). In that day צְחַק will know only one register—holy, unending delight in the faithfulness of God.

וַיְצַחֵק֙ וַיִּצְחָ֑ק וַתִּצְחַ֥ק ויצחק ותצחק יִֽצְחַק־ יצחק־ כִמְצַחֵ֖ק כמצחק לְצַ֣חֶק לְצַ֥חֶק לְצַחֵֽק׃ לצחק לצחק׃ מְצַחֵ֔ק מְצַחֵֽק׃ מצחק מצחק׃ צָחֲקָ֨ה צָחַ֖קְתִּי צָחָֽקְתְּ׃ צחקה צחקת׃ צחקתי chimtzaChek ḵim·ṣa·ḥêq ḵimṣaḥêq lə·ṣa·ḥeq lə·ṣa·ḥêq ləṣaḥeq ləṣaḥêq leTzachek mə·ṣa·ḥêq məṣaḥêq metzaChek ṣā·ḥă·qāh ṣā·ḥā·qət ṣā·ḥaq·tî ṣāḥăqāh ṣāḥāqət ṣāḥaqtî tzachaKah tzaChaket tzaChakti vaiyitzChak vattitzChak vaytzaChek wat·tiṣ·ḥaq wattiṣḥaq way·ṣa·ḥêq way·yiṣ·ḥāq wayṣaḥêq wayyiṣḥāq yiṣ·ḥaq- yiṣḥaq- yitzchakInterlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts