Christian Pure

12 Bible Verses About Smiling

Christian Pure Team

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Published

Summary

  • In Job 29:24 the NIV’s “smiled” translates sachaq, to laugh, which is why the King James Version reads “If I laughed on them.”
  • In Job 9:27-28 Job imagines deciding to smile and says he would still dread his sufferings.
  • Proverbs 15:13 says a happy heart makes the face cheerful, and in Nehemiah 2:2 King Artaxerxes reads sadness of heart in Nehemiah’s face.
  • “The light of the face” marks a cheerful face (Job 29:24) and favour from a king (Proverbs 16:15) and from God (Psalm 4:6; Psalm 44:3).
  • Numbers 6:24-26 is a priestly blessing asking for God’s face to shine on Israel, and Psalm 31:16 and Psalm 80:3 make the same request in prayer.

The Old Testament describes a smile in terms of light. Job remembers that when he smiled at people, “the light of my face was precious to them” (Job 29:24), and the same light marks a king’s favour (Proverbs 16:15) and God’s (Psalm 4:6; Psalm 44:3). Proverbs says that “a happy heart makes the face cheerful” (Proverbs 15:13), and the blessing given to Aaron’s sons asks that “the LORD make his face shine on you” (Numbers 6:25), a request Psalm 31:16…

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Bibliography (Click to show)

Scripture quotations are from the New International Version.

King James Version, Job 29:24: “If I laughed on them, they believed it not.” biblegateway.com

Strong’s Hebrew 216, אוֹר (or): light; Brown-Driver-Briggs glosses “light of face” as a “bright, cheerful face” of people (Job 29:24), a king’s favour (Proverbs 16:15) and God’s “favouring face.” biblehub.com/hebrew/216

Strong’s Hebrew 215, אוּר (or): to be or become light, to shine; used in Numbers 6:25, Psalm 31:16 and Psalm 80:3, and once of a human face, Ecclesiastes 8:1. biblehub.com/hebrew/215

Strong’s Hebrew 1082, בָּלַג (balag): “shew a smile, look cheerful,” at Job 9:27. biblehub.com/hebrew/1082

Strong’s Hebrew 7832, שָׂחַק (sachaq): to laugh, to play; a friendly laugh at Job 29:24. biblehub.com/hebrew/7832

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