H6711 — צָחַק (tsachaq)¶
Core Data¶
- Strong's: H6711
- Original: צָחַק
- Transliteration: tsachaq
- Pronunciation: tsaw-khak'
- Part of Speech: Verb (primitive root)
- Occurrences: 12 unique verses (16 tokens) in OT, across 3 books
- First Occurrence: Gen 17:17 — "Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old?"
- Hapax Legomenon: No
Lexicon Definition¶
A primitive root; to laugh outright (in merriment or scorn); by implication, to sport — laugh, mock, play, make sport.
Verb Stem Distribution¶
| Stem | Count | Typical Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Qal | 6 | laugh (spontaneous response — joy, disbelief, or scorn) |
| Piel | 6 | mock, play, sport (intensified/repeated action — caressing, derision, revelry) |
The stem split is remarkably even. Qal forms cluster in the Abraham-Sarah laughter narratives (Gen 17–21). Piel forms carry heavier connotations: mockery (Gen 19:14, 21:9), sexual caressing (Gen 26:8, 39:14, 39:17), and cultic revelry (Exo 32:6).
Translation Distribution (KJV)¶
| Translation | Verses | % |
|---|---|---|
| laugh / laughed | 6 | 50% |
| mock / mocking / mocked | 3 | 25% |
| play | 1 | 8% |
| sport / sporting | 2 | 17% |
Distribution by Book¶
| Book | Count | Per 100 Verses |
|---|---|---|
| Genesis | 10 | 0.7 |
| Judges | 1 | 0.2 |
| Exodus | 1 | 0.1 |
Concentrated almost entirely in Genesis (83%), specifically within the Abraham-Sarah-Isaac cycle (Gen 17–39). The name Isaac (yitschaq, H3327) is derived from this root. Outside Genesis, only two occurrences: the golden calf incident (Exo 32:6) and Samson's humiliation (Jdg 16:25).
Semantic Categories¶
1. Laughter of Disbelief or Astonishment¶
- Gen 17:17 — "Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed [Qal], and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old?"
- Gen 18:12 — "Therefore Sarah laughed [Qal] within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?"
- Gen 18:13 — "And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh [Qal], saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?"
- Gen 18:15 — "Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed [Qal] not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh [Qal]."
2. Laughter of Joy and Celebration¶
- Gen 21:6 — "And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh [noun form, tsechoq], so that all that hear will laugh [Qal] with me."
3. Mockery / Scorn (Piel)¶
- Gen 19:14 — "And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law... and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked [Piel participle] unto his sons in law."
- Gen 21:9 — "And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking [Piel participle]."
4. Sexual Play / Caressing (Piel)¶
- Gen 26:8 — "Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting [Piel participle] with Rebekah his wife."
- Gen 39:14 — "See, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock [Piel infinitive] us; he came in unto me to lie with me" (Potiphar's wife accusing Joseph).
- Gen 39:17 — "The Hebrew servant, which thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock [Piel infinitive] me."
5. Cultic Revelry / Idolatrous Play (Piel)¶
- Exo 32:6 — "And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play [Piel infinitive]."
6. Forced Entertainment / Humiliation¶
- Jdg 16:25 — "And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport."
Common Collocations¶
| Word | Strong's | Co-occurrences | Typical Pattern |
|---|---|---|---|
| שָׂרָה (Sarah) | H8283 | 6x (50%) | Sarah as subject or observer of laughter |
| אַבְרָהָם (Abraham) | H85 | 3x (25%) | Abraham as subject or context for laughter |
| יָלַד (yalad) | H3205 | 3x (25%) | Laughter connected to miraculous birth |
| רָאָה (ra'ah) | H7200 | 3x (25%) | Seeing that triggers or accompanies laughter/mockery |
| לֵב (leb) | H3820 | 2x (17%) | Internal laughter — "laughed in his heart," "within herself" |
| עִבְרִי (Ivri) | H5680 | 2x (17%) | "Hebrew" — in Potiphar's wife's accusations |
The collocation profile is dominated by the Abraham-Sarah birth narrative. The word is embedded in a specific literary context rather than distributed across general theological vocabulary.
Related Words¶
Word Family / Cognates¶
- H6712 צְחֹק (tsechoq) — noun: laughter (2 occurrences: Gen 21:6, Eze 23:32)
- H3327 יִצְחָק (Yitschaq / Isaac) — proper noun derived from this root: "he laughs" — the patriarchal name commemorating the laughter of Gen 17–21
- H7832 שָׂחַק (sachaq) — near-synonym from same semantic field: to laugh, play, rejoice (36 occurrences); broader usage including wisdom personified "playing" (Prov 8:30–31), children playing (Zech 8:5), divine laughter (Ps 2:4 uses sachaq, not tsachaq)
Easily Confused Words¶
| Word | Strong's | Shared Translation | Key Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| שָׂחַק (sachaq) | H7832 | "laugh," "play," "sport" | sachaq is the more common synonym (36v vs 12v); used for divine laughter (Ps 2:4, 37:13, 59:8), wisdom at play (Prov 8:30–31), and general merriment; tsachaq is narrower and more narratively bound to the Abraham cycle |
| לָעַג (laag) | H3932 | "mock," "scorn" | laag emphasizes verbal derision and contempt (18v); tsachaq's mockery shades into physical action and play |
| לוּץ (luts) | H3887 | "mock," "scorn" | luts denotes the habitual scoffer (wisdom literature); tsachaq is situational, not characterological |
Semantic Domain¶
- Domain: Rejoice
- Other words in domain: אֹשֶׁר (H837), גיל (H1523), גִּיל (H1524), גִּילָה (H1525), הלל (H1984)
LXX Mapping¶
| Greek Equivalent | Co-occurrences | PMI | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| γελάω (gelao) G1070 | 4 | 9.42 | "to laugh" — maps the Qal joy/disbelief sense |
| παίζω (paizo) G3815 | 4 | 7.98 | "to play/sport" — maps the Piel play/revelry sense; used for Exo 32:6 in LXX |
| ἐμπαίζω (empaizo) G1702 | 3 | 8.08 | "to mock/jeer" — maps the Piel mockery sense; compound of en + paizo |
The LXX translators consistently distinguished between the Qal and Piel stems: gelao for straightforward laughter, paizo/empaizo for the intensified play/mockery senses. Paul quotes Exo 32:6 in 1 Cor 10:7 using paizo, preserving the LXX's rendering of the Piel.
Generated from: gather_word_data.py, hebrew_parser.py, search_relationships.py Last updated: 2026-04-30