H7522 — רָצוֹן (râtsôwn)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H7522
Original: רָצוֹן
Transliteration: râtsôwn
Pronunciation: raw-tsone'
Part of Speech: Masculine noun
Root: רָצָה (râtsâh, H7521) — to be pleased with, to accept favourably
Occurrences: 56 unique verses (60 tokens) in 14 books
First Occurrence: Gen 49:6 — "in their selfwill they digged down a wall"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From H7521; delight (especially as shown):—(be) acceptable(-ance, -ed), delight, desire, favour, (good) pleasure, (own, self, voluntary) will, as...(what) would.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
acceptable / acceptance / accepted	9	16%
favour / with favour / his favour	9	16%
delight / his delight / the delight	6	11%
will / according to his will / own will	9	16%
pleasure / his pleasure / at their pleasure	5	9%
desire / the desire	3	5%
good will / good pleasure	2	4%
Other (selfwill, as they would, etc.)	13	23%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Proverbs	14	1.5
Psalms	13	0.5
Isaiah	6	0.5
Leviticus	7	0.8
Daniel	4	1.1
Esther	2	1.2
Deuteronomy	2	0.2
Nehemiah	2	0.5
Malachi	1	1.8
Ezra	1	0.4
2 Chronicles	1	0.1
Genesis	1	0.1
Exodus	1	0.1
Jeremiah	1	0.1

Concentration notes: Highest density in Malachi, Esther, and Daniel. Proverbs dominates by raw count (14x). Strongly a wisdom + cultic + royal vocabulary word. Absent from most historical books.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Acceptable / Voluntary Offering (Cultic)¶

Used in Levitical law for offerings that are "acceptable" before the LORD, or for freewill/voluntary offerings offered at one's own discretion.

Lev 1:3 — "he shall offer it at your own will (râtsôwn) before the LORD"
Lev 22:20 — "whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer: for it shall not be acceptable (râtsôwn) for you"
Lev 23:11 — "he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted (râtsôwn) for you"
Exod 28:38 — "Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things... that they may be accepted (râtsôwn) before the LORD"

2. God's Favour / Grace Toward His People¶

The LORD's gracious, favourable disposition shown to individuals or Israel — often contrasted with wrath or hiding of face.

Psalm 5:12 — "with favour (râtsôwn) wilt thou compass him as with a shield"
Psalm 30:5 — "in his favour (râtsôwn) is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning"
Psalm 89:17 — "in thy favour (râtsôwn) our horn shall be exalted"
Isa 60:10 — "in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour (râtsôwn) have I had mercy on thee"

3. Delight of the Righteous / What Is Pleasing (Wisdom)¶

Proverbs uses râtsôwn for what is deeply pleasing or delightful — to God or to a king — often in antithesis to abomination (תּוֹעֵבַה).

Prov 11:1 — "a just weight is his delight (râtsôwn)" [contrasted with false balance as abomination]
Prov 12:22 — "they that deal truly are his delight (râtsôwn)" [contrasted with lying lips as abomination]
Prov 16:13 — "righteous lips are the delight (râtsôwn) of kings"
Prov 15:8 — "the prayer of the upright is his delight (râtsôwn)"

4. Acceptable Time / Year of Divine Favour¶

An appointed season in which God acts graciously; the phrase עֵת רָצוֹן ("time of favour") is a recurring idiom.

Isa 49:8 — "In an acceptable time (râtsôwn) have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee"
Isa 61:2 — "To proclaim the acceptable year (râtsôwn) of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God"
Psalm 69:13 — "my prayer is unto thee, O LORD, in an acceptable time (râtsôwn)"
Psalm 51:18 — "Do good in thy good pleasure (râtsôwn) unto Zion"

5. A Sovereign's Will / Decree¶

The will or pleasure of a king — what he decides and enacts as royal authority; prominent in Daniel and Esther.

Dan 11:3 — "a mighty king shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will (râtsôwn)"
Dan 11:36 — "the king shall do according to his will; he shall exalt himself above every god"
Esth 1:8 — "the drinking was according to the law; the king had appointed to all officers of his house that they should do according to every man's pleasure (râtsôwn)"
Dan 8:4 — the ram "did according to his will (râtsôwn), and became great"

6. Doing God's Will (Devotional Obedience)¶

The worshipper's personal desire and delight to do God's will — a willing, voluntary orientation of the heart.

Psalm 40:8 — "I delight to do thy will (râtsôwn), O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart"
Psalm 103:21 — "ministers of his, that do his pleasure (râtsôwn)"
Psalm 143:10 — "Teach me to do thy will (râtsôwn); for thou art my God"
Psalm 145:19 — "He will fulfil the desire (râtsôwn) of them that fear him"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
יְהֹוָה (Yᵉhôvâh)	H3068	26x (46%)	"favour of the LORD," "acceptable to the LORD," "delight of the LORD"
עָשָׂה (ʻâsâh)	H6213	14x (25%)	"do according to his will/pleasure"
מֶלֶךְ (melek)	H4428	10x (18%)	"the king's favour/pleasure/will"
פָּנִים (pânîym)	H6440	9x (16%)	"favour before [lit. face of] the LORD"
זֶבַח (zebach)	H2077	6x (11%)	"sacrifice...acceptable to the LORD"
תּוֹעֵבַה (tôwʻêbah)	H8441	4x (7%)	antithesis: "abomination vs. delight" in Proverbs
טוֹב (ṭôwb)	H2896	5x (9%)	"good pleasure," "obtain favour"
עָמַד (ʻâmad)	H5975	4x (7%)	"none could stand before him" (Dan 11 context)

Word Family / Cognates¶

H7521 רָצָה (râtsâh) — root verb: to be pleased with, to accept, to be favourable; 57x. The verb underlying râtsôwn.
H7520 רָצַד (râtsad) — adjacent root: to look askance (rare)
H7523 רָצַח (râtsach) — adjacent root: to murder (false cognate by spelling; unrelated semantically)

Synonyms¶

H157 אָהַב (ʼâhab) — love; tool-returned overlap in the field of delight and favorable disposition.
H1293 בְּרָכָה (bᵉrâkâh) — blessing; favor expressed as beneficent bestowal.
H3444 יְשׁוּעָה (yᵉshûwʻâh) — salvation / deliverance; a tool-returned positive correlate where favor brings help.
H5359 נָקָם (nâqâm) — vengeance; a secondary tool-returned association, likely via sovereign reversal rather than the core cultic sense.

Antonyms¶

H637 אַף (ʼaph) — anger; opposite disposition to favor.
H3887 לוּץ (lûwts) — scorn / mock; the opposite of delight or acceptance.
H5099 נָהַם (nâham) — growl / roar; a tool-returned contrast term associated with agitation rather than goodwill.
H5678 עֶבְרָה (ʻebrâh) — wrath / overflowing fury; direct contrast to gracious favor.
H7110 קֶצֶף (qetseph) — indignation; opposite of pleasing acceptance.
תַּהְפֻּכֹות — perversities / crookedness; the opposite of what is acceptable or well-pleasing.
H8441 תּוֹעֵבָה (tôwʻêbâh) — abomination; Proverbs repeatedly sets abomination over against delight.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
חֵפֶץ (chêphets)	H2656	both "delight," "pleasure," "desire"	chêphets = concrete delight/desire in a thing or matter (often: "delight in the commandments"); râtsôwn = gracious acceptance/favour shown toward someone, or willing consent
חֵן (ḥēn)	H2580	both "favour"	ḥēn = unmerited grace shown to the weak (often in the phrase "find grace in your eyes"); râtsôwn = the pleased, willing acceptance of an offering or person
רְעוּת (rᵉʻûwth)	H7470	both "pleasure," "desire"	rᵉʻûwth is Aramaic; used in Ezra/Daniel for royal desire; râtsôwn is the Hebrew equivalent
תַּאֲוָה (taʼăvâh)	H8378	both "desire"	taʼăvâh = strong craving, longing (often with negative connotation); râtsôwn = pleased acceptance, good will

UBS Semantic Domains¶

Code	Domain Label	Notes
002001002028	Willing	Captures willing acceptance and favorable disposition at the heart of râtsôwn.
002003002003	Bless	Covers the beneficent, goodwill side of favor.
002004002001001	Wish	Fits the volitional sense in royal and personal "will / pleasure" usages.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI Score	Notes
δεκτός (dektós)	G1184	23x	26.39	Primary equivalent — "accepted, acceptable, propitious"
εὐδοκία (eudokía)	G2107	7x	17.31	"good pleasure, goodwill" — esp. for God's favour
θέλημα (thélēma)	G2307	11x	17.24	"will, desire" — esp. for sovereign will (Dan 11)
ἀρεστός (arestós)	G701	3x	8.35	"pleasing, fit"
χάρις (cháris)	G5485	4x	7.24	"grace, favour" — when râtsôwn = ḥēn-like favour
θυσία (thysía)	G2378	7x	6.89	"sacrifice" — contextual rendering in cultic passages
εὐχή (euchḗ)	G2171	3x	5.72	"prayer, vow" — in cultic/devotional contexts

Primary bridge: G1184 δεκτός (co-occ 23x, PMI 26.39) — carries into NT via Luke 4:19 ("acceptable year of the Lord"), Acts 10:35, 2 Cor 6:2, Phil 4:18.