Joy

Greek word - (chara G5479)

Quiz - Choose the answer that is closest to what you think JOY is.
A - a girl's name
B - happiness
C - an emotion of great happiness
D - an inner happiness that only comes from God

Problem - Outdated, Misused

KJV Example - "When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy." (Matthew 2:10)

Explanation

Joy is an outdated word for happiness. The word, joy, actually preceded the word, happiness, in English history. Before the word, happiness, existed, joy was the word that expressed the idea of happiness.

Joy was happiness. That is what it meant when it was put in the English Bible.

As a verb, it still has this meaning. "I was joyed to see you" means "I was happy to see you."

But walk into the doors of the church and things change. All of a sudden joy is not happiness. I have heard this stated many times in church. There it is taught that joy is something greater than happiness. It is an inner happiness that only God gives to Christians.

This is fabricated. It is false.

Joy is simply an outdated word for happiness.

When words become outdated, it is easy for someone to make up a definition for it. Unfortunately, it happens frequently in Christian circles. People accept it because they don't know better.

But when a word is in common everyday usage, the listener knows what the word means, and it is harder for someone to give it a false definition.

If joy is not happiness, what Greek word means happiness in the Bible? The King James Version translates makarios (G3107) as happy six times, but that word means blessed and is translated as such 44 times.

If joy is a special inner happiness that only God gives, where does that idea come from? The dictionaries don't say that. The word itself or its etymology does not imply that. And the Bible does not say that. Surely, if that were true, the Bible would say it, but it doesn't.

In fact, if you take that definition and plug it into every time joy appears in the Bible, it does not fit. Happiness does.

In the Bible, joy is happiness.

Modern Synonym - happiness

Bible Version Tally (how other versions translate this word) - joy (or a form of it, 47 of 52), glad (1 of 52), excitement (3 of 52)

Breakthrough Version - "When they saw the star, they were terribly happy with great happiness." (Matthew 2:10)