An expression of happiness pervading both OT and NT. Scattered throughout the OT are references to the happiness derived from sexual love (Song 1:4), married life (Prov 5:18), the birth of children (Ps 113:9), and especially the pleasures of harvest (Deut 26:1-11) and feasting (Eccl 8:15). These, however, merely form the backdrop and establish the metaphors for the far more pervasive exultation in God’s actions on behalf of Israel (Ps 58:10). Under circumstances of oppression, however, the mood became more anticipatory as Israel looked ahead to the joy that would accompany their future deliverance by God (Isa 65:17-19). God’s own joy over this event is also anticipated (Zeph 3:17). The early Christians associated the advent of this ultimate joy with the birth, ministry, and resurrection of Jesus (Luke 2:20; Luke 10:17; Luke 24:52). Paul’s letters are filled with the mood of rejoicing (Phil 4:4), for the realization of joy is both the impetus (1Thess 2:19-20) and the goal (2Cor 1:24) of Paul’s apostolic ministry. Paul and other writers, however, stress the paradox that joy can be experienced in the midst of temporal afflictions, as believers share in the (temporary) sufferings of Christ (2Cor 11:23-12:10; 1Pet 1:6; 1Pet 4:13).
