taava · desire; delight

What it means

taava (תַּאֲוָה) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “desire; delight”.

Strong desire; something attractive, a delight.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. A strong longing, good or bad.
2. Something pleasant that attracts.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• desire ×12
• craving ×3
• desirable ×2
• what they craved ×2
• delight ×1
• desires ×1

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Genesis×1
• Numbers×1
• 1 Samuel×1
• Job×1
• Psalms×8
• Proverbs×8
• Isaiah×1

• Genesis 3:6

  And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable for gaining insight; and she took of its fruit and ate, and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

• Numbers 11:4

  And the crowd that was among them felt a great desire, and the sons of Israel also wept again and said, “Who will give us to eat meat?

• 1 Samuel 2:16

  And the man would say to him, “Let them surely offer up the fat in smoke first, then take for yourself whatever your soul desires”; and he would say, “No, but now you will give it; and if not, I will take it by force.”

• Job 33:20

  so that his life loathes bread, and his soul desirable food.

• Psalms 10:3

  For the wicked boasts of the desire of his soul, and the greedy one curses, spurns YHWH.

• Psalms 10:17

  The desire of the humble you have heard, YHWH; you make firm their heart, you make your ear attentive

• Psalms 21:2

  The desire of his heart you have given him, and the entreaty of his lips you have not withheld. Selah.

• Psalms 38:9

  Adonai, before you is all my desire, and my groaning from you is not hidden.

• Psalms 78:29

  And they ate and were filled greatly, and what they craved he brought them.

• Psalms 78:30

  They had not turned away from what they craved; their food was still in their mouths,

• Psalms 106:14

  And they had a great craving in the wilderness, and put El to the test in the desert.

• Psalms 112:10

  The wicked will see it and be vexed; he will grind his teeth and melt away; the desire of the wicked will perish.

• Proverbs 10:24

  What the wicked dreads, that will come upon him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted.

• Proverbs 11:23

  The desire of the righteous is only good; the hope of the wicked is fury.

• Proverbs 13:12

  Hope deferred makes sick the heart, but a tree of life is desire fulfilled.

• Proverbs 13:19

  Desire fulfilled is sweet to the soul, but an abomination to the senseless is turning away from evil.

• Proverbs 18:1

  One who separates himself seeks his own desire; against all sound judgment he breaks out.

• Proverbs 19:22

  What is desirable in a man is his loyal love, and better is a poor man than a man who lies.

• Proverbs 21:25

  The craving of the sluggard will kill him, for his hands refuse to work.

• Proverbs 21:26

  All day long he craves with craving, but the righteous gives and does not hold back.

• Isaiah 26:8

  Yes, in the path of your judgments, YHWH, we have waited for you; to your name and to your remembrance is the desire of our soul.