One thing I love about German is its ability to create new compound words out of separate words. The best known in English is probably ‘Schadenfreude‘ which has no English equivalent (it means taking pleasure in someone else’s misfortune, which is such a mouthful that there’s no wonder we have adopted their word!)
The word ‘Freude‘ means joy, and the Germans simply build on this by prefixing the noun with other words to describe why they are joyful. A friend of mine this week thanked me for her birthday present which had arrived early, increasing her ‘Vorfreude’. She didn’t know how to translate this into English, which was no reflection on her linguistic ability – there is no English equivalent! What she meant was the joy of anticipating opening her present.
German has a whole host of compound words connected to joy. If you’re fortunate to enjoy your work, that is ‘Arbeitsfreude.’ If you enjoy a particularly nice meal, this is ‘ Gaumenfreude.‘ If you like playing a game, that’s ‘Spielfreude.‘ If, like me, you love words and writing, that is ‘Schreibfreude.’
But my favourite joyful compound word is ‘Mitfreude’. ‘Mit’ in German means ‘with’, so ‘Mitfreude‘ means sharing your joy with someone else or being happy with someone else’s success. Ps 20;5 says, ‘May we shout with joy over your victiroy’ – I suspect this is ‘Mitfreude’ at its best.
I am currently preparing a Bible study on 1 Samuel 18, the chapter which looks at David’s friendship with Jonathan and Saul’s growing envy of David. Envy is the oppposite of ‘Mitfreude’. Envy corrodes us, causing us to feel resentful at other people’s success. ‘Schadenfreude’ is much closer to envy than ‘Mitfreude.‘ The Bible urges us to ‘rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.’ (Rom 12:15) Our natural tendency is towards selfishness, and it can be difficult to rejoice over other people’s successses if we feel threatened or intimidated by them. If we are secure in our identity as God’s loved children, it’s much easier (and certainly more Biblical) to choose the path of ‘Mitfreude’ over ‘Schadenfreude.‘ We need to choose to rejoice with people rather than letting envy or bitterness corrode our souls and destroy our relationships.
