Mourning
MOURNING
The Hebrews, at the death of their friends and relations, made striking demonstrations of grief and mourning. They wept, tore their clothes, smote their breasts, threw dust upon their heads, Jos 7:6, and lay upon the ground, went barefooted, pulled their hair and beards, or cut them, Ezr 9:3 Isa 15:2, and made incisions on their breasts, or tore them with their nails, Lev 19:28 21:5 Jer 16:6 48:37. The time of mourning was commonly seven days, 1Sa 31:11-13 ; but it was lengthened or shortened according to circumstances, Zec 12:10 . That for Moses and Aaron was prolonged to thirty days, Num 20:29 Deu 34:8 ; and that for Jacob to seventy days, Gen 50:3 .During the time of their mourning, the near relations of the deceased continued sitting in their houses, and fasted, 2Sa 12:16, or ate on the ground. The food they took was thought unclean, and even themselves were judged impure. “Their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners: all that eat thereof shall be polluted,” Hos 9:4 . Their faces were covered, and in all that time they could not apply themselves to any occupation, nor read the book of the law, nor offer their usual prayers. They did not dress themselves, nor make their beds, nor uncover their heads, nor shave themselves, nor cut their nails, nor go into the bath, nor salute any body. Nobody spoke to them unless they spoke first, Job 2:11-13 . Their friends commonly went to visit and comfort them, Joh 11:19,39, bringing them food, 2Sa 3:35 Jer 16:7 . They also went up to the roof, or upon the platform of their houses, to bewail their misfortune: “They shall gird themselves with sackcloth; on the tops of their houses, and in their streets, every one shall howl, weeping abundantly,” Isa 15:3 Jer 48:38 . The mourning dress among the Hebrews was not fixed either by law or custom. We only find in Scripture that they used to tear their garments, a custom still observed; but now they tear a small part merely, and for form’s sake, 2Sa 13:19 2Ch 34:27 Ezr 9:3 Job 2:12 Joe 2:13 . Anciently in times of mourning, they clothed themselves in sackcloth, or haircloth, that is, in clothes of coarse brown or black stuff, 2Sa 3:31 1Ki 21:27 Gen 4:1 Psa 35:13 69:11.They hired women to weep and wail, and also persons to play on instruments, at the funerals of the rich or distinguished, Jer 9:17 . In Mat 9:23, we observe a company of minstrels or players on the flute, at the funeral of a girl of twelve year of age. All that met a funeral procession were accustomed to join them for a time, to accompany them on their way, sometimes relieving the bearers of the bier, and mingling their tears with those of the mourners, 1Ch 12:15 .The custom of hiring women to weep and wail has come down to modern times. The following account of such a scene at Nablous, the ancient Shechem, is form Dr. Jowett. The governor of the city had died the very morning of Dr. Jowett’s arrival. “On coming within sight of the gate, we perceived a numerous company of females, who were singing in a kind of recitative, far from melancholy, and beating time with their hands. If this be mourning, I thought, it is of a strange kind. It had indeed sometimes more the air of angry defiance. But on our reaching the gate, it was suddenly exchanged for most hideous plaints and shrieks, which, with the feeling that we were entering a city at no time celebrated for its hospitality, struck a very dismal impression upon my mind. They accompanied us a few paces; but it soon appeared that the gate was their station, to which having received nothing from us, they returned. We learned, in the course of the evening, that these were only a small detachment of a very numerous body of ‘cunning women’ with the design, as of old, to make the eyes of all the inhabitants ‘run down with tears, and their eyelids gush out with water,’ Jer 9:17-18 . For this good service, they would, the next morning wait upon the government and principal persons, to receive some trifling fee.”Some of the Jewish forms of mourning are the appropriate and universal language of grief; others, to our modern and occidental taste, savor of extravagance. None of these were enjoined by their religion, which rather restricted than encouraged them, Lev 10:6 19:27 21:1-11 Num 6:7 Deu 14:1 . They were the established customs of the times. Sorrow finds some relief in reversing all the usages of ordinary life. Christianity, however, moderates and assuages our grief; shows us a Father’s hand holding the rod, and the dark valley itself penetrated by the heavenly light into which it emerges, 1Co 15:53-55 1Th 4:14-18 Jer 7:13-17 14:13.
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
Mourning
Mourning is primarily the expression of sorrow for the dead; but the term is also applied to the grief over sin and to the distress over calamity.
1. A list of mourning customs among the Hebrews will be found in the article Mourning in Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) . Among them are weeping and wailing of an intentionally demonstrative and unrestrained kind, the rending of garments, the wearing of sackcloth, the sprinkling of dust and ashes on the head, the striking of breast and head, fasting, ejaculations of woe, the recital of elegies for the departed. Reference is made to several of these customs in the description given in Revelation 18 of the mourning over the destruction of Babylon. The worldly kings, the merchants and mariners, act as mourners: they weep and wail, cast dust upon their heads, utter exclamations of woe, and in turn dirgefully declare the past glories of the fallen (Rev 18:10 f.). The term (used in Act 8:2 to indicate the lamentation of the devout men over Stephen; cf. [Rev 1:7; Rev 18:9]; derivation, , to strike) indicates the association of the beating of head and breast with mourning. In Act 9:36 f. the widows gather round the body of Dorcas, weep and recount her good deeds. In Jam 5:1 the rich are bidden to weep and howl, i.e. as wailing mourners.
2. The Pauline version of the eucharist introduces the words, Do this in remembrance of me ( ), and the rite is regarded as a proclamation of the Lords death till He come (1Co 11:24-26). This language suggests a comparison with the customs of commemorative mourning for the dead (cf. the annual lamentation for Jephthahs daughter [Jdg 11:40]; see article Jahrzeit in Jewish Encyclopedia ). If the Pauline version of the eucharist has been influenced by the mysteries, the mourning customs for Attis and Adonis (weeping for Tammuz, see J. G. Frazers Adonis, Attis, Osiris3, 1914) may not be without significance for the study of this feature of the Lords Supper.
3. The gravity with which sin was regarded is suggested by the application of terms of mourning to the grief over transgression. Sinners are bidden, as a sign of humble penitence, to be afflicted, mourn, and weep. Laughter is to be turned to mourning (Jam 4:9; cf. 1Ki 1:27). Among the welcome indications of a repentant Corinthian church is its mourning ( [2Co 7:7]). The idea in the writers mind in Rev 1:7 (Behold, he cometh with the clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they that pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn over him) was probably the mourning of guilt, regret, and shame-there was no need to mourn a living Christ returning in glory. Possibly, however, the words indicate that now all nations recognized that the ignominiously crucified One was worthy of a worlds mourning.
4. National calamity is presented under the figure of a bereavement (cf. the mourning for Israel [Joe 1:8; Joe 1:13]). Babylon in her strength boasts, No widow am I, and shall in no wise see mourning (Rev 18:7). In a day she knows the widowhood of retributive disaster (Rev 18:8). The representation changes-widowed Babylon is herself mourned for by others (Rev 18:8-19); see 1.
5. The emphasis placed by the early Church on the overthrow of death as an elemental power by the resurrection of Jesus, on the certainty of a future life, the conception of a fuller, richer existence beyond the grave-a clothing upon rather than a stripping of personality-all tended to rob death of its sting and the grave of its victory. The believer had no need to sorrow as did the rest that had no hope. On the other hand, it is significant that the parting of St. Paul from his children in the faith at Miletus, who expected to see him no more, was with loud lamentation (Act 20:36), and the Apostle felt that the severance from the brethren at Caesarea was breaking his heart (Act 21:13). Faith lights up the tomb, but does not make the human heart unnatural. Human grief will have way until, as in the Apocalyptists vision, God shall wipe away all tears from mens eyes, and death and mourning shall be no more (Rev 21:4).
H. Bulcock.
Fuente: Dictionary of the Apostolic Church
MOURNING
Sorrow, grief.
See SORROW.
Fuente: Theological Dictionary
MOURNING
A particular dress or habit worn to signify grief on some melancholy occasion, particularly the death of friends, or of great public characters. The modes of mourning are various in various countries: as also are the colours that obtain for that end. In Europe the ordinary colour for mourning is black; in China, it is white; in Turkey, blue or violet; in Egypt, yellow; in Ethiopia, brown. Each people pretend to have their reasons for the particular colour of their mourning. White is supposed to denote purity; yellow, that death is the end of human hopes, as leaves when they fall, and flowers when they fade, become yellow; brown denotes the earth, whither the dead return; black, the privation of life, as being the privation of light; blue expresses the happiness which it is hoped the deceased enjoys; and purple or violet, sorrow on the one side, and hope on the other, as being a mixture of black and blue. For an account of the mourning of the Hebrews, see Lev 19:21 : Jer 16:6. Num 20:1-29 : Deu 34:8.
Fuente: Theological Dictionary
Mourning
Noisy, violent, and demonstrative in the East as it is among the Irish, Highlanders, and Welsh; beating the breast or the thigh (Eze 21:12), cutting the flesh (Jer 16:6), weeping with a loud cry, wearing dark colored garments, hiring women as professional mourners (Ecc 12:5; Mat 9:23; Amo 5:16),”skillful in lamentation” (Jer 9:17), singing elegies, having funeral feasts and the cup of consolation (Jer 16:7-8). It was an occasion of studied publicity and ceremonial; so Abraham for Sarah (Gen 23:2), Jacob for Joseph (Gen 37:34-35), Joseph and the Egyptians for Jacob 70 days and a further period of seven (Gen 50:3-10), Israel for Aaron 80 days (Num 20:29), and for Moses (Deu 34:8). Jabesh Gileadites for Saul fasted seven days (1Sa 31:13); David for Abner with fasting, rent clothes, and sackcloth, and with an elegy (2Sa 3:81-89).
Job for his calamities, with rent mantle, shaven head, sitting in ashes; so the three friends with dust upon their heads, etc., seven days and nights (Job 1:20-21; Job 2:8). In the open streets and upon the housetops (Isa 15:2-3); stripping off ornaments (Exo 33:4); stripping the foot and some other part of the body (Isa 20:2). Penitent mourning was often expressed by fasting, so that the words are interchanged as synonymous (Mat 9:15), and the day of atonement, when they “afflicted their souls,” is called “the fast” (Act 27:9; Lev 23:27; Israel, 1Sa 7:6; Nineveh, Jon 3:5; the Jews when hereafter turning to Messiah, Zec 12:10-11). Exclusion from share in the sacrificial peace offerings (Lev 7:20), Covering the upper lip and the head, in token of silence: Lev 13:45, the leper; 2Sa 15:30, David. The high priest and Nazarites were not to go into mourning for even father or mother or children (Lev 21:10-11; Num 6:7).
So Aaron in the case of Nadab and Abihu (Lev 10:2-6); Ezekiel for his wife (Eze 24:16-18); “the bread of men” is that usually brought to mourners by friends in sympathy. The lower priests only for nearest relatives (Lev 21:1-4). Antitypically, the gospel work is to take precedence of all ties (Luk 9:59-60): “let me first go and bury my father” means, let me wait at home until he die and, I bury him. The food eaten in mourning was considered impure (Deu 26:14; Hos 9:4). The Jews still wail weekly, each Friday, at Jerusalem, in a spot below the temple wall, where its two courses of masonry (with blocks 30 ft. long) meet. (See JERUSALEM.) On the open flagged place, which they sweep with care as holy ground, taking off their shoes, they bewail the desolation of their holy places (Psa 102:14; Psa 137:5-6; Isa 63:15-19). Mourning shall cease forever to God’s people when Christ shall return (Rev 7:17; Rev 21:4; Isa 25:8; Isa 35:10).
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
Mourning
MOURNING.An expression of grief for death or disaster. See also artt. Lamentation and Rending of Garments. Mourning is associated in the Gospels (1) with the appearance of the sign of the Son of Man, Mat 24:30; (2) with the removal of the visible presence of the Saviour, Mat 9:15; (3) with the death of friends. It is also one of the conditions mentioned in the Beatitudes as bearing a special blessing (Mat 5:4, but cf. Luk 6:21). The laws of mourning were very minute. The general time of mourning was seven days, during which the mourner was forbidden to work, wash, anoint himself, or wear his shoes. This last provision might, however, be evaded by putting earth or ashes into his boots. For seven days the mourner might not read in the Law, the Prophets, or the Talmud, because it was a joy to do so; but a teacher could teach others through an interpreter. The mourner was allowed during this period to read only the books of Job, Jeremiah, Lamentations, and the (Laws of Mourning). He had to sit away from his dead, with his head tied up, and on the first day he might not wear his phylacteries. He was forbidden to shave his head or his neck, or do anything which might be considered to be for his comfort. He could take no part in rejoicings, and the rent in his garments was to be seen for thirty days. Even a poor man, or one who lived on charity, was forbidden to work for three days; but after that time, he might do work secretly, for his maintenance, or his wife might spin in his house. Travelling with goods was forbidden, and no business even at the risk of loss could be transacted by himself or his family or his servants. It was allowable, however, to have a business carried on, if he assigned it to another before the departure of the soul. The mourner was allowed to eat only in his own house; he might eat no flesh and drink no wine; nor could he ask blessing before or after food. Extra-Talmudical regulations enjoined that the mourner should sit on the floor and take his food from a chair instead of a table, and, as is still the custom, that he should eat eggs dipped in ashes with salt. He might not leave town for thirty days; and in the case of mourning for a parent he might not go out of town for the first year, till his friends told him to do so. After the death of a wife, a widower might not marry for a year (i.e. till after three feasts had passed); but if his wife had died childless, or if she had left young children, he might marry after seven days. A mourner being free must attend the synagogue; when he appeared, the congregation faced him as he entered, and said: Blessed is He that comforteth the mourner. Immediately on a death, all water in the house and in three houses on either side was emptied out, because of the belief that the Angel of Death procured death by means of a knife which be washed in water close at hand. Between death and burial the mourner was free from all the Law, because he was supposed to be beside himself with grief. The following is the prescribed prayer before meat to be used in the house of the mourner after burial:
Blessed art thou, O God our Lord, King of the universe, God of our Fathers, our Creator, our Redeemer, our Sanctifier, the Holy One of Jacob, the King of Life, who art good and doest good; the God of truth, the righteous Judge who judgest in righteousness, who takest the soul in judgment, and rulest alone in the universe, who doest in it according to His will, and all His ways are in Judgment, and we are His people and His servants, and in everything we are bound to praise Him and to bless Him, who shields all the calamities of Israel and will shield us in this calamity, and from this mourning will bring us to life and peace. Comfort, O God our Lord, all the mourners of Jerusalem, and all the mourners that mourn in our sorrow. Comfort them in their mourning, and make them rejoice in their agony as a man is comforted by his mother. Blessed art Thou, O God, the Comforter of Zion, and that buildest again Jerusalem (Jewish prayer-books from ).
The practice of hiring mourners was common with such as could afford it, and, as in the story of Jairus daughter, these hired mourners used flutes to increase the sounds of woe. The apostasy of a member of the family was the occasion of mourning as for the dead, and a blasphemy spoken in the presence of the high priest was also a reason for a demonstration of mourning. See also Flute-Players, Rending of Garments.
Literature.See under Rending of Garments.
W. H. Rankine.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Mourning
We find in the early ages of the church, great lamentation observed at the death of their friends. The funeral of Sarah is set forth in this view. And still more, in that of the patriarch Jacob, Seven days the funeral halted at the threshing-floor of Atad. And the astonishment of the inhabitants of the land was so great, that they gave a name to it, and called it Abel-mizraim; that is, the mourning of the Egyptians, (Gen 1:7-11. We find that the Israelites themselves called all places of their mourning by one name, Bochim, that is weepers. (See Jdg 2:1-5.)
Fuente: The Poor Mans Concordance and Dictionary to the Sacred Scriptures
Mourning
morning. See BURIAL; GRIEF.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Mourning
Fig. 257Egyptian Mourners putting ashes on their Heads
This head embraces both the outward expressions of sorrow for the dead, referred to in the Scriptures, and those expressions which were intended to exhibit repentance, etc. These subjects may be noticed according to Townsend’s chronological arrangement, and since they nearly approximate, will be pursued together. Under this arrangement, the earliest reference to any kind of mourning is that of Job (B.C. 2130), who, being informed of the destruction of his children as the climax of his calamities, ‘arose, rent his mantle, shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground and worshipped’ (Job 1:20), uttered sentiments of submission (Job 1:21), and sat down among the ashes (Job 2:8). His friends came to him by an appointment among themselves to mourn with him and comfort him (Job 2:11); they lift up their voices and wept upon a view of his altered appearance; they rent every man his mantle and sprinkled dust upon their heads towards heaven (Job 2:12), and sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, waiting till his grief should subside before they commenced their office as mourners. Job then bewails aloud his unhappy condition (Job 3). In Job 16:15-16, reference is made to the customs of sewing sackcloth upon the skin, defiling the head with dust, and suffering the face to be begrimed with weeping. Clamor in grief is referred to (Job 19:7; Job 30:28): it is considered a wicked man’s portion that his widows shall not weep at his death (Job 27:15). However it is to be accounted for, in the course of the book of Job nearly all the chief characteristics of eastern mourning are introduced. This will appear as we proceed. The next instance is that of Abraham, who came to mourn and weep for Sarah (B.C. 1871), words which denote a formal mourning (Gen 23:2). Days of mourning are referred to in regard to the expected death of Isaac (Gen 27:41). These appear generally to have consisted of seven, as for Saul (1Sa 31:13). Weeping appears (B.C. 1729), either as one chief expression of mourning, or as the general name for it. Hence when Deborah, Rebecca’s nurse, was buried at Bethel under an oak, at this period, the tree was called Allon-bachuth, the oak of weeping (Gen 35:8). The children of Israel were heard to weep by Moses throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent (Num 11:10; comp. 14:1; 25:6). So numerous are the references to tears in the Scriptures as to give the impression that the Orientals had them nearly at command (comp. Psa 6:6). Reuben rent his clothes upon finding Joseph gone (Gen 37:29), and uttered lamentations (Gen 37:30). Jacob rends his clothes and puts sackcloth upon his loins, and mourns for his son many days; his sons and his daughters rise up to comfort him and he gives utterance to his grief; thus his father wept for him (Gen 37:34-35). Joseph’s brothers rend their clothes (Gen 44:13); and this act, as expressive of grief or horror, occurs in multitudes of passages down to the last age of the Jewish empire (Act 14:14). Scarcely less numerous are the references to sackcloth on the loins as an expression of mourning; we have even lying in sackcloth (1Ki 21:27), and sackcloth upon both man and beast at Nineveh (Jon 3:8). Joseph’s brethren fell to the ground before him in token of grief (Gen 44:14); and this, or lying or sitting on the ground, was a common token of mourning (comp. Psa 35:14; 1Sa 5:4; Isa 3:26; Isa 47:1; Eze 26:16, etc.). The next incident in the history of the subject is the mourning for Jacob by the Egyptians, which was conducted, no doubt, by professional mourners during threescore and ten days (Gen 50:3), called the days of mourning (Gen 50:4), though most likely that computation includes the process of embalming. It seems to have amounted to a royal mourning, doubtless out of regard to Joseph. The mourning for Joseph’s father was renewed by Joseph’s command, with a very great and sore lamentation, upon the funeral cavalcade having arrived in Canaan, and continued seven days (Gen 50:10). When the children of Israel (B.C. 1491) mourned under the threat of the divine displeasure, they did not put on their ornaments (Exo 33:4; comp. Joe 2:13; Eze 24:17). At the giving of the law the modes of mourning were regulated by several enactments. It was forbidden the Jews to make cuttings in their flesh for the dead (Lev 19:28). The ancient Egyptians, according to Herodotus, did not cut themselves (Herodotus ii. 61); it was a Syrian custom, as appears from the votaries of Baal (1Ki 18:28); nor were the Jews allowed to make any baldness between their eyes for the dead (Deu 14:1). The priests were forbidden to uncover the head in mourning (Lev 10:6), or to rend their clothes, or to contract the ceremonial defilement involved in mourning except for their nearest kindred (Lev 21:1; Lev 21:4); but the high-priest was entirely forbidden to do so even or his father or his mother (Lev 21:11), and so was the Nazarite (Num 6:7). These prohibitions respecting the head and the beard (Lev 19:27) seem to have been restricted to funeral occasions, as the customs referred to were lawfully practiced on other sorrowful events (comp. Ezr 9:3; Job 1:20; Isa 22:12; Jer 7:29; Mic 1:16). Even the food eaten by mourners was considered unclean (comp. Deu 26:14, with Hos 9:4; Eze 24:17). The Jews were commanded to afflict their souls on the Day of Atonement (Lev 23:27; Num 29:7). All the house of Israel mourned for Aaron thirty days (Num 20:29). The Israelites wept for Moses thirty days, called the days of weeping and mourning for Moses (Deu 34:8; B.C. 1451). Joshua and the elders of Israel put dust upon their heads at the defeat of Ai, and fasted (Jos 7:6), as did the eleven tribes after the defeat at Gibeah, and wept (Jdg 20:26), as did all the Israelites at the command of Joshua, on which occasion it is said ‘they drew water and poured it out before the Lord’ (1Sa 7:6; comp. Psa 22:14). The prophet Joel commanded a fast as part of a national mourning. A fast is proclaimed to all the inhabitants or visitors at Jerusalem (Jer 36:9; comp. Zec 7:5). Fasting is practiced at Nineveh as part of a public humiliation (Jon 3:5). In our Lord’s language, ‘to fast’ and ‘to mourn’ are the same thing (Mat 9:15). Public humiliations attended with religious assemblies and prayers (Joe 2:16-17); with fasts (Isa 58:3); see all these united (1Ma 3:44; 1Ma 3:47-48). The first complete description of mourning for the dead occurs in 2Sa 3:31; 2Sa 3:35. Elegies were composed by the prophets on several disastrous occasions (Eze 26:1-18; Eze 27:1-36; Amo 5:1, etc.). In Psa 35:12-14, which is ascribed to David, there is a description of the humiliations practiced by the friends of the sick, in order to procure their recovery. Samuel is honored with a public mourning by the Israelites (1Sa 25:1), B.C. 1058. Upon the death of Saul, David wrote an elegy (2Sa 1:17-27). This, like that upon the death of Abner, seems to be a poetical description of the character of the departed, like the dirge for an Egyptian king. Lifting up the hands seems to have been an expression of grief (Psa 141:2; Lam 1:17; Ezr 9:5). Messengers were sent to condole with survivors; thus David sent such to Hanun, king of Ammon, upon the death of his father (2Sa 10:1-2); ‘Many of the Jews came to comfort Martha and Mary’ (Joh 11:19); ‘A great company of women attended our Lord to the cross, bewailing and lamenting him’ (Luk 23:27); ‘Much people’ were with the widow of Nain (Luk 7:12). Indeed, if persons met a funeral procession they were expected to join ita custom which is thought to illustrate St. Paul’s words, ‘Weep with them that weep’ (Rom 12:15). Ashes were often laid on the head in token of mourning; thus ‘Tamar put ashes on her head, rent her garment, and laid her hand upon her head, and went on crying’ (2Sa 13:19-20; comp. Isa 61:3; 2Es 9:38). They even wallowed in ashes (Eze 27:30). Mourning apparel is first mentioned in 2Sa 14:2, where it appears that the wearer did not anoint himself with oil (comp. Mat 6:17). The first reference to hired mourners occurs in Ecc 12:5, ‘The mourners go about the streets.’ They are certainly alluded to in Jer 9:17-20, ‘the mourning women’ (probably widows, comp. Psa 78:64; Act 9:39). Another reference to them occurs in 2Ch 35:25. The greater number of the mourners in ancient Egypt were women, as in the modern East. In the included figure (fig. 257) mourners, all females, are shown casting dust upon their heads before the mummy of a man. Mourning for the dead was conducted in a tumultuous manner; they also wept and wailed greatly (Mar 5:38). Even devout men made great lamentations (Act 8:2).
Fig. 258Wailing with Tabrets, etc.
Among other signs of mourning they shaved the head, and even tore off the hair (Amo 8:10; Mic 1:16; Isa 15:2; Isa 22:12; Jer 7:29). Ezra plucked off the hair of his head and of his beard (Ezr 9:3; Josephus, Antiq. xvi. 7. 5). The Jews went up to the house-tops to mourn (Isa 15:2-3; Isa 22:1); and so did the Moabites (Jer 48:37-38 : Jdt 8:5). They also made cutting in their hands(Jer 48:37-38); they smote upon the thigh (Jer 31:19; Eze 21:12); on the breast (Nah 2:7; Luk 18:13; Luk 23:48); they smote both hands together (Num 24:10, stamped with the foot (Eze 6:11), bowed down the head (Lam 2:10), covered the lips (Mic 3:7), the face (2Sa 19:4), and the head (2Sa 15:31), and went barefoot (2Sa 15:30). Neighbors and friends provided food for the mourners (2Sa 3:35; Jer 16:7; comp. Eze 24:17); this was called ‘the bread of bitterness,’ ‘the cup of consolation.’ In later times the Jews had a custom of giving bread to the poor, at funerals, and leaving it for their use at tombs and graves. Women went to tombs to indulge their grief (Joh 11:31); anniversary mourning (1Es 1:32).
Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature
Mourning
It was the habit of the Hebrews, as it still is in the East, to make a great demonstration of their mourning. They would beat their breasts, cover their heads, fast, put dust and ashes on their heads, neglect their hair, wear dull-coloured garments, rend their clothes, wear sackcloth, etc. For Asa and Zedekiah there was ‘great burning’ of odours at their death, which was most probably copied from the heathen. 2Ch 16:14; Jer 34:5. At a death professional mourners were hired, mostly women. “Call for the mourning women . . . . let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters.” Jer 9:17-18; cf. 2Sa 14:2; Amo 5:16. Musicians also attended at deaths, who played mournful strains. Mat 9:23. God does not desire those who are bereaved to be without feeling: the Lord wept at the grave of Lazarus, but He would have reality in all things. He had to say to His people, “Rend your heart, and not your garments.” Joe 2:13.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Mourning
For the dead:
– Head uncovered
Lev 10:6; Lev 21:10
– Lying on ground
2Sa 12:16
– Personal appearance neglected
2Sa 14:2
– Cutting the flesh
Lev 19:28; Lev 21:1-5; Deu 14:1; Jer 16:6-7; Jer 41:5
– Lamentations
Gen 50:10; Exo 12:30; 1Sa 30:4; Jer 22:18; Mat 2:17-18
– Fasting
1Sa 31:13; 2Sa 1:12; 2Sa 3:35
– Priests prohibited, except for nearest of kin
Lev 21:1-11
– For Nadab and Abihu forbidden
Lev 10:6
– Sexes separated in
Zec 12:12; Zec 12:14
– Hired mourners
2Ch 35:25; Ecc 12:5; Jer 9:17; Mat 9:23
– Instances of:
b Abraham mourned for Sarah
Gen 23:2
b Egyptians, for Jacob seventy days
Gen 50:1-3
b Israelites, for Aaron thirty days
Num 20:29
b David’s lamentations:
b Over the death of Saul and his sons
2Sa 1:17-27
b Over the death of Abner
2Sa 3:33-34
b Over the death of Absalom
2Sa 18:33
b Jeremiah and the singing men and singing women lament for Josiah
2Ch 35:25
For calamities and other sorrows:
– Rending the garments
Gen 37:29; Gen 37:34; Gen 44:13; Num 14:6; Jdg 11:35; 2Sa 1:2; 2Sa 1:11; 2Sa 3:31; 2Sa 13:19; 2Sa 13:31; 2Sa 15:32; 2Ki 2:12; 2Ki 5:8; 2Ki 6:30; 2Ki 11:14; 2Ki 19:1; 2Ki 22:11; 2Ki 22:19; Ezr 9:3; Ezr 9:5; Job 1:20; Job 2:12; Isa 37:1; Jer 41:5; Mat 26:65; Act 14:14
– Wearing mourning dress
b General references
Gen 38:14; 2Sa 14:2 Sackcloth
– Cutting or plucking off the hair and beard
b General references
Ezr 9:3; Jer 7:29 Baldness
– Covering:
b The head and face
2Sa 15:30; 2Sa 19:4; Est 6:12; Jer 14:3-4
b The upper lip
Lev 13:45; Eze 24:17; Eze 24:22; Mic 3:7
– Laying aside ornaments
Exo 33:4; Exo 33:6
– Walking barefoot
2Sa 15:30; Isa 20:2
– Laying the hand on the head
2Sa 13:19; Jer 2:37
– Ashes put on the head
Eze 27:30
– Dust on the head
Jos 7:6
Dressing in black
Jer 14:2
– Sitting on the ground
Isa 3:26
– Caused ceremonial defilement
Num 19:11-16; Num 31:19; Lev 21:1
– Prevented offerings from being accepted
Deu 26:14; Hos 9:4 Elegy
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Mourning
Mourning. Oriental mourning is public and careful of prescribed ceremonies. Gen 23:2; Job 1:20; Job 2:12. Among the forms observed the following may be mentioned: Rending the clothes, Gen 37:29; Gen 37:34; Gen 44:13, etc.; dressing in sackcloth, Gen 37:34; 2Sa 3:31; 2Sa 21:10, etc.; ashes, dust or earth sprinkled on the person, 2Sa 13:19; 2Sa 15:32, etc.; black or sad-colored garments, 2Sa 14:2; Jer 8:21, etc.; removal of ornaments or neglect of person, Deu 21:12-13, etc.; shaving the head, plucking out the hair of the head or beard, Lev 10:6; 2Sa 19:24, etc.; laying bare some part of the body, Isa 20:2; Isa 47:2, etc.; fasting or abstinence in meat and drink, 2Sa 1:12; 2Sa 3:35; 2Sa 12:16; 2Sa 12:22, etc. In later times for the employment of persons hired for the purpose of mourning, Ecc 12:5; Jer 9:17; Amo 5:16; Mat 9:23, friends or passers-by to join in the lamentations of bereaved or afflicted persons, Gen 50:3; Jdg 11:40; Job 2:11; Job 30:25, etc.; and in ancient times the sitting or lying posture in silence indicative of grief, Gen 23:3; Jdg 20:26, etc. The period of mourning varied. In the case of Jacob it was seventy days, Gen 50:3; of Aaron, Num 20:29, and Moses, Deu 34:8, thirty. A further period of seven days in Jacob’s case. Gen 50:10. Seven days for Saul, which may have been an abridged period in the time of national danger. 1Sa 31:13.
Fuente: People’s Dictionary of the Bible
Mourning
Mourning. One marked feature of Oriental mourning is what may be called its studies publicity, and the careful observance of the prescribed ceremonies. Gen 23:2; Job 1:20; Job 2:12.
1. Among the particular forms observed the following may be mentioned:
(a) Rending the clothes. Gen 37:29; Gen 37:34; Gen 44:13; etc.
(b) Dressing in sackcloth. Gen 37:34; 2Sa 3:31; 2Sa 21:10; etc.
(c) Ashes, dust or earth sprinkled on the person. 2Sa 13:19; 2Sa 15:32; etc.
(d) Black or sad-colored garments. 2Sa 14:2; Jer 8:21; etc.
(e) Removal of ornaments or neglect of person. Deu 21:12-13; etc.
(f) Shaving the head, plucking out the hair of the head or beard. Lev 10:6; 2Sa 19:24; etc.
(g) Laying bare some part of the body. Isa 20:2; Isa 47:2; etc.
(h) Fasting or abstinence in meat and drink. 2Sa 1:12; 2Sa 3:35; 2Sa 12:16; 2Sa 12:22; etc.
(i) In the same direction may be mentioned diminution in offerings to God, and prohibition to partake of sacrificial food. Lev 7:20; Deu 26:14.
(k) Covering the “upper lip,” that is, the lower part of the face, and sometimes the head, in token of silence. Lev 13:45; 2Sa 15:30; 2Sa 19:4.
(l) Cutting the flesh; Jer 16:6-7; Jer 41:5; beating the body. Eze 21:12; Jer 31:19.
(m) Employment of persons hired for the purpose of mourning. Ecc 12:5; Jer 9:17; Amo 5:16; Mat 9:23.
(n) Akin to the foregoing usage; the custom for friends or passers-by to join in the lamentations, of bereaved or afflicted persons. Gen 50:3; Jdg 11:40; Job 2:11; Job 30:25; etc.
(o) The sitting or lying posture in silence indicative of grief. Gen 23:3; Jdg 20:26; etc.
(p) Mourning feast and cup of consolation. Jer 16:7-8.
The period of mourning varied. In the case of Jacob, it was seventy days, Gen 50:3, of Aaron, Num 20:29, and Moses, Deu 34:8, thirty days. A further period of seven days in Jacob’s case. Gen 50:10. Seven days for Saul, which may have been an abridged period in the time of national danger. 1Sa 31:13.
With the practices above mentioned, Oriental and other customs, ancient and modern, in great measure agree. Arab men are silent in grief, but the women scream, tear their hair, hands and face, and throw earth or sand on their heads. Both Mohammedans and Christians in Egypt hire wailing-women, and wail at stated times.
Burckhardt says the women of Atbara, in Nubia, shave their heads on the death of their nearest relatives – -a custom prevalent also among several of the peasant tribes of upper Egypt. He also mentions wailing-women, and a man in distress besmearing his face with dirt and dust in token of grief.
In the “Arabian Nights” are frequent allusions to similar practices. It also mentions ten days and forty days as periods of mourning. Lane, speaking of the modern Egyptians, says, “After death, the women of the family raise cries of lamentation, called welweleh or wilwal, uttering the most piercing shrieks, and calling upon the name of the deceased, ‘Oh, my master! Oh, my resource! Oh, my misfortune! Oh, my glory!’ ” See Jer 22:18.
The females of the neighborhood come to join with them in this conclamation: generally, also, the family send for two or more neddabehs or public wailing-women. Each brings a tambourine, and, beating them, they exclaim, ‘Alas for him!’ The female relatives, domestics and friends, with their hair dishevelled and, sometimes with rent clothes, beating their faces, cry in like manner, ‘Alas for him!’ These make no alteration in dress, but women, in some cases, dye their shirts, head-veils and handkerchiefs of a dark-blue color. They visit the tombs at stated periods.” — Mod. Eg. Iii. 152, 171, 195.
Fuente: Smith’s Bible Dictionary
Mourning
See BURIAL and See DEAD.