MOURNING (אָבֵל֒, H63, inner attitude of mourning and lamenting, סָפַד, H6199, to wail, to beat the breast, to cut out or rend, קָרַע, H7973, to cut out or rend; θρηνέω, G2577, to bewail, lament, πενθέω, G4291, to mourn, to grieve). About a dozen additional words are used infrequently to indicate various aspects and signs of mourning.
1. Occasions for mourning
a. Death. The most common occasion for mourning in the Bible is the death of a closely related person. Great detail is given of the manner of Abraham’s mourning for Sarah (Gen 23:2); of Jacob’s for Joseph (Gen 37:34f.); of the Israelites for Aaron (Num 20:29), for Moses (Deut 34:8), and for Samuel (1 Sam 25:1); and of David’s for Saul and Jonathan (2 Sam 1:12) and Abner (2 Sam 3:31f.). In the NT there is a more subdued, but nevertheless heartfelt sadness when Mary, Martha and Jesus mourn for Lazarus (John 11) and devout men mourn for Stephen (Acts 8:2).
b. National calamity. Mourning also comes to expression in a variety of situations other than death. Calamities that have overwhelmed the individual often are presented as occasions calling forth the most abject sorrow and grief (Job 1:20, 21; 2:8). In the later phases of OT history there are also numerous examples of mourning due to national disasters. The prophets give vivid expression to the mourning that resulted from the collapse of Judah and the subsequent exile of the people (Jer 9:1; Joel 1:13, see also Exod 33:4 and Num 14:39). In Jeremiah 14:2 national mourning is called for because of a drought. National mourning is extensively and graphically depicted in the poetic language of the Book of Lamentations.
Trouble and calamity which are threatening and impending also are occasions for mourning (Neh 1:4; Esth 4:3). Generally such threats are due to a dissatisfied deity and call for an attitude of penitential mourning in the hope that God’s favor might be restored.
c. Before a calamity. The same behavior is found in all occasions for mourning. However, mourning in the actual presence of death is spontaneous emotional feeling whose expression custom rigidly prescribed, while the mourning associated with the prophetic prediction of national disaster is an activity which is motivated by the hope of altering the path of impending doom. The thought seems to be that to mourn before a disaster is better than mourning afterward, particularly if it is efficacious in averting the calamity. In an era when it was firmly and widely believed that God is present and that He controls the affairs of men, it can be seen that penitential mourning would be urged upon a nation by the prophets. As in the case of prayer, it was sincerely felt that mourning changes things. It would be one-sided, however, to think of these national expressions of mourning in the OT as hypocritical activities designed solely to change God’s mind. On the contrary, national mourning was intended also to be an expression of a heartfelt contrition at having ignored or violated the word of the Lord. To avoid the divine displeasure, return to compliance with God’s will was expressed by the ceremonies of mourning marking the death of that which had produced the divine disfavor. The prophet Joel shows the repentant attitude in mourning clearly when he calls for a mourning that is a rending of the heart, rather than a rending of the garment in order to persuade God to turn and repent (Joel 2:12-17).
A good instance of mourning offsetting an impending disaster is in Jonah 3:5-10, following the prophet’s reluctant preaching. Jeremiah, unsuccessfully, attempted to call the nation to mourning for its sin in order to gain God’s favor (Jer 9:17-19; 14:12; 36:9). More successful was Hezekiah’s donning of sackcloth (2 Kings 19:1-14) to secure God’s aid in overruling the Assyrian threat. The same hope of protection was again realized following a period of fasting and mourning (Ezra 8:21). See also 1 Kings 8:33; Esther 4:16 and Malachi 3:14 for similar occasions.
David’s breach of custom in behaving in a mournful fashion before the death of Bathsheba’s child, instead of after his death, was prob. the definitive example that gave sincere mourning the purposeful character of influencing God rather than remaining simply a spontaneous manifestation of grief (2 Sam 12:15-23).
2. Mourning customs
a. Personal behavior. Weeping is a universal expression of mourning; in the Heb. language the word for weeping or wailing (bachah) is a common word for mourning. The capacity of the Heb. for tears is immense, though the psalmist prob. is using hyperbole when he speaks of flooding his bed every night with tears. Loud cries frequently are associated with weeping as a sign of grief (Gen 50:10; Ruth 1:9; 2 Sam 13:36). Accompanying these cries is the characteristic action of beating the breast, which is suggested but not usually so tr. in the word saphar. This practice is urged as a token of sincere repentance for an apathetic attitude toward sin (Isa 32:12). A similar sign of repentance is the lifting up of hands (Ezra 9:5; Ps 141:2). Other behavioral traits associated with mourning in the OT are lying or sitting in silence (Judg 20:26; 2 Sam 12:16) and bowing the head (Lam 2:10). Fasting for varying lengths of time was also common (2 Sam 3:35). The sprinkling of ashes, dust, or dirt upon oneself seems to be associated more with mourning arising out of personal tragedy (2 Sam 1:2; 13:19), national calamity (Josh 7:6; 2 Sam 15:32; Esth 4:1-3; Rev 18:19), or threatening calamity (Jer 6:26; Mic 1:10).
Prohibited from being a part of the Jewish mourning rites were certain practices found among pagan neighbors, e.g., gashing the flesh or shaving the head or beard (Lev 19:28; Deut 14:1; Jer 16:6; cf. the priests of Baal on Mt. Carmel, 1 Kings 18:28). These pagan customs of propitiating and honoring the spirits of the dead by blood letting or offering hair to them, were clearly too much like the Canaanite agricultural festivals which the Mosaic code castigated. It has been suggested that the practices of covering the head (2 Sam 15:30; Esth 6:12; Jer 14:3) and the beard were introduced to replace the forbidden rituals (A Standard Bible Dictionary, 562), but little evidence can be found in the Bible for making the one a substitution instead of the other.
b. Clothing. The clothing that is worn is another stylized form that confirms the dismal internal feeling. The common mourning garment was a black (Rev 6:12), coarse article, similar to a grain sack, usually made of goat’s hair, which was called a sackcloth (Gen 37:34; 2 Sam 3:31; 21:10; Jer 6:26; Joel 1:8). Adornments were also removed (Exod 33:4) and the mourner went about barefoot (2 Sam 15:30; Ezek 24:17).
“Rending of the garments,” or tearing a slit in the bottom of an item of apparel, was a universal sign among the Hebrews signifying grief and distress (Gen 37:29; 44:13; 2 Sam 3:31; 2 Chron 34:27; Joel 2:13). It was also a pious method of showing holy indignation and zeal (Ezra 9:3; Acts 14:14). The high priest pretended to have such feelings when he tore his robe at Jesus’ trial (Matt 26:65). Gaster feels that rending is either “a later form of the more primitive practice of gashing the flesh,” or an ancient “method of disguising oneself so that hovering demons may be foiled” (T. H. Gaster, Customs and Folkways of Jewish Life, 162). A more Biblical interpretation of this rite suggested by R. de Vaux is that it expresses natural sorrow as well as religious piety and duty, but without any thought of forming a cult of the dead (Ancient Israel, 61).
c. Formal lamentations. In the later part of the OT paid professional mourners, generally female, take an important place in the mourning rituals. Known as “mourning women” or “skillful women” (Jer 9:17; KJV “cunning women”), or as “singing women” (2 Chron 35:25), these individuals embellished the funeral rites with skillfully contrived dirges and eulogies (Amos 5:16). Sometimes they were accompanied by flutes (Matt 9:23). Their office was passed on from mother to daughter (Jer 9:20). In due time these mournfully sung elegies became a stylized treatment of a limited number of themes which could readily be applied to almost any individual.
David prob. popularized and stylized the practice of formal lamentation with his lengthy elegy sung at the funeral of Saul and Jonathan (2 Sam 1:17-27) and a shorter one at Abner’s burial (3:33f.). Some of the features of formal lamentation included sections introduced by “how” or “what,” frequent use of “ah” or “alas,” extravagant praise, references to the tragic circumstances of the death, vivid imagery contrasting past splendor with present misery, and the consolation that the person’s name will be remembered. An interesting reversal of many of these features is found in a satirical lament (Isa 14:4-21) for the king of Babylon. The Book of Lamentations uses these elegiac forms extensively. The form of a funeral elegy is used to express communal despair over national misfortunes and penitential sorrow for personal sins (Jer 22:18; Ezek 19:1-14; 26:17, 18; 27:2-9, 25-36; Amos 5:16; 1 Macc 9:21).
3. The meaning of mourning. Various explanations are given of mourning. Some speak of the mourning rituals as a token of submission to the dead who are thought to have power to help or hurt the living; others argue that men are disguising themselves from a god or spirits of the dead who may otherwise choose them next after having struck so close (SHERK, vol. 8, 31, 32). Undoubtedly the Heb. customs were closely related to the universal tradition of the ancient near-oriental peoples, but there is no foundation in the Scriptures for holding that these outward practices represented any form of a cult for the dead.
In the OT the outward signs of mourning were called for in situations of repentance and supplication as well as sorrow. This would indicate that the rituals were more than natural expressions of sorrow. Paul’s words to the Thessalonians, “that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thess 4:13), show grief as a natural expression that is transformed by religious belief. Likewise, for the Heb. aware of the presence of a loving God, mourning rites could be neither mere expressions of sorrow nor forms of cultic veneration.
In the NT tender sympathy is expressed toward those mourning the loss of a loved one (John 11:35; Rom 12:15; 1 Thess 4:13), but mourning in its religious aspects is seen also as helpfully uncovering some of the unique facets of the Gospel. Thus, Jesus’ personal advent brought suffering and lamentation (Matt 2:16-18) as did His death (Luke 23:27). Moreover, it is declared that His followers will also weep and lament (John 16:20), and it is even demanded of them that they suffer with Him (Rom 8:17). In a manner more glorious than in the OT, penitential and supplicational mourning turn into glory and rejoicing with Christ as He is found to be the messenger of joy (John 16:20, 22; Rom 8:17). The NT exalts in an eschatological and existential hope: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matt 5:4). See Death; Immortality.
Bibliography W. Nowack, “Mourning and Mourning Customs,” A Standard Bible Dictionary (1909), 562, 563; R. Zehnpfund, “Mourning Customs, Hebrew,” SHERK, vol. 8 (1910), 31, 32; G. Stahlin, “θρηνέω, G2577,” TDNT, vol. 3 (1933), 148-155; J. Pedersen, Israel, vols. 3, 4 (1940), 455-458; T. H. Gaster, Customs and Folkways of Jewish Life (1955), 137-177; R. deVaux, AIs (1961), 56-61; E. Jacob, “Mourning,” IDB, vol. 3 (1962), 452-454.