Reference: Mourn
Easton
Frequent references are found in Scripture to, (1.) Mourning for the dead. Abraham mourned for Sarah (Ge 23:2); Jacob for Joseph (Ge 37:34-35); the Egyptians for Jacob (Ge 50:3-10); Israel for Aaron (Nu 20:29), for Moses (De 34:8), and for Samuel (1Sa 25:1); David for Abner (2Sa 3:31,35); Mary and Martha for Lazarus (Joh 11); devout men for Stephen (Ac 8:2), etc.
(2.) For calamities, Job (Job 1:20-21; 2:8); Israel (Ex 33:4); the Ninevites (Jon 3:5); Israel, when defeated by Benjamin (Jg 20:26), etc.
(3.) Penitential mourning, by the Israelites on the day of atonement (Le 23:27; Ac 27:9); under Samuel's ministry (1Sa 7:6); predicted in Zechariah (Zec 12:10-11); in many of the psalms (51, etc.).
Mourning was expressed, (1) by weeping (Ge 35:8, marg.; Lu 7:38, etc.); (2) by loud lamentation (Ru 1:9; 1Sa 6:19; 2Sa 3:31); (3) by the disfigurement of the person, as rending the clothes (Ge 37:29,34; Mt 26:65), wearing sackcloth (Ge 37:34; Ps 35:13), sprinkling dust or ashes on the person (2Sa 13:19; Jer 6:26; Job 2:12), shaving the head and plucking out the hair of the head or beard (Le 10:6; Job 1:20), neglect of the person or the removal of ornaments (Ex 33:4; De 21:12-13; 2Sa 14:2; 19:24; Mt 6:16-17), fasting (2Sa 1:12), covering the upper lip (Le 13:45; Mic 3:7), cutting the flesh (Jer 16:6-7), and sitting in silence (Jg 20:26; 2Sa 12:16; 13:31; Job 1:20).
In the later times we find a class of mourners who could be hired to give by their loud lamentation the external tokens of sorrow (2Ch 35:25; Jer 9:17; Mt 9:23).
The period of mourning for the dead varied. For Jacob it was seventy days (Ge 50:3); for Aaron (Nu 20:29) and Moses (De 34:8) thirty days; and for Saul only seven days (1Sa 31:13). In 2Sa 3:31-35, we have a description of the great mourning for the death of Abner.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And Sarah died in Kirjath-arba; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: And Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.
But Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried beneath Beth-el, under an oak: and the name of it was called Allon-bachuth.
And Reuben returned to the pit; and behold, Joseph was not in the pit: and he rent his clothes.
And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave to my son mourning: Thus his father wept for him.
And forty days were fulfilled for him; (for so are fulfilled the days of those who are embalmed:) and the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.
And forty days were fulfilled for him; (for so are fulfilled the days of those who are embalmed:) and the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days. And when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spoke to the house of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found grace in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, read more. My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die: in my grave which I have digged for me in the land of Canaan, there shalt thou bury me. Now therefore let me go, I pray thee, and bury my father, and I will come again. And Pharaoh said, Go up, and bury thy father, according as he made thee swear. And Joseph went up to bury his father: and with him went all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, And all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father's house: only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds they left in the land of Goshen. And there went with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company. And they came to the threshing-floor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days.
And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man put on him his ornaments.
And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man put on him his ornaments.
And Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar and to Ithamar, his sons, Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes; lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people: but let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the LORD hath kindled.
And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean.
Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation to you, and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.
And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they mourned for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.
And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they mourned for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.
Then thou shalt bring her home to thy house, and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails: And she shall put off from her the raiment of her captivity, and shall remain in thy house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that, thou shalt go in to her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.
And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days: so the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.
And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days: so the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.
Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came to the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted that day until evening, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before the LORD.
Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came to the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted that day until evening, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before the LORD.
The LORD grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept.
And they assembled at Mizpeh, and drew water, and poured it out before the LORD, and fasted on that day, and there said, We have sinned against the LORD. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh.
And Samuel died; and all the Israelites assembled, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran.
And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.
And they mourned and wept, and fasted until evening, for Saul and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the LORD, and for the house of Israel; because they had fallen by the sword.
And David said to Joab, and to all the people that were with him, Rend your clothes, and gird you with sackcloth, and mourn before Abner. And king David himself followed the bier.
And David said to Joab, and to all the people that were with him, Rend your clothes, and gird you with sackcloth, and mourn before Abner. And king David himself followed the bier. And they buried Abner in Hebron: and the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner; and all the people wept. read more. And the king lamented over Abner, and said, Died Abner as a fool dieth? Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet put into fetters: as a man falleth before wicked men, so fellest thou. And all the people wept again over him. And when all the people came to cause David to eat food while it was yet day, David swore, saying, So do God to me, and more also, If I taste bread or aught else, till the sun is down.
And when all the people came to cause David to eat food while it was yet day, David swore, saying, So do God to me, and more also, If I taste bread or aught else, till the sun is down.
And Tamar put ashes on her head, and rent her garment of divers colors that was on her, and laid her hand on her head, and went on crying.
And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women have spoken of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and behold, they are written in the lamentations.
Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell upon the ground, and worshiped,
Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell upon the ground, and worshiped,
Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell upon the ground, and worshiped, And said, Naked came I from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself with it; and he sat down among the ashes.
And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they raised their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads towards heaven.
But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into my own bosom.
O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes: make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation: for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us.
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for skillful women, that they may come:
Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them: Neither shall men tear themselves for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother.
So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yes, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.
And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.
Moreover, when ye fast, be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear to men to fast. Verily, I say to you, they have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy face;
And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise,
Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy.
And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.
And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.
Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past, Paul admonished them.