Thematic Bible: A symbol of mourning


Thematic Bible



So Tamar put dust on her head [in grief] and tore the long-sleeved robe which she had on, and she put her hand on her head and went away crying out [for help]. Verse ConceptsTearing Of ClothesClothing, Tearing OfAshesWeepingFine ClothesThose Who Tore ClothesAshes Of Humiliation

Now when Mordecai learned of everything that had been done, he tore his clothes [in mourning], and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the center of the city and cried out loudly and bitterly. Verse ConceptsTearing Of ClothesAshesLamentingThose Who Tore ClothesAshes Of Humiliation

In each and every province that the decree and law of the king reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing; and many lay on sackcloth and ashes. Verse ConceptsProvincesAshesWailingPeople Mourning Catastrophe


“Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai [in Ammon] has been destroyed!
Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah!
Wrap yourselves with sackcloth and lament (cry out in grief),
And rush back and forth inside the enclosures;
For Malcam [your powerless god] will go into exile
Together with his priests and his princes.
Verse ConceptsAi, The CitySackcloth And AshesAfflictions Of The WickedExiled Foreigners


The elders of the Daughter of Zion
Sit on the ground keeping silent;
They have thrown dust on their heads,
They have covered themselves with sackcloth.
The virgins of Jerusalem
Have bowed their heads to the ground.
Verse ConceptsdaughtersDust, Figurative UseBowingHeadsSackcloth And AshesSprinklingClothing OneselfBowing Heads Before GodSitting In DejectionDust On The HeadIndividuals Being Silent


They will also cover themselves with sackcloth; horror will overwhelm them, and shame will be on all faces and baldness on all their heads [as evidence of grief]. Verse ConceptsBaldnessHeadsKnivesMourningShavingFoul ClothesShame Will Come


O daughter of my people [says Jeremiah],
Clothe yourself in sackcloth and wallow in ashes;
Mourn [aloud] as for an only son,
A most bitter cry [of sorrow and regret],
For suddenly the destroyer will come upon us [on both prophet and people].
Verse ConceptsAshesLamentingSuddenlyThose Who DestroyAshes Of HumiliationOthers Mourning


“I have sewed sackcloth over my skin [as a sign of mourning]
And have defiled my horn (symbol of strength) in the dust.
Verse ConceptsSackcloth And AshesHorns Weakened


“For this reason, put on sackcloth [for mourning],
Lament (mourn with expressions of grief for the dead) and wail,
For the fierce anger of the Lord
Has not turned back from us.”
Verse ConceptsClothLamentingHaircloth


His servants said to him, We have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Let us put sackcloth on our loins and ropes about our necks, and go out to the king of Israel; perhaps he will spare your life. So they girded sackcloth on their loins and put ropes on their necks, and came to the king of Israel and said, Your servant Ben-hadad says, I pray you, let me live. And King [Ahab] said, Is he yet alive? He is my brother.


In their streets they have wrapped themselves with sackcloth;
On their [flat] housetops and in their open squares
Everyone is wailing, dissolved in tears.
Verse ConceptsProstrationRoofSackcloth And AshesSorrowRooftop