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, Le 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, Nu 20:29 De 34:8; and that for Jacob to seventy days, Ge 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," Ho 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 Es 4:1 Ps 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 Mt 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, Ro 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, Le 10:6 19:27 21:1-11 Nu 6:7 De 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 Re 7:13-17 14:13.

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MOURNING. → For the dead
* Head uncovered Le 10:6; 21:10
* Lying on the ground 2Sa 12:16
* Personal appearance neglected 2Sa 14:2
* Cutting the flesh Le 19:28; 21:1-5; De 14:1; Jer 16:6,7; 41:5
* Lamentations Ge 50:10; Ex 12:30; 1Sa 30:4; Jer 22:18; Mt 2:17,18
* Fasting 1Sa 31:13; 2Sa 1:12; 3:35

→ Priests prohibited, except for the nearest of kin Le 21:1-11 → For Nadab and Abihu forbidden Le 10:6 → Sexes separated in Zec 12:12,14 → Hired mourners 2Ch 35:25; Ec 12:5; Jer 9:17; Mt 9:23 → Abraham mourned for Sarah Ge 23:2 → The Egyptians mourned for Jacob for seventy days Ge 50:1-3 → The Israelites mourned for Aaron for thirty days Nu 20:29 → David's lamentations over
* The death of Saul and his sons 2Sa 1:17-27
* The death of Abner 2Sa 3:33,34
* The death of Absalom 2Sa 18:33

→ Jeremiah and the singing men and singing women lament for Josiah 2Ch 35:25 → For calamities and other sorrows
* Ripping the garments Ge 37:29,34; 44:13; Nu 14:6; Jud 11:35; 2Sa 1:2,11; 3:31; 13:19,31; 15:32; 2Ki 2:12; 5:8; 6:30; 11:14; 19:1; 22:11,19; Ezr 9:3,5; Job 1:20; 2:12; Isa 37:1; Jer 41:5; Mt 26:65; Ac 14:14

→ Wearing mourning clothes Ge 38:14; 2Sa 14:2 → See SACKCLOTH → Cutting or plucking off the hair and beard Ezr 9:3; Jer 7:29 → See BALDNESS → Covering
* The head and the face 2Sa 15:30; 19:4; Es 6:12; Jer 14:3,4
* The upper lip Le 13:45; Eze 24:17,22; Mic 3:7

→ Laying aside ornaments Ex 33:4,6 → 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 Nu 19:11-16; 31:19; Le 21:1 → Prevented offerings from being accepted De 26:14; Ho 9:4 → See ELEGY

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mourning. Mourning, n. a dress of sorrow, sorrow, grief

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Mourn″ing, n. [[AS. murnung.]] 1. 1. The act of sorrowing or expressing grief; lamentation; sorrow.
2. 2. Garb, drapery, or emblems indicative of grief, esp. clothing or a badge of somber black.
The houses to their tops with black were spread, And ev'n the pavements were with mourning hid. Dryden. Deep mourning. See under Deep.