Mourning
38 passages listed in Nave’s Topical Bible and Torrey’s New Topical Textbook. Verse text: Berean Standard Bible; links open in your translation.
23 sections
- Abraham Mourned for Sarah
- Ashes Put on the Head
- Caused Ceremonial Defilement
- Covering: The Head and the Face
- Covering: The Upper Lip
- Cutting or Plucking off the Hair and Beard
- David's Lamentations Over: The Death of Abner
- David's Lamentations Over: The Death of Absalom
- David's Lamentations Over: The Death of Saul and his Sons
- Dressing in Black
- Dust on the Head
- Hired Mourners
- Jeremiah and the Singing Men and Singing Women Lament for Josiah
- Laying Aside Ornaments
- Laying the Hand on the Head
- Prevented offerings from Being Accepted
- Priests Prohibited, Except for the Nearest of Kin
- Sexes Separated In
- Sitting on the Ground
- The Egyptians Mourned for Jacob for Seventy Days
- The Israelites Mourned for Aaron for Thirty Days
- Walking Barefoot
- Wearing Mourning Clothes
Abraham Mourned for Sarah
- Genesis 23:2 She died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went out to mourn and to weep for her.
Ashes Put on the Head
- Ezekiel 27:30 They will raise their voices for you and cry out bitterly. They will throw dust on their heads and roll in ashes.
Caused Ceremonial Defilement
- Numbers 19:11–16 Whoever touches any dead body will be unclean for seven days. …
- Numbers 31:19 All of you who have killed a person or touched the dead are to remain outside the camp for seven days. On the third day and the seventh day you are to purify both yourselves and your captives.
- Leviticus 21:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron’s sons, the priests, and tell them that a priest is not to defile himself for a dead person among his people,
Covering: The Head and the Face
- 2 Samuel 15:30 But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went up. His head was covered, and he was walking barefoot. And all the people with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went.
- 2 Samuel 19:4 But the king covered his face and cried out at the top of his voice, “O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!”
- Esther 6:12 Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered in grief.
- Jeremiah 14:3–4 The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns, but find no water; their jars return empty. They are ashamed and humiliated; they cover their heads. …
Covering: The Upper Lip
- Leviticus 13:45 A diseased person must wear torn clothes and let his hair hang loose, and he must cover his mouth and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean!’
- Ezekiel 24:17 Groan quietly; do not mourn for the dead. Put on your turban and strap your sandals on your feet; do not cover your lips or eat the bread of mourners.”
- Ezekiel 24:22 Then you will do as I have done: You will not cover your lips or eat the bread of mourners.
- Micah 3:7 Then the seers will be ashamed and the diviners will be disgraced. They will all cover their mouths because there is no answer from God.”
Cutting or Plucking off the Hair and Beard
- Ezra 9:3 When I heard this report, I tore my tunic and cloak, pulled out some hair from my head and beard, and sat down in horror.
- Jeremiah 7:29 Cut off your hair and throw it away. Raise up a lamentation on the barren heights, for the LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath.’
David's Lamentations Over: The Death of Abner
- 2 Samuel 3:33–34 And the king sang this lament for Abner: “Should Abner die the death of a fool? …
David's Lamentations Over: The Death of Absalom
- 2 Samuel 18:33 The king was shaken and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as he walked, he cried out, “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”
David's Lamentations Over: The Death of Saul and his Sons
- 2 Samuel 1:17–27 Then David took up this lament for Saul and his son Jonathan, …
Dressing in Black
- Jeremiah 14:2 “Judah mourns and her gates languish. Her people wail for the land, and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.
Dust on the Head
- Joshua 7:6 Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown before the ark of the LORD until evening, as did the elders of Israel; and they all sprinkled dust on their heads.
Hired Mourners
- 2 Chronicles 35:25 Then Jeremiah lamented over Josiah, and to this day all the male and female singers recite laments over Josiah. They established them as a statute for Israel, and indeed they are written in the Book of Laments.
- Ecclesiastes 12:5 when men fear the heights and dangers of the road, when the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper loses its spring, and the caper berry shrivels — for then man goes to his eternal home and mourners walk the streets.
- Jeremiah 9:17 This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Take note, and summon the wailing women; send for the most skillful among them.
- Matthew 9:23 When Jesus entered the house of the synagogue leader, He saw the flute players and the noisy crowd.
Jeremiah and the Singing Men and Singing Women Lament for Josiah
- 2 Chronicles 35:25 Then Jeremiah lamented over Josiah, and to this day all the male and female singers recite laments over Josiah. They established them as a statute for Israel, and indeed they are written in the Book of Laments.
Laying Aside Ornaments
- Exodus 33:4 When the people heard this bad news, they went into mourning, and no one put on any of his jewelry.
- Exodus 33:6 So the Israelites stripped themselves of their jewelry from Mount Horeb onward.
Laying the Hand on the Head
- 2 Samuel 13:19 And Tamar put ashes on her head and tore her robe. And putting her hand on her head, she went away crying aloud.
- Jeremiah 2:37 Moreover, you will leave that place with your hands on your head, for the LORD has rejected those you trust; you will not prosper by their help.”
Prevented offerings from Being Accepted
- Deuteronomy 26:14 I have not eaten any of the sacred portion while in mourning, or removed any of it while unclean, or offered any of it for the dead. I have obeyed the LORD my God; I have done everything You commanded me.
- Hosea 9:4 They will not pour out wine offerings to the LORD, and their sacrifices will not please Him, but will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat will be defiled. For their bread will be for themselves; it will not enter …
Priests Prohibited, Except for the Nearest of Kin
- Leviticus 21:1–11 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron’s sons, the priests, and tell them that a priest is not to defile himself for a dead person among his people, …
Sexes Separated In
- Zechariah 12:12 The land will mourn, each clan on its own: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives,
- Zechariah 12:14 and all the remaining clans and their wives.
Sitting on the Ground
- Isaiah 3:26 And the gates of Zion will lament and mourn; destitute, she will sit on the ground.
The Egyptians Mourned for Jacob for Seventy Days
- Genesis 50:1–3 Then Joseph fell upon his father’s face, wept over him, and kissed him. …
The Israelites Mourned for Aaron for Thirty Days
- Numbers 20:29 When the whole congregation saw that Aaron had died, the entire house of Israel mourned for him thirty days.
Walking Barefoot
- 2 Samuel 15:30 But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went up. His head was covered, and he was walking barefoot. And all the people with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went.
- Isaiah 20:2 the LORD had already spoken through Isaiah son of Amoz, saying, “Go, remove the sackcloth from your waist and the sandals from your feet.” And Isaiah did so, walking around naked and barefoot.
Wearing Mourning Clothes
- Genesis 38:14 she removed her widow’s garments, covered her face with a veil to disguise herself, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah. For she saw that although Shelah had grown up, she had not been given to him as a wife.
- 2 Samuel 14:2 So Joab sent to Tekoa to bring a wise woman from there. He told her, “Please pretend to be a mourner; put on clothes for mourning and do not anoint yourself with oil. Act like a woman who has mourned for the dead a long time.
Related topics
Mourning for Calamities and Other SorrowsMourning for the DeadMourning for Nadab and Abihu ForbiddenElegyUncleannessHead in Grief
Topics: Nave’s Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey’s New Topical Textbook (1897), public domain, via the Berean Bible topical index.