Bible Dictionary: Tears

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ATS Bible Dictionary

Tears

Small urns or Lachrymatorises, of thin glass or simple pottery, and containing the tears of mourners at funerals, used to be placed in the sepulchres of the dead at Rome and in Palestine, where they are found in great numbers on opening ancient tombs. This custom is illustrative of Psalm 56:8, which shows that God is ever mindful of the sorrows of his people. In Revelation 7:17 he is represented as tenderly wiping all tears from their eyes, or removing for ever all their grief.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

TEARS

terz (dim`ah; dakrua): In the instances recorded in Scripture weeping is more frequently associated with mental distress than with physical pain. Eastern peoples show none of the restraint of emotion in lamentation which is characteristic of modern Occidentals, and there are many records of this manifestation of woe, even among men accustomed to hardships and warfare, such as David and his soldiers. The flow of tears is the evidence of sorrow in prospect of approaching death in Psalm 39:12 2 Kings 20:5; Isaiah 38:5, and of the suffering consequent on oppression (Ecclesiastes 4:1), or defeat in battle (Isaiah 16:9), or hopeless remorse, as with Esau (Hebrews 12:17, probably referring to Genesis 27:34). The Psalmist describes his condition of distress metaphorically as feeding on the bread of tears and having tears to drink (Psalm 80:5; Psalm 42:3). Tears in the figurative sense of anxiety for the future are referred to in Psalm 126:5 Mark 9:24 the King James Version, and the tears accompanying penitence in Luke 7:38 (44 the Revised Version margin). Jeremiah is sometimes called the "weeping prophet" on account of his expressive hyperbole in Jeremiah 9:1, 18 (see also 14:7; 31:16:00; Lamentations 1:2; Lamentations 2:11, 18 and ten other passages). Conversely the deliverance from grief or anxiety is described as the wiping away of tears (Psalm 116:8 Isaiah 25:8 Revelation 7:17; Revelation 21:4).

The expression in Psalm 56:8 in which the Psalmist desires that God should remember his wanderings and his tears has given rise to a curious mistake. There is a paronomasia in the passage as he pleads that God should record his wanderings (Hebrew, nodh) and that his tears should be put into God's no'-dh (receptacle or bottle). No'dh literally means a leathern or skin bottle, as is evident from Psalm 119:83 and Joshua 9:4-13. The request is obviously figurative, as there is no evidence that there was even a symbolical collection of tears into a bottle in any Semitic funeral ritual, and there is no foundation whatever for the modern identification of the long, narrow perfume jars so frequently found in late Jewish and Greek-Jewish graves, as "lachrymatories" or tear bottles.

See BOTTLE.

Alexander Macalister

Greek

1145. dakruo -- to weep
... to weep. Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: dakruo Phonetic Spelling:
(dak-roo'-o) Short Definition: I shed tears, week Definition: I shed tears, weep. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1145.htm - 6k

3602. odurmos -- lamentation
... wailing, mourning, sorrow. 3602 -- , lamentation, typically accompanied
by (shedding tears, shaking the head, etc.). Word Origin ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3602.htm - 6k

1813. exaleipho -- to wipe out, erase, obliterate
... blot out, wipe away. From ek and aleipho; to smear out, ie Obliterate (erase tears,
figuratively, pardon sin) -- blot out, wipe away. see GREEK ek. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1813.htm - 7k

2428. hiketeria -- supplication
... Heb 5:7: "In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and (2428 ) with
loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2428.htm - 7k

4977. schizo -- to cleave, split
... Word Origin from a prim. root schid- Definition to cleave, split NASB Word Usage
divided (2), opening (1), split (1), tear (2), tears (1), torn (4). ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4977.htm - 6k

1144. dakruon -- a teardrop
... Word Origin a prim. word Definition a teardrop NASB Word Usage tear (2), tears
(8). tear. Or dakruon dak'-roo-on; of uncertain affinity; a tear -- tear. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1144.htm - 6k

Strong's Hebrew

1832. dimah -- tears (of one weeping)
... 1831, 1832. dimah. 1833 . tears (of one weeping). Transliteration: dimah
Phonetic Spelling: (dim-aw') Short Definition: tears. Word ...
/hebrew/1832.htm - 6k

1058. bakah -- to weep, bewail
... bewail, complain, make lamentation, more, mourn, sore, with tears,. A primitive
root; to weep; generally to bemoan -- X at all, bewail ...
/hebrew/1058.htm - 6k

2040. haras -- to throw down, break or tear down
... overthrown (1), overthrows (1), pull you down (1), pull down (1), ruined (2), shatter
(1), tear them down (1), tear you down (1), tear down (5), tears it down ...
/hebrew/2040.htm - 6k

2963. taraph -- to tear, rend, pluck
... Definition to tear, rend, pluck NASB Word Usage feed (1), ravening (1), ravenous
(1), surely been torn to pieces (2), tear (7), tearing (2), tears (2), tore (2 ...
/hebrew/2963.htm - 6k

8156. shasa -- to divide, cleave
... cleave NASB Word Usage has the split (1), make a split (1), making a split (1),
making split (1), persuaded (1), tear (1), tore him as one tears (1), two (1). ...
/hebrew/8156.htm - 6k

4726. maqor -- a spring, fountain
... Or maqor {maw-kore'}; from quwr; properly, something dug, ie A (general) source
(of water, even when naturally flowing; also of tears, blood (by euphemism, of ...
/hebrew/4726.htm - 6k

1065. beki -- a weeping
... Word Origin from bakah Definition a weeping NASB Word Usage bitterly (1), bitterly*
(3), continual weeping (1), flowing (1), tears (1), weep (2), weeping (19 ...
/hebrew/1065.htm - 6k

Library

Come to the Christ in Tears,
... PENITENCE AND LOVE Come to the Christ in tears,. tr., John Brownlie
6,6,6,6,8,8. I. Come to the Christ in tears,. And in His hearing tell. ...
/.../brownlie/hymns from the morningland/come to the christ in.htm

The Sweetness of Tears
... SAINT AUGUSTIN IV THE SWEETNESS OF TEARS. Augustin was nearly twenty. He ... cheerfully.
He asked the reason of her sorrow and her daily tears ... ...
//christianbookshelf.org/bertrand/saint augustin/iv the sweetness of tears.htm

The Tears of the Penitent.
... XIII."THE TEARS OF THE PENITENT. Adversity had taught David self-restraint, had
braced his soul, had driven him to grasp firmly the hand of God. ...
/.../maclaren/the life of david/xiii the tears of the penitent.htm

What a Sea of Tears and Sorrows
... No. 146 What a Sea of Tears and Sorrows. OUR MOTHER OF SORROWS Passiontide and BVM
What a Sea of Tears and Sorrows O quot undis lacrymarum. Tr. by Rev. ...
/.../various/the st gregory hymnal and catholic choir book/no 146 what a sea.htm

'Strong Crying and Tears'
... 'STRONG CRYING AND TEARS'. 'And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane:
and He saith to His disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray.33. ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture d/strong crying and tears.htm

The Tears of Christ.
... SERMON XLV. THE TEARS OF CHRIST. ... But now they are hid from thine eyes!". Brothers,
those tears of Jesus should be very precious and very terrible to us. ...
/.../the life of duty a years plain sermons v 2/sermon xlv the tears of.htm

Reading the Law with Tears and Joy
... THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAH READING THE LAW WITH TEARS AND JOY. ... But he joins them in exhorting
the people to dry their tears, and go joyfully to the feast. ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture g/reading the law with tears.htm

The Idol which Shed Tears.
... CHAPTER TEN. THE IDOL WHICH SHED TEARS. When Daniel was about sixteen years
of age, the cholera broke out for the first time in Goobbe. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/hodson/old daniel/chapter ten the idol which.htm

Whether Pain or Sorrow is Assuaged by Tears?
... OF THE REMEDIES OF SORROW OR PAIN (FIVE ARTICLES) Whether pain or sorrow is assuaged
by tears? Objection 1: It would seem that tears do not assuage sorrow. ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/aquinas/summa theologica/whether pain or sorrow is 2.htm

I have no Tears to Shed,
... FAITH AND PENITENCE XI I have no tears to shed,. 6,6,6,6,8,8 Kai klausomen, kai
praxomen. I have no tears to shed,. For grief my soul hath none; ...
/.../brownlie/hymns of the russian church/xi i have no tears.htm

Thesaurus

Tears (58 Occurrences)
...TEARS. terz (dim`ah; dakrua): In the instances recorded in Scripture weeping is
more frequently associated with mental distress than with physical pain. ...
/t/tears.htm - 27k

Weeping (237 Occurrences)
... 1. (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Weep. 2. (n.) The act of one who weeps; lamentation with
tears; shedding of tears. 3. (a.) Grieving; lamenting; shedding tears. ...
/w/weeping.htm - 37k

Tear (97 Occurrences)
... 3. (n.) That which causes or accompanies tears; a lament; a dirge. ... 9. (vi) To divide
or separate on being pulled; to be rent; as, this cloth tears easily. 10. ...
/t/tear.htm - 37k

Bottle (28 Occurrences)
... (3) For sorrow: "Put thou my tears into thy bottle" (Psalm 56:8). "The Psalmist's
sorrows were so many that they would need a great wine-skin to hold them all. ...
/b/bottle.htm - 23k

Wipe (24 Occurrences)
... Luke 7:38 Standing behind at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her
tears, and she wiped them with the hair of her head, kissed his feet, and ...
/w/wipe.htm - 14k

Weep (97 Occurrences)
... to express sorrow, grief, or anguish, by outcry, or by other manifest signs; in
modern use, to show grief or other passions by shedding tears; to shed tears...
/w/weep.htm - 37k

Lovingly (7 Occurrences)
... Luke 7:38 and, standing behind close to His feet, weeping, began to wet His feet
with her tears; and with her hair she wiped the tears away again, while she ...
/l/lovingly.htm - 8k

Givest (31 Occurrences)
... slander. (YLT). Psalms 80:5 Thou feedest them with the bread of tears; and
givest them tears to drink in great measure. (KJV WBS). ...
/g/givest.htm - 15k

Wiped (25 Occurrences)
... Luke 7:38 Standing behind at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her
tears, and she wiped them with the hair of her head, kissed his feet, and ...
/w/wiped.htm - 14k

Weeps (7 Occurrences)
... Isaiah 16:9 Therefore I will weep with the weeping of Jazer for the vine of Sibmah;
I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh; for upon thy ...
/w/weeps.htm - 8k

Bible Concordance

Tears (58 Occurrences)

Matthew 9:16 No one ever mends an old cloak with a patch of newly woven cloth. Otherwise, the patch put on would tear away some of the old, and a worse hole would be made.
(See RSV)

Mark 2:21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, or else the patch shrinks and the new tears away from the old, and a worse hole is made.
(WEB RSV)

Mark 9:18 and wheresoever it seizes him it tears him, and he foams and gnashes his teeth, and he is withering away. And I spoke to thy disciples, that they might cast him out, and they could not.
(DBY)

Mark 9:24 Immediately the father of the child cried out with tears, "I believe. Help my unbelief!"
(WEB KJV DBY WBS YLT)

Luke 5:36 He also spoke in figurative language to them. "No one," He said, "tears a piece from a new garment to mend an old one. Otherwise he would not only spoil the new, but the patch from the new would not match the old.
(WEY NAS RSV NIV)

Luke 7:38 Standing behind at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and she wiped them with the hair of her head, kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Luke 7:44 Turning to the woman, he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered into your house, and you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Luke 9:39 and behold, a spirit takes him, and suddenly he cries out, and it tears him with foaming, and with difficulty departs from him after crushing him.
(DBY)

Acts 20:19 serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears, and with trials which happened to me by the plots of the Jews;
(WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Acts 20:31 Therefore watch, remembering that for a period of three years I didn't cease to admonish everyone night and day with tears.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

2 Corinthians 2:4 For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears, not that you should be made sorry, but that you might know the love that I have so abundantly for you.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Philippians 3:18 For there are many whom I have often described to you, and I now even with tears describe them, as being enemies to the Cross of Christ.
(WEY RSV NIV)

2 Timothy 1:4 longing to see you, remembering your tears, that I may be filled with joy;
(WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Hebrews 5:7 He, in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and petitions with strong crying and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and having been heard for his godly fear,
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Hebrews 12:17 For you know that even when he afterward desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for a change of mind though he sought it diligently with tears.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Revelation 7:17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
(KJV WBS)

Revelation 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
(KJV WBS)

Deuteronomy 33:20 Of Gad he said, "He who enlarges Gad is blessed. He dwells as a lioness, and tears the arm, yes, the crown of the head.
(WEB NAS RSV)

Judges 14:6 and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion asunder as one tears a kid; and he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.
(DBY NAS RSV)

1 Samuel 2:33 The man of yours, whom I shall not cut off from my altar, shall be to consume your eyes, and to grieve your heart; and all the increase of your house shall die in the flower of their age.
(See NIV)

2 Kings 20:5 "Turn back, and tell Hezekiah the prince of my people,'Thus says Yahweh, the God of David your father, "I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day, you shall go up to the house of Yahweh.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Esther 8:3 Esther spoke yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and begged him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS RSV)

Job 12:14 Behold, he breaks down, and it can't be built again. He imprisons a man, and there can be no release.
(See NAS RSV NIV)

Job 16:9 He has torn me in his wrath, and persecuted me. He has gnashed on me with his teeth. My adversary sharpens his eyes on me.
(See NIV)

Job 16:20 My friends scoff at me. My eyes pour out tears to God,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS RSV NIV)

Job 31:38 If my land cries out against me, and its furrows weep together;
(See NIV)

Psalms 6:6 I am weary with my groaning. Every night I flood my bed. I drench my couch with my tears.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Psalms 39:12 "Hear my prayer, Yahweh, and give ear to my cry. Don't be silent at my tears. For I am a stranger with you, a foreigner, as all my fathers were.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Psalms 42:3 My tears have been my food day and night, while they continually ask me, "Where is your God?"
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Psalms 56:8 You number my wanderings. You put my tears into your bottle. Aren't they in your book?
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Psalms 80:5 You have fed them with the bread of tears, and given them tears to drink in large measure.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Psalms 102:9 For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mixed my drink with tears,
(WEB RSV NIV)

Psalms 116:8 For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Psalms 119:136 Streams of tears run down my eyes, because they don't observe your law.
(WEB RSV NIV)

Psalms 126:5 Those who sow in tears will reap in joy.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Proverbs 14:1 Every wise woman builds her house, but the foolish one tears it down with her own hands.
(WEB NAS RSV NIV)

Proverbs 15:25 The house of the man of pride will be uprooted by the Lord, but he will make safe the heritage of the widow.
(See RSV NIV)

Proverbs 29:4 The king by justice makes the land stable, but he who takes bribes tears it down.
(WEB NIV)

Ecclesiastes 4:1 Then I returned and saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold, the tears of those who were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Isaiah 15:3 In their streets they are girded with sackcloth; on their roofs, and in their broadways, every one howleth, melted into tears.
(DBY NAS RSV)

Isaiah 16:9 Therefore I will weep with the weeping of Jazer for the vine of Sibmah. I will water you with my tears, Heshbon, and Elealeh: for on your summer fruits and on your harvest the battle shout has fallen.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Isaiah 22:4 For this cause I have said, Let your eyes be turned away from me in my bitter weeping; I will not be comforted for the wasting of the daughter of my people.
(See RSV)

Isaiah 25:8 He has swallowed up death forever! The Lord Yahweh will wipe away tears from off all faces. He will take the reproach of his people away from off all the earth, for Yahweh has spoken it.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Isaiah 38:5 "Go, and tell Hezekiah,'Thus says Yahweh, the God of David your father, "I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Jeremiah 9:1 Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a spring of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Jeremiah 9:18 and let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Jeremiah 13:17 But if you will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret for your pride; and my eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because Yahweh's flock is taken captive.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Jeremiah 14:17 You shall say this word to them, Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease; for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous wound.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Jeremiah 31:16 Thus says Yahweh: Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for your work shall be rewarded, says Yahweh; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Jeremiah 50:4 In those days, and in that time, says Yahweh, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together; they shall go on their way weeping, and shall seek Yahweh their God.
(See NIV)

Lamentations 1:2 She weeps sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has none to comfort her: All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they are become her enemies.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Lamentations 1:16 For these things I weep; my eye, my eye runs down with water; Because the comforter who should refresh my soul is far from me: My children are desolate, because the enemy has prevailed.
(See RSV NIV)

Lamentations 2:11 My eyes do fail with tears, my heart is troubled; My liver is poured on the earth, because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, Because the young children and the infants swoon in the streets of the city.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS)

Lamentations 2:18 Their heart cried to the Lord: wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night; Give yourself no respite; don't let the apple of your eye cease.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Lamentations 3:48 My eye runs down with streams of water, for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
(See RSV NIV)

Ezekiel 24:16 Son of man, behold, I will take away from you the desire of your eyes with a stroke: yet you shall neither mourn nor weep, neither shall your tears run down.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Micah 5:8 The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the animals of the forest, like a young lion among the flocks of sheep; who, if he goes through, treads down and tears in pieces, and there is no one to deliver.
(WEB NAS RSV)

Malachi 2:13 This again you do: you cover the altar of Yahweh with tears, with weeping, and with sighing, because he doesn't regard the offering any more, neither receives it with good will at your hand.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Subtopics

Tears

Tears: Figurative

Tears: General Scriptures Concerning

Tears: None in Heaven

Tears: Observed by God

Tears: Wiped Away

Related Terms

Weeping (237 Occurrences)

Tear (97 Occurrences)

Bottle (28 Occurrences)

Wipe (24 Occurrences)