2. Loud lamentation is usually and naturally associ- ated with weeping as a sign of grief (Ruth i, 9 ; 1 Sam. ii, 4; 2 Sam. iii, 31 ; xiii, 3G). Nor are Orientals con- tent with mere sobs: their excitableness appears in howls for grief, even amid the solemnities of worship (Joel i, 13 ; Mic. i, 8, etc.). The Egyptians have ever been renowned for the vociferation of their grief; "there was a great cry in Egypt at the death of the first-born" (Exod. xii, 30). Craving aloud certainly diverts the attention from anguish of mind or body, and the value of moans and shrieks is well known in severe surgical operations. But in addition to the wail of woe by the immediate bereaved, hired performers were often en- gaged to swell the lamentation with screams and noisy utterances ; and this not merely at the funeral, but im- mediately after the decease. The first reference to pro- fessional mourners occurs in Eccles. xii, 5: "The mourn- ers (C'lsiSil) go about the streets." (The root of this word, observes Gesenius, signifies " a mournful noise," and he adduces Mic. i, 8 ; Jer. xxii, 18 ; xxxiv, 5). They are certainly alluded to in Jer. ix, 17-20: " the mourning women" (probably widows ; comp. Psa. Ixxviii, 64 ; Acts ix, 39). Another reference to them occurs in 2 Chron. xxxv, 25 (comp. Josephus, War, iii, 9, 5). The greater number of the mourners in ancient Egypt were women, as in the modern East. Mourning for the dead in the East was conducted in a tumultuous manner (Mark v, 38). Even devout men made great lamentations (Acts viii, 2). Akin to this usage was the custom for friends or passers-by to join in the lamenta- tions of bereaved or afflicted persons (Gen. 1, 3 ; Judg. xi, 40 ; Job ii, 11 ; xxx, 2.5 ; xxvii, 15 ; Psa. Ixxviii, 64 ; Jer. ix, 1 ; xxii, 18 ; 1 Kings xiv, 13, 18 ; 1 Chron. vii, 22; 2 Chron. xxxv, 24, 25; Zech. xii, 11; Luke vii, 12; John xi, 31; Acts viii, 2; ix, 89; Rom. xii, 15). So also in times of general sorrow we find large numbers of persons joining in passionate expressions of grief (Judg. VI.-Y Y
ii, 4; XX, 26; 1 Sam. xxviii, 3; xxx, 4; 2 Sam. i, 12; Ezra iii, 13 ; Ezek. vii, 16 ; and the like is mentioned of the priests — Joel ii, 17 ; Mai. ii, 13). Clamor in grief is referred to by Job (xix, 7 ; xx, 28) : it is considered a wicked man's portion that his widow shall not weep at his death (xxvii, 15). L^pon Job's recovery from his afflictions, all his relatives and acquaintances bemoan and comfort him concerning his past sufferings ; which seems to have been a kind of congratulatory mourning, indulged in order to heighten the pleasures of prosperity by recalling associations of adversity (xlii, 11). See Lajientation.
3. Personal Disfigurement. — In all the other acts ex- pressive of grief the idea of self-mortification seems to prevail, whether by injuries to the person or neglect of it, by mean clothing, by unusual and humiliating atti- tudes, or other marks of individual abasement, intended chiefly for the public eye. Some of the more violent forms have perhaps a natural, if not a remedial or alle- viating character. Shaving the head may be a dictate of nature to relieve the excited brain. Plucking the hair is well calculated to assuage the action of some par- ticular organs, to which the sensations of the individual may be a sufficient guide. Beating the breast may re- lieve the heart, oppressed with a tumultuous circula- tion. Cutting may be the effect of nature's indication of bleeding. Tearing and rending ^eem to palliate ner- vous irritation, etc. But the greater part of the prac- tices under this head have their origin in custom, or some supposed fitness to a state of grief. Among the particular forms observed the following may be men- tioned :
a. Rending the clothes (Gen. xxxvii, 29, 34; xliv, 13; 2 Chron. xxxiv, 27; Isa. xxxvi, 22; Jer. xxxvi, 24 [where the absence of the form is to be noted] ; xii, 5; 2Sam. iii, 31; xv, 32; Josh, vii, 6; Joel ii, 13; Ezra ix, 5; 2 Kings v, 7; xi, 14; Matt, xxvi, 65, ificiTiov; Mark xiv, 63, xitwv). See Clothing.
b. Dressing in sackcloth (Gen. xxxvii, 34 ; 2 Sam. iii, 31; xxi, 10; Psa. xxxv, 13; Isa. xxxvii, 1 ; Joel i, 8, 13 ; Amos viii, 10 ; Jonah iii, 8, man and beast ; Job xvi, 15; Esth. iv, 3, 4; Jer.vi, 26; Lam. ii, 10; 1 Kings xxi, 27). See Sackcloth.
c. Ashes, dust, or earth sprinkled on the person (2 Sam. xiii, 19 ; xv, 32 ; Josh, vii, C ; Esth. iv, 1, 3 ; Jer. vi, 26 ; Job ii, 12 ; xvi, 15 ; xlii, 6 ; Isa. Ixi, 3 ; Rev. xviii, 19). See Ashes.
d. Black or sad-colored garments (2 Sam. xiv, 2; Jer, viii, 21; Psa. xxxviii, 6; "xlii, 9; xliii, 2; Mai. iii, 14, marg.). See Color.
e. Removal of ornaments or neglect of person (Deut. xxi, 12, 13; Exod. xxxiii, 4; 2 Sam. xiv, 2; xix, 24; Ezek. xxvi, 16 ; Dan. x, 3 ; Matt, vi, 16, 17). See Nail,