Lexical Summary
misped: Mourning, lamentation
Original Word:מִסְפֵּד
Part of Speech:Noun Masculine
Transliteration:micepd
Pronunciation:mis-payd'
Phonetic Spelling:(mis-pade')
KJV: lamentation, one mourneth, mourning, wailing
NASB:mourning, lamentation, wailing, lament
Word Origin:[fromH5594 (סָפַד - lament)]
1. a lamentation
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
lamentation, mourning, wailing
Fromcaphad; a lamentation -- lamentation, one mourneth, mourning, wailing.
see HEBREWcaphad
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Originfrom
saphadDefinitiona wailing
NASB Translationlament (1), lamentation (4), mourning (5), wailing (4).
Brown-Driver-Briggs
Genesis 50:10 ; — absolute
Amos 5:16 11t.; construct
Micah 1:11 2t.; suffix
Psalm 30:12; —
wailing: ,Genesis 50:10 (J; as accusative of congnate meaning with verb),Zechariah 12:10 (with ; compareZechariah 12:11;Zechariah 12:11 below).
Amos 5:16 (twice in verse) ("" ), vAmos 5:17;Micah 1:8 ( , "" ),Micah 1:11;Jeremiah 48:38;Ezekiel 27:31, anticipatedJeremiah 6:26;Esther 4:3.
Isaiah 22:12 (+ ),Joel 2:12 (+ , ), compareZechariah 12:11 (twice in verse).
in General,Psalm 30:12 (opposed to , compareEcclesiastes 3:4).
Topical Lexicon
Primary Sense and Semantic Rangeמִסְפֵּד denotes public or private mourning expressed through lamentation, wailing, and ritual actions. It covers grief for bereavement, calamity, or sin and is often accompanied by sackcloth, ashes, fasting, and loud cries.
Cultural Background of Mourning in Ancient Israel
Ancient Israelites responded to loss with highly visible, communal rites: tearing garments (Genesis 37:34), sitting in dust (Job 2:13), shaving the head (Isaiah 22:12), rhythmic beating of the breast, professional mourners (Amos 5:16), and funeral dirges. These acts acknowledged both the reality of death and the sovereign hand of God behind every life-event (Deuteronomy 32:39).
Canonical Distribution and Representative Uses
•Genesis 50:10 pictures the earliest recorded “great and solemn lamentation” when Joseph honored Jacob at the threshing floor of Atad.
•Esther 4:3 shows national mourning in response to genocidal threat: “fasting, weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.”
•Psalm 30:11 celebrates divine reversal: “You turned my mourning into dancing.”
•Isaiah 22:12 andJeremiah 6:26 connect mourning with prophetic calls to repentance amid impending judgment.
•Ezekiel 27:31 personifies Tyre’s allies lamenting a shattered commercial empire.
•Joel 2:12 links mourning to covenant return: “Return to Me… with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
•Amos 5:16-17 summons both farmers and professional mourners when the LORD “passes through” in judgment.
•Micah 1:8 dramatizes the prophet’s own identification with the nation’s plight.
•Zechariah 12:11 foretells an eschatological lament comparable to “the mourning of Hadad-rimmon,” anticipating national repentance.
Theological Themes
1. Recognition of Divine Sovereignty: Mourning is never random grief but acknowledgment that the LORD gives and takes away (Job 1:21).
2. Corporate Solidarity: Whole communities bear one another’s pain (Esther 4:3;Amos 5:16).
3. Prophetic Warning: Mourning can be preventive, urging repentance before judgment falls (Joel 2:12).
4. Redemptive Reversal: Scripture moves from lament to joy (Psalm 30:11), prefiguring resurrection hope.
Prophetic and Eschatological Dimensions
Zechariah 12:10-14 pictures Israel’s future mourning over “the One they have pierced,” leading to cleansing (Zechariah 13:1).Revelation 1:7 echoes this theme, showing that final redemption arises out of heartfelt lament.
Practical Implications for Ministry Today
• Pastoral Care: Encourage authentic lament; suppressing grief undermines healing (1 Thessalonians 4:13).
• Funeral Worship: Integrate honest sorrow with gospel hope, reflectingPsalm 30:11’s pattern.
• Corporate Repentance: Periods of fasting and mourning can recalibrate a congregation confronting sin or catastrophe.
• Social Compassion: Like professional mourners who joined even strangers’ grief, believers “weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15).
Connections to New Testament Fulfillment
Jesus affirms the blessedness of those who mourn (Matthew 5:4) and embodies the reversal of grief through His resurrection (John 20:11-18). Final consolation is promised when “He will wipe away every tear” (Revelation 21:4), completing the trajectory from מִסְפֵּד to everlasting joy.
Forms and Transliterations
הַמִּסְפֵּד֙ המספד וּבְמִסְפֵּֽד׃ וּלְמִסְפֵּ֔ד וּמִסְפֵּ֑ד וּמִסְפֵּ֖ד ובמספד׃ ולמספד ומספד כְּמִסְפַּ֥ד כמספד מִסְפְּדִי֮ מִסְפֵּ֑ד מִסְפֵּ֔ד מִסְפֵּ֛ד מִסְפֵּ֥ד מִסְפֵּד֙ מִסְפַּ֖ד מספד מספדי ham·mis·pêḏ hammisPed hammispêḏ kə·mis·paḏ kemisPad kəmispaḏ mis·paḏ mis·pə·ḏî mis·pêḏ misPad mispaḏ misPed mispêḏ mispeDi mispəḏî ū·ḇə·mis·pêḏ ū·lə·mis·pêḏ ū·mis·pêḏ ūḇəmispêḏ ulemisPed ūləmispêḏ umisPed ūmispêḏ uvemisPed
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