to mourn
sa.phad denotes mourning, especially grief expressed for the dead, and also lament in the face of disaster.
The term most often marks mourning for a deceased person, whether by family, a gathered people, or designated mourners. It also occurs in calls to lament amid ruin or divine anger, and in statements that such mourning will be absent or prohibited.
Senses in use
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Mourning for a deceased person · dominant
In Genesis 23:2, the Qal infinitive construct occurs when Abraham comes after Sarah's death, and the APB renders the clause “to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.” The same use appears when all Israel mourns after Samuel's death in 1 Samuel 25:1, when David commands the people to mourn before Abner in 2 Samuel 3:31, and when the land mourns for the pierced one in Zechariah 12:10.
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Lament in calamity or threatened loss · common
The Qal imperatives summon hearers to mourn in response to announced disaster: Jeremiah 4:8 joins the command with sackcloth and wailing because of the LORD's burning anger, while Joel 1:13 addresses priests after offerings have been withheld. In Micah 1:8, the first-person imperfect voices the speaker's intended mourning and wailing over the stated situation.
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Mourning withheld, forbidden, or denied · occasional
Several clauses define severe loss by the absence of mourning: Jeremiah 16:4 says those dying of deadly diseases “shall not be mourned,” and Jeremiah 25:33 similarly says the slain “shall not be mourned.” Ezekiel 24:16 and Ezekiel 24:23 directly prohibit mourning, while Jeremiah 16:5 tells the hearer not to go to mourn in a house of mourning.
In the Anselm Project Bible: Across these verses, the APB commonly uses “mourn,” including mourning “for” or “over” a person, and it also uses “mourning” for the associated condition or activity. It sometimes places the term alongside “weep,” “wail,” sackcloth, burial, or fasting; Those accompanying expressions should not be treated as separate renderings of the lemma.