bacha · weep

What it means

bacha (בָּכָה) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “weep”.

Cry; mourn for someone.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. To shed tears aloud, from pain, for the dead, or for joy.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

To weep. BDB adds the more general sense to bemoan. From the same root come בְּכִי, “weeping”, and the name Bochim, “weepers” (Judges 2:5).

• Weeping at a reunion Genesis 29:11Genesis 45:14Genesis 33:4
• Weeping for the dead, mourning Genesis 23:2Deuteronomy 34:8
• Weeping in complaint or desire Numbers 11:4Numbers 11:10
• Weeping before YHWH, together with prayer 1 Samuel 1:10Judges 20:26
• The weeping of exile Psalms 137:1

Historical and cultural background

The text gives the length of some periods of mourning: the Egyptians “wept for him seventy days” (Genesis 50:3), and Israel wept for Moses thirty days in the plains of Moab (Deuteronomy 34:8).

How we translate it

Always the verb “weep”: “wept” 58 times, “weep” 34, “weeping” 19, “weeps” 2. When the Hebrew joins the verb and its noun (Ezra 10:1) it is translated “the people wept with much weeping”.

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• wept ×58
• weep ×34
• weeping ×19
• weeps ×2
• all ×1
• crying ×1
• you will certainly ×1

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Genesis×16
• Exodus×1
• Leviticus×1
• Numbers×8
• Deuteronomy×3
• Judges×8
• Ruth×2
• 1 Samuel×10
• 2 Samuel×15
• 2 Kings×6
• 2 Chronicles×1
• Ezra×3
• Nehemiah×3
• Esther×1
• Job×5
• Psalms×4
• Ecclesiastes×1
• Isaiah×6
• Jeremiah×9
• Lamentations×3
• Ezekiel×4
• Hosea×1
• Joel×2
• Micah×2
• Zechariah×1

• Genesis 21:16

  Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about a bowshot away, for she said, “Let me not see the death of the child.” And she sat opposite him, lifted up her voice, and wept.

• Genesis 23:2

  Sarah died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.

• Genesis 27:38

  Esau said to his father, “Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me, me too, my father!” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.

• Genesis 29:11

  Jacob kissed Rachel, and he lifted up his voice and wept.

• Genesis 33:4

  But Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, fell on his neck, and kissed him; and they wept.

• Genesis 37:35

  All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted, and said, “Indeed, I will go down to my son mourning, to Sheol.” Thus his father wept for him.

• Genesis 42:24

  He turned away from them and wept. Then he returned to them and spoke to them, and he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.

• Genesis 43:30

  Joseph hurried out, for his inner parts were stirred for his brother, and he sought a place to weep; he went into the inner room and wept there.

• Genesis 45:14

  He fell on the neck of Benjamin his brother and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck.

• Genesis 45:15

  He kissed all his brothers and wept over them; and after that his brothers talked with him.

• Genesis 46:29

  Joseph harnessed his chariot and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen. He appeared to him and fell on his neck and wept on his neck a long time.

• Genesis 50:1

  Joseph fell on his father’s face and wept over him and kissed him.

• Genesis 50:3

  Forty days were completed for him, for so are completed the days of embalming; and the Egyptians wept for him seventy days.

• Genesis 50:17

  ‘Thus you shall say to Joseph: “I beg you, please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, for they did evil to you.”’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the Elohim of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.

• Exodus 2:6

  She opened it and saw him, the child, and look, a boy crying! She had pity on him and said, “This is one of the children of the Hebrews.”

• Leviticus 10:6

  Moses said to Aaron and to Eleazar and to Ithamar, his sons, “Do not let the hair of your heads hang loose and do not tear your garments, so that you do not die and he does not become angry with all the community; but your brothers, all the house of Israel, shall weep over the burning that YHWH has kindled.

• Numbers 11:4

  And the crowd that was among them felt a great desire, and the sons of Israel also wept again and said, “Who will give us to eat meat?

• Numbers 11:10

  And Moses heard the people weeping by their families, each man at the entrance of his tent; and the anger of YHWH burned greatly, and in the eyes of Moses it was evil.

• Numbers 11:13

  Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’

• Numbers 11:18

  And say to the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the ears of YHWH, saying, “Who will give us to eat meat? For it was good for us in Egypt.” So YHWH will give you meat, and you shall eat.

• Numbers 11:20

  but a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have despised YHWH who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we ever come out of Egypt?”’”

• Numbers 14:1

  Then all the community lifted up and raised their voice, and the people wept that night.

• Numbers 20:29

  And all the community saw that Aaron had expired, and they wept for Aaron thirty days, all the house of Israel.

• Numbers 25:6

  And look, a man of the sons of Israel came and brought near to his brothers the Midianite woman before the eyes of Moses and before the eyes of the whole community of the sons of Israel, while they were weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

• Deuteronomy 1:45

  You returned and wept before YHWH, but YHWH did not listen to your voice or give ear to you.

• Deuteronomy 21:13

  and she shall remove the garment of her captivity from herself, and she shall stay in your house and weep for her father and her mother a full month; and after that you may go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife.

• Deuteronomy 34:8

  And the sons of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; and the days of weeping in mourning for Moses were completed.

• Judges 2:4

  When the angel of YHWH spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, the people lifted up their voice and wept.

• Judges 11:37

  And she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: leave me alone two months, so that I may go and go down upon the mountains and weep for my virginity, I and my companions.”

• Judges 11:38

  He said, “Go.” And he sent her away for two months; and she went, with her companions, and wept for her virginity on the mountains.

• Judges 14:16

  So the wife of Samson wept over him and said, “You only hate me; you do not love me. The riddle you have proposed to the sons of my people, but to me you have not explained it.” And he said to her, “Look, to my father and to my mother I have not explained it, and to you should I explain it?”

• Judges 14:17

  She wept over him the seven days that they had the feast; and it happened on the seventh day that he explained it to her, because she pressed him hard; and she explained the riddle to the sons of her people.

• Judges 20:23

  And the sons of Israel went up and wept before YHWH until evening, and they inquired of YHWH, saying, “Shall I again draw near to war with the sons of Benjamin my brother?” And YHWH said, “Go up against him.”

• Judges 20:26

  Then all the sons of Israel and all the people went up and came to Bethel and wept, and they sat there before YHWH and fasted on that day until evening, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before YHWH.

• Judges 21:2

  And the people came to Bethel and sat there until evening before Elohim, and they lifted up their voice and wept with great weeping.

• Ruth 1:9

  May YHWH grant you that you find rest, each in the house of her husband.” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voice and wept.

• Ruth 1:14

  They lifted up their voice and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

• 1 Samuel 1:7

  And so he would do year by year; as often as she went up to the house of YHWH, so she would provoke her, and she would weep and not eat.

• 1 Samuel 1:8

  And Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”

• 1 Samuel 1:10

  She was bitter of soul, and she prayed to YHWH and wept greatly.

And 76 more times.