Genesis 45:2

45:2 He wept loudly; ¹  the Egyptians heard it and Pharaoh’s household heard about it. ² 

Psalms 119:136

119:136 Tears stream down from my eyes, ³ 

because people ⁴  do not keep your law.

Jeremiah 4:19

4:19 I said, ⁵ 

“Oh, the feeling in the pit of my stomach! ⁶ 

I writhe in anguish.

Oh, the pain in my heart! ⁷ 

My heart pounds within me.

I cannot keep silent.

For I hear the sound of the trumpet; ⁸ 

the sound of the battle cry pierces my soul! ⁹ 

Jeremiah 9:1

9:1 (8:23) ¹⁰  I wish that my head were a well full of water ¹¹ 

and my eyes were a fountain full of tears!

If they were, I could cry day and night

for those of my dear people ¹²  who have been killed.

Jeremiah 9:18

9:18 I said, “Indeed, ¹³  let them come quickly and sing a song of mourning for us.

Let them wail loudly until tears stream from our own eyes

and our eyelids overflow with water.

Jeremiah 13:17

13:17 But if you will not pay attention to this warning, ¹⁴ 

I will weep alone because of your arrogant pride.

I will weep bitterly and my eyes will overflow with tears ¹⁵ 

because you, the Lord’s flock, ¹⁶  will be carried ¹⁷  into exile.”

Jeremiah 14:17

Lament over Present Destruction and Threat of More to Come

14:17 “Tell these people this, Jeremiah: ¹⁸ 

‘My eyes overflow with tears

day and night without ceasing. ¹⁹ 

For my people, my dear children, ²⁰  have suffered a crushing blow.

They have suffered a serious wound. ²¹ 

Luke 19:41

Jesus Weeps for Jerusalem under Judgment

19:41 Now ²²  when Jesus ²³  approached ²⁴  and saw the city, he wept over it,

John 11:35

11:35 Jesus wept. ²⁵ 

Acts 20:19

20:19 serving the Lord with all humility ²⁶  and with tears, and with the trials that happened to me because of the plots ²⁷  of the Jews.

Acts 20:31

20:31 Therefore be alert, ²⁸  remembering that night and day for three years I did not stop warning ²⁹  each one of you with tears.

Romans 9:2

9:2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ³⁰ 

Philippians 3:18

3:18 For many live, about whom I have often told you, and now, with tears, I tell you that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ.

[45:2]  ¹ tn Heb “and he gave his voice in weeping,” meaning that Joseph could not restrain himself and wept out loud.

[45:2]  ² tn Heb “and the Egyptians heard and the household of Pharaoh heard.” Presumably in the latter case this was by means of a report.

[119:136]  ³ tn Heb “[with] flowing streams my eyes go down.”

[119:136]  ⁴ tn Heb “they”; even though somewhat generic, the referent (people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:19]  ⁵ tn The words “I said” are not in the text. They are used to mark the shift from the Lord’s promise of judgment to Jeremiah’s lament concerning it.

[4:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “My bowels! My bowels!”

[4:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “the walls of my heart!”

[4:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “ram’s horn,” but the modern equivalent is “trumpet” and is more readily understandable.

[4:19]  ⁹ tc The translation reflects a different division of the last two lines than that suggested by the Masoretes. The written text (the Kethib) reads “for the sound of the ram’s horn I have heard [or “you have heard,” if the form is understood as the old second feminine singular perfect] my soul” followed by “the battle cry” in the last line. The translation is based on taking “my soul” with the last line and understanding an elliptical expression “the battle cry [to] my soul.” Such an elliptical expression is in keeping with the elliptical nature of the exclamations at the beginning of the verse (cf. the literal translations of the first two lines of the verse in the notes on the words “stomach” and “heart”).

[9:1]  ¹⁰ sn Beginning with 9:1, the verse numbers through 9:26 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 9:1 ET = 8:23 HT, 9:2 ET = 9:1 HT, 9:3 ET = 9:2 HT, etc., through 9:26 ET = 9:25 HT. Beginning with 10:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.

[9:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I wish that my head were water.”

[9:1]  ¹² tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.

[9:18]  ¹³ tn The words “And I said, ‘Indeed” are not in the text. They have been supplied in the translation to try and help clarify who the speaker is who identifies with the lament of the people.

[13:17]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “If you will not listen to it.” For the use of the feminine singular pronoun to refer to the idea(s) expressed in the preceding verse(s), see GKC 440-41 §135.p.

[13:17]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Tearing [my eye] will tear and my eye will run down [= flow] with tears.”

[13:17]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “because the Lord’s flock will…” The pronoun “you” is supplied in the translation to avoid the shift in English from the second person address at the beginning to the third person affirmation at the end. It also helps explain the metaphor of the people of Israel as God’s flock for some readers who may be unfamiliar with that metaphor.

[13:17]  ¹⁷ tn The verb is once again in the form of “as good as done” (the Hebrew prophetic perfect).

[14:17]  ¹⁸ tn The word “Jeremiah” is not in the text but the address is to a second person singular and is a continuation of 14:14 where the quote starts. The word is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[14:17]  ¹⁹ tn Many of the English versions and commentaries render this an indirect or third person imperative, “Let my eyes overflow…” because of the particle אַל (’al) which introduces the phrase translated “without ceasing” (אַל־תִּדְמֶינָה, ’al-tidmenah). However, this is undoubtedly an example where the particle introduces an affirmation that something cannot be done (cf. GKC 322 §109.e). Clear examples of this are found in Pss 41:2 (41:3 HT); 50:3; Job 40:32 (41:8). God here is describing again a lamentable situation and giving his response to it. See 14:1-6 above.

[14:17]  ²⁰ tn Heb “virgin daughter, my people.” The last noun here is appositional to the first two (genitive of apposition). Hence it is not ‘literally’ “virgin daughter of my people.”

[14:17]  ²¹ tn This is a poetic personification. To translate with the plural “serious wounds” might mislead some into thinking of literal wounds.

[19:41]  ²² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[19:41]  ²³ tn Grk “he.”

[19:41]  ²⁴ sn When Jesus approached and saw the city. This is the last travel note in Luke’s account (the so-called Jerusalem journey), as Jesus approached and saw the city before entering it.

[11:35]  ²⁵ sn Jesus wept. The Greek word used here for Jesus’ weeping (ἐδάκρυσεν, edakrusen) is different from the one used to describe the weeping of Mary and the Jews in v. 33 which indicated loud wailing and cries of lament. This word simply means “to shed tears” and has more the idea of quiet grief. But why did Jesus do this? Not out of grief for Lazarus, since he was about to be raised to life again. L. Morris (John [NICNT], 558) thinks it was grief over the misconception of those round about. But it seems that in the context the weeping is triggered by the thought of Lazarus in the tomb: This was not personal grief over the loss of a friend (since Lazarus was about to be restored to life) but grief over the effects of sin, death, and the realm of Satan. It was a natural complement to the previous emotional expression of anger (11:33). It is also possible that Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus because he knew there was also a tomb for himself ahead.

[20:19]  ²⁶ sn On humility see 2 Cor 10:1; 11:7; 1 Thess 2:6; Col 3:12; Eph 4:2; Phil 2:3-11.

[20:19]  ²⁷ sn These plots are mentioned in Acts 9:24; 20:13.

[20:31]  ²⁸ tn Or “be watchful.”

[20:31]  ²⁹ tn Or “admonishing.”

[9:2]  ³⁰ tn Grk “my sorrow is great and the anguish in my heart is unceasing.”