אָבַל

This Hebrew verb describes mourning or lamenting. Its settings include personal loss and distress over a community's condition, so the reason for sorrow must be read from the scene. Genesis 37:34 describes Jacob mourning the son he believes has been killed. The reader knows that Joseph is alive, but Jacob does not; his sorrow is real within the deception inflicted on him. Nehemiah 1:4 describes mourning over the report of Jerusalem's broken walls and the remnant's distress, accompanied by fasting and prayer.

Nehemiah 8:9 gives a different instruction to a gathered people who weep as they hear the Law. They are told not to mourn on this holy day, and the next verse directs them to eat, drink and share with those who have nothing prepared. That particular occasion does not cancel the earlier mourning or prohibit grief everywhere. The verb names a response to sorrow; it does not provide a timetable for bereavement or measure the sincerity of faith by the absence of tears.

Jacob's bereavement under a false report, Nehemiah's sorrow over Jerusalem, and the instruction to rejoice and share on a holy day show different occasions for mourning and response.