To cry
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through the Connect page. Screenshots are helpful.
κράζω (krazō) means to cry out, call aloud, shout, or raise the voice. The verb foregrounds audible urgency or public force, but it does not tell readers whether the cry is faithful, fearful, hostile, demonic, compassionate, or despairing.
Reader summary
Full entry for κράζω (G2896) · Open the biblical lexicon
κράζω (krazō) means to cry out, call aloud, shout, or raise the voice. The verb foregrounds audible urgency or public force, but it does not tell readers whether the cry is faithful, fearful, hostile, demonic, compassionate, or despairing.
The BSB source-word alignment has 55 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include he cried out (8), cried out (7), crying out (7), they cried out (4), they shouted (4).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 8:29. Its strongest book concentrations include Matthew (12), Acts (11), Revelation (11), Mark (10).
This entry includes 1 verse guide that explain exact original-language forms in context.
κράζω (krazō) means to cry out, call aloud, shout, or raise the voice. The verb foregrounds audible urgency or public force, but it does not tell readers whether the cry is faithful, fearful, hostile, demonic, compassionate, or despairing. Blind men cry to Jesus for mercy as Son of David. Jesus cries out before yielding His spirit on the cross. A desperate father cries, “I do believe; help my unbelief!
” Jesus publicly calls thirsty people to come to Him and drink. Paul says believers cry “Abba! Father! ” by the Spirit of adoption. Elsewhere the same verb can report alarm, opposition, or unclean spirits. Volume is therefore not proof of truth, and polished calm is not proof of faith. The passage supplies speaker, words, need, and response. The selected witnesses show urgent dependence moving toward Christ, the incarnate Son giving Himself, and adopted children addressing God through the Spirit.
κράζω marks urgent or public crying aloud. The selected passages move through pleas for mercy, Jesus’ cross-shaped cry, faith mixed with weakness, His public invitation, and the Spirit-enabled cry of adopted children.
As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”
The men’s persistent cry joins need, mercy, and a messianic title. Their raised voices do not merit healing; they direct desperate dependence toward Jesus, who later asks about their faith.
When Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, He yielded up His spirit.
Matthew reports Jesus’ loud cry immediately before His death. The verb emphasizes the audible act; the saving meaning comes from the Passion narrative and the events that follow, not from a lexical claim about the cry itself.
Immediately the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe; help my unbelief!”
The father’s cry refuses to disguise mixed faith and weakness. He brings both confession and need to Jesus, who delivers the boy despite the disciples’ prior failure.
On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.
Jesus raises His voice publicly at the feast and invites the thirsty to come to Him. John connects the promised living water with the Spirit, who would be received by those believing in Jesus.
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery that returns you to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption to sonship, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
The believers’ cry arises from the Spirit of adoption rather than renewed slavery to fear. It is the family address of those led by the Spirit and joined to Christ’s inheritance and suffering.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Greek word. Loud, urgent crying out—often importunate prayer or public proclamation demanding immediate attention
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 59 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I cry aloud, shriek
Read verseI cry aloud, shriek
Read verseI cry aloud, shriek
Read verseI cry aloud, shriek
Read verseI cry aloud, shriek
Read verseI cry aloud, shriek
Read verseI cry aloud, shriek
Read verseI cry aloud, shriek
Read verseI cry aloud, shriek
Read verseI cry aloud, shriek
Read verseI cry aloud, shriek
Read verseI cry aloud, shriek
Read verseI cry aloud, shriek
Read verseI cry aloud, shriek
Read verseI cry aloud, shriek
Read verseI cry aloud, shriek
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
How this verb appears across 54 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 55 lexical occurrence verses.
κράζω is a primary verb - no further derivation.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Scripture does not require sufferers to make desperation sound composed before they come to Christ. Blind men cry for mercy, and a father cries with faith that openly names its unbelief. Jesus receives neither because loudness earns favor, but both cries move honestly toward the One who can save. Jesus Himself calls aloud in John 7, inviting the thirsty to come to Him for the life associated with the promised Spirit.
At the cross He cries out and yields His spirit, and the Gospel narrative supplies the redemptive meaning of His death. Romans 8 then places a different cry in believers’ mouths. The Spirit of adoption does not return them to slavery and fear; by Him they address God as Father while sharing the path of Christ’s suffering and glory. Christian prayer may be urgent without becoming manipulative, honest without surrendering hope, and emotionally forceful without making emotion its authority.
The decisive question is not how loud the cry sounds but whom it addresses, what truth it confesses, and whether it rests in God’s mercy through Christ.
Rom.8.15
The verb marks raising the voice or crying aloud, while quoted speech and context supply content and moral character. Adverbs or phrases may specify loudness, and speakers range from sufferers to Jesus, crowds, and hostile powers. It is a speech-act verb, not a spiritual quality label.
The Psalms repeatedly give faithful sufferers words for crying to the Lord, while prophets raise their voices to announce warning and hope. New Testament cries continue that pattern and center it on Jesus, whose mercy receives needy people and whose Spirit teaches adopted children to address the Father.
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain