What does אָבֵל (ʾābēl) mean in the Bible?
אָבֵל (ʾābēl): Mourning characterized by audible, expressive lamentation—often ritualized grief involving vocal wailing and bodily gestures signifying acute loss.
Hebrew · H57
אָבֵל
Lamenting
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אָבֵל H57
Pronunciation ʾābēl
What does אָבֵל (ʾābēl) mean in the Bible?
אָבֵל (ʾābēl): Mourning characterized by audible, expressive lamentation—often ritualized grief involving vocal wailing and bodily gestures signifying acute loss.
Full entry for אָבֵל (H57) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H57?
The BSB source-word alignment has 8 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include and his mourners (1), in grief (1), like one mourning (1), mourn (1), mourning (1).
Where does אָבֵל (ʾābēl) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 37:35. Its strongest book concentrations include Isaiah (3), Esther (1), Genesis (1), Job (1).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It and his mourners 1× Isaiah 57:18
in grief 1× Esther 6:12
like one mourning 1× Psalms 35:14
mourn 1× Lamentations 1:4
mourning 1× Genesis 37:35
of the mourners 1× Job 29:25
the mourners 1× Isaiah 61:3
who mourn 1× Isaiah 61:2
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 37:35 אָבֵ֖ל to mourning Adjective - masculine singular Esther 6:12 אָבֵ֖ל to in grief Adjective - masculine singular Job 29:25 אֲבֵלִ֣ים to of the mourners Adjective - masculine plural Psalms 35:14 כַּאֲבֶל־ to like one mourning Preposition-k | Adjective - masculine singular construct Isaiah 57:18 וְלַאֲבֵלָֽיו׃ to and his mourners Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l | Adjective - masculine plural construct | third person masculine singular Isaiah 61:2 אֲבֵלִֽים׃ to who mourn Adjective - masculine plural Isaiah 61:3 לַאֲבֵלֵ֣י to the mourners Preposition-l | Adjective - masculine plural construct Lamentations 1:4 אֲבֵל֗וֹת to mourn Adjective - feminine plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Genesis 37:35
Aligned rows 8
Books represented 6
Genesis 1 Esther 1 Job 1 Psalms 1 Isaiah 3 Lamentations 1
Source forms
אָבֵ֖ל 2x ’ā·ḇêl Genesis 37:35, Esther 6:12
אֲבֵל֗וֹת 1x ’ă·ḇê·lō·wṯ Lamentations 1:4
אֲבֵלִ֣ים 1x ’ă·ḇê·lîm Job 29:25
אֲבֵלִֽים׃ 1x ’ă·ḇê·lîm Isaiah 61:2
וְלַאֲבֵלָֽיו׃ 1x wə·la·’ă·ḇê·lāw Isaiah 57:18
כַּאֲבֶל־ 1x ka·’ă·ḇel- Psalms 35:14
לַאֲבֵלֵ֣י 1x la·’ă·ḇê·lê Isaiah 61:3
Parsing patterns
Adjective - masculine plural 2x Job 29:25, Isaiah 61:2
Adjective - masculine singular 2x Genesis 37:35, Esther 6:12
Adjective - feminine plural 1x Lamentations 1:4
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l | Adjective - masculine plural construct | third person masculine singular 1x Isaiah 57:18
Preposition-k | Adjective - masculine singular construct 1x Psalms 35:14
Preposition-l | Adjective - masculine plural construct 1x Isaiah 61:3
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Mourning characterized by audible, expressive lamentation—often ritualized grief involving vocal wailing and bodily gestures signifying acute loss.
Source Gloss
lamenting
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Mourning characterized by audible, expressive lamentation—often ritualized grief involving vocal wailing and bodily gestures signifying acute loss.
lamenting BDB: mourning Usage: mourn(-er, -ing).
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Word Origins
אָבֵל is built from this root:
Sources
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