What does צַעֲקָה (ṣaʿăqāh) mean in the Bible?
A cry or outcry is the expressed distress or appeal named in its setting. Exodus identifies the oppressed Israelites' cry and later warns concerning the widow and fatherless who cry when afflicted.
Hebrew · H6818
צַעֲקָה
A cry or outcry is the expressed distress or appeal named in its setting. Exodus identifies the oppressed Israelites' cry and later warns concerning the widow and fatherless who cry when afflicted.
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צַעֲקָהH6818
Pronunciationṣaʿăqāh
What does צַעֲקָה (ṣaʿăqāh) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for צַעֲקָה (H6818) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H6818?
The BSB source-word alignment has 21 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include cry (3), their cry (3), . . . (2), the cry (2), the outcry (2).
Where does צַעֲקָה (ṣaʿăqāh) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 18:21. Its strongest book concentrations include Exodus (5), Jeremiah (4), Genesis (3), Job (3).
What This Word Actually Means
A cry or outcry is the expressed distress or appeal named in its setting. Exodus identifies the oppressed Israelites' cry and later warns concerning the widow and fatherless who cry when afflicted. Isaiah contrasts the justice expected from the vineyard with an outcry caused by wrongdoing. Nehemiah hears a great outcry concerning debt, hunger and the treatment of families.
Psalm 9 says the Lord does not forget the afflicted's cry, while Genesis records Esau's bitter cry after learning of the blessing given to Jacob. These witnesses give concrete causes and speakers rather than one measure of spiritual strength. Teach the wrong or loss that prompts the cry and the responsibility of those who hear. A person's volume cannot establish innocence or faith, and someone who cannot speak loudly still deserves protection and attention.
How the Bible Uses It
Oppression, vulnerable neighbors' appeals, failed justice, economic distress and a family loss supply different causes for outcry. The speaker and surrounding response govern its interpretation.
- Exod.3.7
The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the affliction of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I am aware of their sufferings.
The Lord names Israel's affliction, heard cry and known suffering before sending Moses to address the oppression.
- Exod.22.23
If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to Me in distress, I will surely hear their cry.
The warning concerns afflicted widows and fatherless children whose cries the Lord declares He will hear.
- Gen.27.34
When Esau heard his father’s words, he let out a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me too, O my father!”
Esau's bitter cry follows the discovery of the blessing already given to Jacob within the family conflict.
- Isa.5.7
For the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant of His delight. He looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard a cry of distress.
The vineyard song contrasts expected justice and righteousness with bloodshed and an outcry caused by wrong.
- Neh.5.1
About that time there was a great outcry from the people and their wives against their fellow Jews.
The great outcry of people and wives introduces their reports of hunger, debt and the treatment of children.
- Ps.9.12
For the Avenger of bloodshed remembers; He does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.
The psalm praises the Lord's remembrance of the afflicted's cry rather than treating their suffering as unimportant.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itcry3×Genesis 27:34, Exodus 11:6, Jeremiah 25:36
their cry3×Exodus 22:23, 1 Samuel 9:16, Jeremiah 49:21
. . .2×1 Samuel 4:14, Zephaniah 1:10
the cry2×Exodus 3:9, Psalms 9:12
the outcry2×Genesis 19:13, Job 34:28
a cry of distress1×Isaiah 5:7
cries1×Jeremiah 48:5
cries out1×Jeremiah 48:3
crying out1×Exodus 3:7
his cry1×Job 27:9
justify the outcry1×Genesis 18:21
outcry1×Nehemiah 5:1
They caused the cry1×Job 34:28
wailing1×Exodus 12:30
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 18:21הַכְּצַעֲקָתָ֛הּtojustify the outcryArticle, Preposition-k | Noun - feminine singular construct | third person feminine singularGenesis 19:13צַעֲקָתָם֙tothe outcryNoun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine pluralGenesis 27:34צְעָקָ֔הtocryNoun - feminine singularExodus 3:7צַעֲקָתָ֤םtocrying outNoun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine pluralExodus 3:9צַעֲקַ֥תtothe cryNoun - feminine singular constructExodus 11:6צְעָקָ֥הtocryNoun - feminine singularExodus 12:30צְעָקָ֥הtowailingNoun - feminine singularExodus 22:23צַעֲקָתֽוֹ׃totheir cryNoun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singular1 Samuel 4:14הַצְּעָקָ֔הto. . .Article | Noun - feminine singular1 Samuel 9:16צַעֲקָת֖וֹtotheir cryNoun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowGenesis 18:21
Aligned rows21
Books represented9
Genesis3Exodus51 Samuel2Nehemiah1Job3Psalms1Isaiah1Jeremiah4Zephaniah1
Source forms
צַעֲקַ֥ת3xṣa·‘ă·qaṯExodus 3:9, Nehemiah 5:1, Psalms 9:12
צְעָקָ֥ה2xṣə·‘ā·qāhExodus 11:6, Exodus 12:30
צַֽעֲקַת־2xṣa·‘ă·qaṯ-Job 34:28, Jeremiah 48:5
הַכְּצַעֲקָתָ֛הּ1xhak·kə·ṣa·‘ă·qā·ṯāhGenesis 18:21
הַצְּעָקָ֔ה1xhaṣ·ṣə·‘ā·qāh1 Samuel 4:14
הַֽ֭צַעֲקָתוֹ1xha·ṣa·‘ă·qā·ṯōwJob 27:9
וְצַעֲקַ֖ת1xwə·ṣa·‘ă·qaṯJob 34:28
צְעָקָ֔ה1xṣə·‘ā·qāhGenesis 27:34
Parsing patterns
Noun - feminine singular7xGenesis 27:34, Exodus 11:6, Exodus 12:30, Isaiah 5:7
Noun - feminine singular construct6xExodus 3:9, Nehemiah 5:1, Job 34:28, Psalms 9:12
Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine plural2xGenesis 19:13, Exodus 3:7
Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singular2xExodus 22:23, 1 Samuel 9:16
Article | Noun - feminine singular1x1 Samuel 4:14
Article | Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singular1xJob 27:9
Article, Preposition-k | Noun - feminine singular construct | third person feminine singular1xGenesis 18:21
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular construct1xJob 34:28
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Hear reports of harm without requiring a particular volume, expression or public performance.
- Address material wrongs responsibly instead of treating the call for help as the problem.
Avoid claiming...
- The noun cannot make a quiet or speech-impaired victim responsible for continuing harm.
- A loud appeal cannot force God's response or guarantee the speaker's desired outcome.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. a shriek
Source Gloss
a shriek
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
a shriek BDB: cry Usage: cry(-ing).
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Word Origins
צַעֲקָה is built from this root:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
The outcries in these passages ask listeners to attend to circumstances that must not be hidden beneath a discussion of emotion. Israel suffers oppression; widows and fatherless children face affliction; Isaiah's vineyard produces the cry of failed justice; and Nehemiah hears families describe hunger and debt. Psalm 9 gives the afflicted's cry a place in praise of the Lord's remembrance.
Esau's cry has another setting in the family account and requires its own explanation rather than a general rescue formula. Teaching can name the wrong, hear the people affected and address the responsibilities the context places on its hearers. It must not turn a cry's intensity into proof of righteousness or demand that victims perform visible distress before they receive help.
Nor does a promise in an addressed passage give a teacher authority to guarantee the timing or shape of every present deliverance.
Anchor passage
Exod.3.7
Doctrinal connections
- Exodus places Israel's cry alongside the Lord's knowledge of the people's oppression.
- The widow and fatherless warning makes afflicting vulnerable neighbors a matter of responsibility.
- Esau's bitter cry belongs to a particular family conflict over the received blessing.
- Isaiah names an outcry as evidence of the injustice produced by the vineyard.
- Nehemiah hears distressed families before addressing the practices that have injured them.
- Psalm 9 praises the Lord's remembrance rather than dismissal of the afflicted's cry.
This cry noun is distinct from related verbs for crying and from broader weeping vocabulary. Twenty-one directly tagged BSB tokens in twenty verses remain separately named from the canonical twenty-one; the noun does not encode one moral assessment of every speaker.
From Old to New Testament
James 5:1-12 names the cries of defrauded workers and then counsels patience, warning and truthful speech. This is a canonical comparison with outcry against oppression rather than a direct quotation of this Hebrew noun; patient hope cannot excuse withholding wages or dismissing reports of harm.