To rend , literally or figuratively (revile, paint the eyes, as if enlarging them)
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H7167 describes tearing cloth or another object and can portray grief, alarm, repentance, violent opening, or the political rupture of a kingdom through a concrete act of rending. Torn garments may signal genuine grief or public alarm, while prophetic tearing can symbolize judgment; the physical action does not establish the sincerity or righteousness of the actor.
Reader summary
Full entry for קָרַע (H7167) · Open the biblical lexicon
H7167 describes tearing cloth or another object and can portray grief, alarm, repentance, violent opening, or the political rupture of a kingdom through a concrete act of rending. Torn garments may signal genuine grief or public alarm, while prophetic tearing can symbolize judgment; the physical action does not establish the sincerity or righteousness of.
The BSB source-word alignment has 63 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include tore (11), he tore (7), torn (7), tear (3), and I will tear (2).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 37:29. Its strongest book concentrations include 2 Kings (11), 1 Kings (10), 2 Samuel (7), Jeremiah (5).
H7167 describes tearing cloth or another object and can portray grief, alarm, repentance, violent opening, or the political rupture of a kingdom through a concrete act of rending. Torn garments may signal genuine grief or public alarm, while prophetic tearing can symbolize judgment; the physical action does not establish the sincerity or righteousness of the actor.
In Gen. 37. 29, reuben returns to the empty pit, sees that Joseph is gone, and tears his clothes in immediate distress. In Joel. 2. 13, joel commands the people to rend their hearts rather than garments and return to the gracious and compassionate Lord. H7167 opens teaching on embodied lament and inward repentance while showing how Scripture also uses tearing to portray consequences that fracture families, garments, institutions, and kingdoms.
It corrects suspicion of every visible expression of grief and performance-centered religion that substitutes dramatic gestures for a heart returning to the Lord. H7167 gives bodily form to loss and judgment: Reuben tears his clothes when Joseph is gone, Joel commands the people to rend their hearts rather than garments, and Solomon hears that covenant unfaithfulness will tear away the kingdom.
For H7167, responsible teaching keeps lexical meaning, passage context, canonical synthesis, and present application distinguishable. The verb does not require one cultural display of grief, prove that emotional intensity equals repentance, or authorize teachers to treat political collapse and personal tragedy as interchangeable judgments.
H7167 appears across passages that develop grief, lament, repentance, judgment, covenant rupture, political division, and the difference between sign and inward reality. For H7167, the immediate setting decides which part of the range is active, so the witnesses must remain distinct rather than being merged into one formula.
When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes,
Reuben returns to the empty pit, sees that Joseph is gone, and tears his clothes in immediate distress.
So rend your hearts and not your garments, and return to the Lord your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion. And He relents from sending disaster.
Joel commands the people to rend their hearts rather than garments and return to the gracious and compassionate Lord.
Then the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you have done this and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.
The Lord tells Solomon that covenant disobedience will result in the kingdom being torn away and given to a servant.
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.
Hebrew word. Tearing as violent rupture: rending garments signals covenant grief; eye-painting as enlargement embodies seductive deception.
Tearing as violent rupture: rending garments signals covenant grief; eye-painting as enlargement embodies seductive deception.
to rend, literally or figuratively (revile, paint the eyes, as if enlarging them) BDB: tear Usage: cut out, rend, × surely, tear.
How the stem changes the meaning of this verb across the biblical text.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 63 lexical occurrence verses.
קָרַע is a primitive root - no further derivation.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
H7167 gives bodily form to loss and judgment: Reuben tears his clothes when Joseph is gone, Joel commands the people to rend their hearts rather than garments, and Solomon hears that covenant unfaithfulness will tear away the kingdom. H7167 describes tearing cloth or another object and can portray grief, alarm, repentance, violent opening, or the political rupture of a kingdom through a concrete act of rending.
The selected witnesses keep the teaching concrete: Gen. 37. 29 shows that reuben returns to the empty pit, sees that Joseph is gone, and tears his clothes in immediate distress. , while Joel. 2. 13 shows that joel commands the people to rend their hearts rather than garments and return to the gracious and compassionate Lord.. 1Kgs. 11. 11 adds that the Lord tells Solomon that covenant disobedience will result in the kingdom being torn away and given to a servant..
H7167 opens teaching on embodied lament and inward repentance while showing how Scripture also uses tearing to portray consequences that fracture families, garments, institutions, and kingdoms. It corrects suspicion of every visible expression of grief and performance-centered religion that substitutes dramatic gestures for a heart returning to the Lord. A church teaching H7167 faithfully will name both the promise and the boundary carried by these contexts, attend to vulnerable hearers, and refuse to make the lexical item prove more than its passages support.
The verb does not require one cultural display of grief, prove that emotional intensity equals repentance, or authorize teachers to treat political collapse and personal tragedy as interchangeable judgments.
Gen.37.29
H7167 is a Hebrew verb for tearing or rending; direct objects such as garments, hearts, kingdoms, fabric, and bodies determine whether the action is literal, symbolic, protective, violent, or political.
Torn garments accompany grief and crisis throughout the Old Testament, while prophets demand inward return beyond outward signs. The New Testament announces access through Christs death and calls for godly sorrow without prescribing a single display of emotion.