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(
, 6817), “to cry, cry out, call.” Found in both biblical and modern
Hebrew, this word has the sense of “to shout, yell.” The word is a close parallel to the
very similar sounding word,
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, also translated “to cry.” The verb
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is found
about 55 times in the Hebrew Old Testament. The word occurs for the first time in Gen.
4:10: “The voice of thy brother’s blood
unto me from the ground.”
This word is often used in the sense of “crying out” for help. Sometimes it is man
“crying out” to man: “… The people cried to Pharaoh for bread …” (Gen. 41:55). More
often it is man “crying” to God for help: “… And the children of Israel cried out unto the
Lord” (Exod. 14:10). The prophets always spoke sarcastically of those who worship
idols: “… One shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer …” (Isa. 46:7). This word is
frequently used to express “distress” or “need”: “… He cried with a great and exceeding
bitter cry …” (Gen. 27:34).
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(
, 2199), “to cry, cry out, call.” This term is found throughout the history
of the Hebrew language, including modern Hebrew. The word occurs approximately 70
times in the Hebrew Old Testament. Its first occurrence is in the record of the suffering of
the Israelite bondage in Egypt: “… And the children of Israel sighed by reason of the
bondage, and they cried [for help] …” (Exod. 2:23).
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is perhaps most frequently used to indicate the “crying out” for aid in time of
emergency, especially “crying out” for divine aid. God often heard this “cry” for help in
the time of the judges, as Israel found itself in trouble because of its backsliding (Judg.
3:9, 15; 6:7; 10:10). The word is used also in appeals to pagan gods (Judg. 10:14; Jer.
11:12; Jonah 1:5). That
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means more than a normal speaking volume is indicated in
appeals to the king (2 Sam. 19:28).
The word may imply a “crying out” in distress (1 Sam. 4:13), a “cry” of horror (1
Sam. 5:10), or a “cry” of sorrow (2 Sam. 13:19). Used figuratively, it is said that “the
stone shall cry out of the wall” (Hab. 2:11) of a house that is built by means of evil gain.
CUBIT
(
1
, 520), “cubit.” This word has cognates in Akkadian, Ugaritic, and
Aramaic. It appears about 245 times in biblical Hebrew and in all periods, but especially
in Exod. 25- 27; 37-38 (specifications of the tabernacle); 1 Kings 6-7 (the specifications
of Solomon’s temple and palace); and Ezek. 40-43 (the specifications of Ezekiel’s
temple).
In one passage,
means “pivot”: “And the posts [literally, “sockets”] of the
door moved at the voice of him that cried …” (Isa. 6:4).
In almost every other occurrence, the word means “cubit,” the primary unit of linear
measurement in the Old Testament. Some scholars maintain that Israel’s system of linear
measurement was primarily based on the Egyptian system. In view of the history of
Israel, this is a reasonable position. A “cubit” ordinarily was the distance from one’s
elbow to the tip of the middle finger. Since this distance varied from individual to
individual, the “cubit” was a rather imprecise measurement. Yet the first appearance of
(Gen. 6:15) refers to the measurement of Noah’s ark, which implies that the
word must refer to a more precise length than the ordinary “cubit.”