Difference between revisions of "Sighing"

<p> <b> SIGHING. </b> —The expression of trouble by means of involuntary respiration. This expression is used in connexion with our Lord twice, both times in St. Mark’s Gospel. It is expressed in &nbsp;Mark 7:34 by the word στενάζω—in the LXX [[Septuagint]] the equivalent of אנח—and in &nbsp;Mark 8:12 by the compound ἀναστενάζω. In both instances the words appear in this [[Gospel]] alone, and only in these passages. The expression is evidently meant to convey the fact of the Lord’s sympathy with men. In the first, the healing of the deaf and dumb man, our Lord felt the burden of the disease which He was about to cure. And here the expression is associated with prayer on His part: ‘And, looking up to heaven, he sighed.’ In the second, where a stronger expression is used through the compound, the [[Pharisees]] are asking for a sign, and He ‘sighed in his spirit,’ evidently thinking of the speedy appearance of the sign for which they asked, and mourning over the terrible nature which it would bear. On the ‘groaning’ of &nbsp;John 11:33; &nbsp;John 11:38 see [[Anger]] in vol. i. p. 62b. </p> <p> W. H. Rankine. </p>

<p> SIGHING, ppr. [[Suffering]] a deep respiration taking a long breath. </p> <p> SIGHING, n. The act of suffering a deep respiration, or taking a long breath. </p>