Cry
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament [1]
CRY. —The term ‘cry’ occurs in the NT with various shades of meaning corresponding to different Greek words, which express sometimes articulate, sometimes inarticulate utterances; in some cases it connotes strong emotion, in others a more or less heightened emphasis is all that is expressed.
According to classical usage, the Gr. terms employed in the NT may be thus distinguished: ‘καλεἵν denotes “to cry out” for a purpose, to call ; βοᾶν, to cry out as a manifestation of feeling; κράζειν, to cry out harshly, often of an inarticulate and brutish sound’ (Grimm-Thayer, s.v. βοάω), κραυγαζειν is the intensive of κράζειν. The corresponding nouns are βοἡ, ‘a cry for help,’ and κραυγἠ, ‘outcry, clamour’ (both rare in NT). To these should be added the use of φωνεῖν = ‘to cry’ (most freq. in Lk.).
In classifying the NT usage of the term, it will be convenient to group the instances in each case under the Greek equivalents.
A. (1) ‘to cry’ or ‘cry out’ (= κράζειν, ἀνακράζειν:
( a ) of articulate cries , followed by words uttered (often with ‘saying’ or ‘and said’ added): of joy , Mark 11:9 and ||; Matthew 21:15 (children crying in the temple, ‘Hosanna’); of complaint or distress , Mark 10:48 || Luke 18:39, Matthew 20:31 (Bartimaeus); Matthew 14:30 (Peter crying out while walking on the water);* [Note: Probably here should be added Matthew 15:23 (‘she crieth after us’), where articulate cries seem to be meant, though the words uttered are not given.] Mark 1:23 || Luke 4:33 (ἀνέκραξεν; Lk. adds ‘with a loud voice’); Mark 9:24; Luke 4:41 (demons crying out and saying), cf. Mark 3:11; Mark 5:7; of the angry cries of the multitude, Matthew 27:23, Mark 15:13-14† [Note: In || passages Luke 23:21 has ἑτεφώνουν λέγοντες, John 19:6ἑκραύγασαν λέγοντες.] (cf. Acts 21:36); in ref. to Jesus , of solemn and impressive utterance, John 7:37 (cf. John 1:15; John 7:28; John 12:44).
( b ) of inarticulate cries: with ref. to the possessed , Mark 5:5 (cf. Luke 8:28 ἀνακράξας); Mark 9:26 || Luke 9:39; of the disciples , Matthew 14:28 (‘and they cried out for fear’); with ref. to Jesus , of the cry on the cross (prob. inarticulate), Matthew 27:50 (‘cried … with a loud voice , and yielded up his spirit’).‡ [Note: In the || passages Mark 15:37 has ἀφεὶς φωνὴν μεγάλην, and Luke 23:46φωνὴσας φωνῃ μεγαλῃ.]
(2) ‘To cry’ or ‘cry out’ (= κραυγάζειν):
( a ) of articulate utterances [cf. (1) ( a ) ]: of joy , John 12:13 (‘Hosanna’); of distress , Matthew 15:22 (Canaanitish woman … ‘cried, saying’: cf. v. 23); with ref. to Jesus , of utterance under strong emotion, John 11:43 (‘Lazarus, come forth!’).
( b ) of undefined or inarticulate utterance : in the quotation from Isaiah 42:2, cited in Matthew 12:19 (‘He shall not strive nor cry ’ [κραυγάσει], i.e. indulge in clamorous self-assertion).
( c ) ‘Cry’ = κραυγή: ‘the loud cry of deeply stirred feeling of joyful surprise’: Luke 1:42 (Elisabeth’s greeting of the Virgin-mother: ‘she lifted up her voice with a loud cry ); the midnight cry, Matthew 25:6 (‘Behold the bridegroom cometh’).
For Hebrews 5:7 see below under B.
(3) ‘To cry’ or ‘cry out’ (= βοᾷν, ἀναβοᾷν, ἐπιβοᾷν):
( a ) of articulate utterances : of solemn and impressive emphasis (= to speak with a high, strong voice), Matthew 3:3 || Mark 1:3, Luke 3:4, John 1:23 (all in the quotation from Isaiah 40:3 ‘the voice of one crying,’ etc.); of distressful appeal , Luke 9:38; esp. ‘to cry for help to’ (= ועקאל in OT), Luke 18:7 (the elect who day and night); ref. to Jesus, of the cry of agony on the cross (‘My God, my God,’ etc.), Mark 15:34 and || Matthew 27:48.
In this connexion the passage in James 5:4 deserves notice: ‘Behold the hire of your lahourers … crieth out (κράζει); and the cries (βοαί) of them that reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.’ Here the verb is used of crying for vengeance (cf. Habakkuk 2:11) and the noun (βοαί) of cries for help. The latter sense is esp. frequent in the Psalms ( e.g. Psalms 5:2; Psalms 18:6; Psalms 18:41 etc.), corresponding to the Heb. שָׁוַע and derivatives. This word is ‘used exclusively of crying for help’ (Driver).§ [Note: Parallel Psalter, p. 441.] Though frequent in the Psalms (LXX Septuagint and Heb.), it occurs rarely in the NT.
( b ) of cries of joy, pain (inarticulate): of joy , Galatians 4:27 (quotation from Isaiah 54:1); cf. of pain , Acts 8:7 (of unclean spirits crying with a loud voice).
(4) ‘To cry,’ ‘cry out,’ or ‘cry aloud’ (= φωνεῖν, ἐπιφωνεῖν):
( a ) emphatic , followed by words uttered, Luke 8:8; Luke 8:54; cf. Luke 1:42 (ἀνεφώνησεν, ‘she spake out,’ Authorized Version; ‘lifted up lier voice,’ Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885); of angry cries of multitude (ἐπιφωνεῖν), Luke 23:21.
( b ) of the inarticulate cries of the possessed, Mark 1:23 (‘and the unclean spirit … crying with a loud voice ’).
( c ) ‘cry’ = φωνή, esp. in the phrase φωνῇ μεγάλῃ, ‘with a loud voice or cry,’ added to verbs.
B. ‘Crying’ in Hebrews 5:7.—This passage, which has direct reference to our Lord, calls for special notice here: ‘Who, in his days of flesh, having offered up, with strong crying (μετὰ κραυγῆς ἰσχυρᾶς) and tears, prayers and supplications unto him that was able to save him out of death,’ etc. The ref. is doubtless primarily to Gethsemane (so Delitzsch, Westcott), though ‘a wider application of the words to other prayers and times of peculiar trial in our Lord’s life’* [Note: Westcott.] is not excluded. Schoettgen ( ad loc .)† [Note: Cited in Westcott, ib.] quotes a Jewish saying which strikingly illustrates the phrase: ‘There are three kinds of prayers, each loftier than the preceding: prayer, crying, and tears. Prayer is made in silence; crying, with raised voice: but tears overcome all things.’ The conjunction of the terms mentioned often occurs in OT, esp. in the Psalms, e.g. Psalms 39:13 :
‘Hear my prayer , O Lord,
And give ear unto my cry (שועתי);
Hold not thy peace at my tears .’
Also Psalms 61:2, and cf. Psalms 80:5-6.
The close association of the idea of prayer with that of ‘crying’ or ‘cry’ may be illustrated from the Gospels, esp. perhaps in the case of our Lord’s cries on the cross ( Matthew 27:46; Matthew 27:50, Luke 23:46). According to Jewish tradition, in the solemn prayer for forgiveness uttered by the high priest on the Day of Atonement in the Holy of Holies, the words אנאהשםכפר ‘O Lord, forgive,’ were spoken with heightened voice, so that they could be heard at a distance.
Literature.—Art. ‘Call’ in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible i. 343f., and the Gr. Lexicons under the various Gr. terms (esp. Grimm-Thayer).
G. H. Box.
King James Dictionary [2]
CRY, pret. and pp. cried. It ought to be cryed.
1. To utter a loud voice to speak, call or exclaim with vehemence in a very general sense. 2. To call importunately to utter a loud voice, by way of earnest request of prayer.
The people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Genesis 41 .
The people cried to Moses, and he prayed. Numbers 11 .
3. To utter a loud voice in weeping to utter the voice of sorrow to lament.
But ye shall cry for sorrow of heart. Isaiah 65 .
Esau cried with a great and bitter cry. Genesis 27 .
Also, to weep or shed tears in silence a popular use of the word.
4. To utter a loud sound in distress as, Heshbon shall cry. Isaiah 15 .
He giveth food to the young raves which cry. Psalms 147 .
5. To exclaim to utter a loud voice with out.
And, lo, a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out. Luke 9 .
6. To proclaim to utter a loud voice, in giving public notice.
Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem. Jeremiah 2 .
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness. Isaiah 40 .
7. To bawl to squall as a child. 8. To yelp, as a dog. It may be used for the uttering of a loud voice by other animals.
To cry against, to exclaim, or utter a loud voice, by way of reproof, threatening or censure.
Arise, go to Nineveh, and cry against it. Jonah 1 .
To cry out, to exclaim to vociferate to scream to clamor. 2. To complain loudly.
To cry out against, to complain loudly, with a view to censure to blame to utter censure.
To cry to, to call on in prayer to implore.
CRY,
1. To proclaim to name loudly and publicly for giving notice as, to cry goods to cry a lost a child.
To cry down,
1. To decry to depreciate by words or in writing to dispraise to condemn.
Men of dissolute lives cry down religion, because they would not be under the restraints of it.
2. To overbear. Cry down this fellows insolence.
To cry up,
1. To praise to applaud to extol as, to cry up a mans talents or patriotism, or a womans beauty to cry up the administration. 2. To raise the price by proclamation as, to cry up certain coins. Not in use.
To cry off, in the vulgar dialect, is to publish intentions of marriage.
CRY, n. plu. cries.
1. In a general sense, a loud sound uttered by the mouth of an animal applicable to the voice of man or beast, and articulate or inarticulate. 2. A loud or vehement sound, uttered in weeping, or lamentation it may be a shriek or scream.
And there shall be a great cry in all the land of Egypt. Exodus 11 .
3. Clamor outcry as, war, war, is the public cry.
And there arose a great cry. Acts 23 .
4. Exclamations of triumph, or wonder, or of other passion. 5. Proclamation public notice.
At midnight there was a cry made. Matthew 25 .
6. The notices of hawkers of wares to be sold int he street are called cries as the cries of London. 7. Acclamation expression of popular favor.
The cry went once for thee.
8. A loud voice in distress, prayer or request importunate call.
He forgetteth no the cry of the humble. Psalms 9 .
There was a great cry in Egypt. Exodus 12 .
9. Public reports or complaints noise fame.
Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great--I will go down, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it. Genesis 18 .
10. Bitter complaints of oppression and injustice.
He looked for righteousness, and behold a cry. Isaiah 5 .
11. The sound or voice of irrational animals expression of joy, fright, alarm, or want as the cries of fowls, the yell or yelping of dogs, &c. 1. A pack of dogs.
Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words [3]
Tsâ‛aq ( צָעַק , Strong'S #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, tsâ‛aq , also translated “to cry.” The verb tsâ‛aq 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 creith —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).
Zâ‛aq ( זָעַק , Strong'S #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).
Zâ‛aq 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 zâ‛aq 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.
Webster's Dictionary [4]
(1): (v. i.) Any expression of grief, distress, etc., accompanied with tears or sobs; a loud sound, uttered in lamentation.
(2): (v. i.) Importunate supplication.
(3): (v. i.) Public advertisement by outcry; proclamation, as by hawkers of their wares.
(4): (v. i.) Outcry; clamor; tumult; popular demand.
(5): (v. i.) A loud utterance; especially, the inarticulate sound produced by one of the lower animals; as, the cry of hounds; the cry of wolves.
(6): (v. i.) Loud expression of triumph or wonder or of popular acclamation or favor.
(7): (v. i.) A word or phrase caught up by a party or faction and repeated for effect; as, the party cry of the Tories.
(8): (v. t.) to publish the banns of, as for marriage.
(9): (v. i.) The crackling noise made by block tin when it is bent back and forth.
(10): (v. t.) To make oral and public proclamation of; to declare publicly; to notify or advertise by outcry, especially things lost or found, goods to be sold, ets.; as, to cry goods, etc.
(11): (v. i.) To make a loud call or cry; to call or exclaim vehemently or earnestly; to shout; to vociferate; to proclaim; to pray; to implore.
(12): (v. t.) To cause to do something, or bring to some state, by crying or weeping; as, to cry one's self to sleep.
(13): (v. t.) To utter loudly; to call out; to shout; to sound abroad; to declare publicly.
(14): (v. i.) To utter inarticulate sounds, as animals.
(15): (v. i.) A pack of hounds.
(16): (v. i.) To utter lamentations; to lament audibly; to express pain, grief, or distress, by weeping and sobbing; to shed tears; to bawl, as a child.
(17): (v. i.) A pack or company of persons; - in contempt.
(18): (v. i.) Common report; fame.
