Mourning

MOURNING. The Hebrews, at the Death of their near Friends and Relations, gave all possible Demonstrations of Grief and Mourning. They wept, tore their Cloaths, smote their Breasts, fasted and lay upon the Ground, went barefoot, pulled off their Hair and Beards, or at least cut them, and made Incisions upon their Breasts, or tore them Levit. xix. 28. xxi. 5. Jerem. xvi. 6.with their Nails. The Time of Mourning was commonly seven Days; but sometimes this was lengthened or shortened, according to the State or Circumstances in which they found themselves. Jesus the Son of Sirach says, the Days of Mourning are seven; and Ecclus. xxviii. 16, 17. 1 Sam. xxxi. 13. Judith xvi. 24. Numb. xx. 3. Deut. xxxiv. 8.elsewhere, My Son, let Tears fall down over the Dead, and begin to lament, as if thou hadst suffered great Harm thy self; and then cover his Body according to the Custom, and neglect not his Burial. Weep bitterly, and make great Moan, and use Lamentation as he is worthy, and that a Day or two, lest thou be Evil spoken of; and then comfort thy self for thy Heaviness. The Rabbins also admit of several Degrees in their Grief and Mourning. For the three first Days it was allowed to give up themselves to Tears, and to the most sensible Grief. The seven Days following their Trouble was more moderate. But if the Time of Mourning was extended to a whole Month, it was to be managed with a great deal of Moderation. The Mournings for Saul, Judith, and Herod the great¹, lasted but seven Days. Those for Moses and Aaron were prolonged to thirty Days. Josephus says², that a thirty Days Mourning ought to be sufficient for any wise Man, in the Loss of his nearest Relation, or his dearest Friend.

For the whole Time of their Mourning the near Relations of the deceased, as Father, Mother, Husband, Brother, Sister, Children, continued sitting in their Houses, and eat upon the Ground. The Food they took was thought unclean, and even themselves were judged impure; at least it was so before the Destruction of the Temple by the Romans. Their Sacrifices shall be unto them as the Bread of Mourners; Hos. ix. 4. Ezek. xxiv. 17.all that eat thereof shall be polluted, says Hosea. Their Faces were covered, and for all that Time they could not apply themselves to any Labour, nor read the Book of the Law, nor say their usual Prayers. They did not dress themselves, nor make their Beds, nor uncovered their Heads, nor shaved themselves, nor cut their Nails, nor went into the Bath, nor saluted any Body. Prov. xxxi. 6, 7.No Body spoke to them unless they spoke first. Their Friends commonly went to visit and comfort them, bringing them something to eat, according to that of the Proverbs: Give strong Drink unto him that is ready to perish, and Wine to those that be of heavy Hearts. Let him drink and forget his Poverty, (or Affliction) and remember his Misery no more.

Leo of Modena says³, that after they come back from the Funeral, the Relations of the deceased sit down upon the Ground, and after they have taken off their Shoes, they have Bread, Wine, and hard Eggs set before them. In some Places they make a great Entertainment for the Relations, and those that assisted at the Funeral. Josephus says⁴, that after Archelaus had kept a Mourning of seven Days, for his Father Herod the Great, he made a magnificent Treat for the People; and that it was a Custom among the Jews upon these Occasions, to make great Feasts for the Relations; which was very inconvenient to many Persons, who could not well bear that Expence. Antiently they set Bread and Meat at the Tombs of the Dead, that the Poor might have the Benefit of it, and might pray for the Repose of the deceased Person. The Reader may see our Dissertation upon the Funerals of the Hebrews, before our Commentary upon Numbers.

Isai. xv. 3. Isai. xxii. 1.Antiently in Times of publick Mourning, the Hebrews went up to the Roof, or upon the Platforms of their Houses, there to bewail their Misfortune. Through all the Cities of Moab, says Isaiah, They shall gird themselves with Sack-cloth; on the Tops of their Houses, and in their Streets, every one shall howl, weeping abundantly. And elsewhere, speaking to Jerusalem, he says; What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the House-tops?

They hired Women to weep and mourn, and Players upon Instruments, as well at the Funerals of the Hebrews, as anciently among the Romans. But this Custom is not to be observed in the East, till after the Romans got footing there. They introduced also this Custom there. Persons in Years were carried to their Graves by Sound of Trumpet, as Servius says, and younger People by the Sound of the Flute. In St. Matth. ix. 23.Matthew we may observe a Company of Players upon the Flute, invited to the Funeral of a young Girl of twelve Years of Age. Among the Romans the Kings had fixed the Number of Players upon the Flute at Funerals; it was not allowed to have more than ten. The Rabbins have determined among the Hebrews, that a Husband could not have fewer than two at the Burial of his Wife⁵, without reckoning the two He-mourners and the She-mourner that were hired, who were always to be there. If a Woman of Condition should marry a Man of inferior Quality, he was not to bury her according to his Condition, but according to hers. For according to the Rabbins⁶, the Wife ascends with her Husband, but she descends not with him, even at her Death.

Rom. xii. 15. Luke vii. 32. Matth. xi. 17.All those that meet a Funeral Procession, or a Company of Mourners, out of Civility were to join them, and to mingle their Tears with those that wept⁷. St. Paul seems to allude to this Custom, when he says; Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. And our Saviour in the Gospel; The Men of this Generation are like unto Children sitting in the Market-place, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept. When Jesus Christ was led away to his Crucifixion, the Women of Jerusalem followed him, and made great Luke xxiii. 27.Lamentations: When the Daughter of Jephthah was devoted by her Father to be sacrificed, she went with her Companions upon the Mountains, to make her Lamentations for her own Death, and for being obliged to leave the World before she was Judg. xi. 38.married. A Custom which was afterwards observed in the Country, where the young Women used to go upon the Mountains, to bewail the Virginity of Jephtha’s Daughter. In Palestine and in Syria, the Women go out also into the burying Places at certain Times, there to mourn for the Death of their near Relations.

The Habit or Suit of Mourning among the Hebrews is not fixed either by the Law or by Custom. We only find in Scripture, that in these Circumstances they used to tear their Garments. A Custom that is still observed to this Day, but they only tear a small Part of it, and that only for Form’s Sake. We see also that in Times of Mourning they cloathed themselves in Sack-cloth, or Hair-cloth, that is, in coarse or ill made Clothes, of brown or black Stuff⁸. At this Day, that they may not become ridiculous, they wear Mourning after the Fashion of the Countries they Levit. xi. 29.live in, without being constrained to it by any Law.

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