Greek word · G995
βοή
boē
outcry
A shout or outcry, especially a cry for help or a cry of distress. Used only here in the NT.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
A shout or outcry, especially a cry for help or a cry of distress. Used only here in the NT.
- Against the English
"Cries" (BSB, KJV, WEB); NASB "outcry"; YLT "exclamations" (too weak). "Outcry" best keeps the sense of a public appeal for justice.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Exod 2:23 LXX: the Israelites groaned under slavery, "and their cry (boē) went up to God." God then "heard" and acted in the Exodus. 1 Sam 9:16 LXX: "their cry has come to me." It matches the Hebrew idea of tseʿaqah / zeʿaqah, the legal cry of the wronged that God hears as judge (Gen 18:20–21, the outcry over Sodom; Exod 22:22–23, widows and orphans).
Where it appears
James · 1
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James 5:4 βοαὶ cries
Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.
Here: Plural: many voices. In the Greek Old Testament this is the cry of the oppressed that rises to God and moves him to act (Exod 2:23).
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.