Hebrew word · H6682

צְוָחָה

tzevachah

outcry

A loud cry, outcry or shriek, nearly always of distress or alarm. It comes from a verb meaning 'to cry aloud, shout' (Isa 42:11, there of shouting from the mountaintops).

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

outcry, shout

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Isaiah 24:11

Range of meaning

A loud cry, outcry or shriek, nearly always of distress or alarm. It comes from a verb meaning 'to cry aloud, shout' (Isa 42:11, there of shouting from the mountaintops).

Against the English

KJV and WEB 'crying' to a modern ear suggests tears. In 1611 'crying' meant calling out loudly. BSB and NIV 'cry out for wine' can sound like people demanding a drink.

How it drifted

Modern English 'crying' has narrowed mostly to weeping, and 'cry for X' now suggests craving X.

Used elsewhere in the period

Jer 14:2 ('the outcry of Jerusalem goes up', during a drought); Jer 46:12 (the nations hear Egypt's outcry); Ps 144:14 ('no outcry in our streets', a picture of a blessed, secure city). The Psalm 144 parallel is close: streets free of outcry mean blessing, and streets full of outcry mean judgment.

From the study of Jeremiah 14:2

Range of meaning

A loud cry or shriek of distress or lament. The verb (ṣāwaḥ) means to cry out shrilly (Isa 42:11). It is rare: Isa 24:11 ("an outcry in the streets for lack of wine"), Ps 144:14 ("no outcry in our streets" as a sign of peace), Jer 46:12 ("your cry has filled the earth").

Against the English

"Cry" in English can mean weeping, calling or praying. The Hebrew is noisier and more public: a shriek of wailing across the city.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isa 24:11 matches this verse closely: a city cries out in the streets over a failed harvest. Ps 144:14 treats the absence of this cry as part of the blessing of plenty.

Where it appears

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 144:14 צְ֝וָחָ֗ה [will be] an outcry

    Our oxen will bear great loads. There will be no breach in the walls, no going into captivity, and no cry of lament in our streets.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 24:11 צְוָחָ֥ה an outcry

    In the streets they cry out for wine. All joy turns to gloom; rejoicing is exiled from the land.

    Here: A loud public cry of distress, a wail. It is not quiet weeping and not a demand. It opens the verse with noise, and the sound is grief where there should have been festival song.

Jeremiah · 2

  1. Jeremiah 14:2 וְצִוְחַ֥ת and [the] outcry of

    “Judah mourns and her gates languish. Her people wail for the land, and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.

    Here: "And the shriek of..." A loud, shrill cry of distress or lament, the kind of wailing heard in streets in a disaster (Isa 24:11). It is a raw noise of anguish, not a calm prayer.

  2. Jeremiah 46:12 וְצִוְחָתֵ֖ךְ and outcry your

    The nations have heard of your shame, and your outcry fills the earth, because warrior stumbles over warrior and both of them have fallen together.”

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.