קָרַע

From the study of Isaiah 64:1

Range of meaning

To tear or rip, especially cloth. It is used for tearing garments in grief or horror (Gen 37:29; 2 Sam 13:19; 2 Kgs 19:1), and figuratively for tearing a kingdom away from someone (1 Sam 15:28; 1 Kgs 11:11). It also means ripping open: a wild beast tearing a chest (Hos 13:8), and 'rend your hearts, not your garments' (Joel 2:13).

Against the English

'Rend' (KJV, BSB, ESV, NIV) is accurate but archaic, and many modern readers do not register it as violent tearing. WEB and NASB-type 'tear (open)' is clearer. NLT's 'burst from the heavens' keeps the violence but loses the picture of fabric.

How it drifted

'Rend' has dropped out of everyday English, so the phrase can sound like solemn church language rather than a picture of ripping cloth.

Used elsewhere in the period

The usual picture of the sky in Israel and the wider ancient Near East is a stretched-out canopy or tent curtain (Isa 40:22; Ps 104:2). It can also be rolled up like a scroll (Isa 34:4). Ps 18:9 and 144:5 ask God to 'bend (natah) the heavens and come down'. Isaiah's prayer goes further: tear them. Mark 1:10 describes the heavens 'being torn' (schizomenous) at Jesus' baptism. Many scholars think this echoes the Hebrew of this verse, because the Greek Septuagint here has the milder 'open'. The link is likely but not certain.

From the study of Ezra 9:5

Range of meaning

Qāraʿ means to tear or rend. Tearing one's clothes was the standard Israelite and wider ancient Near Eastern reaction to death, disaster or appalling news (Gen 37:29, 34; 2 Sam 1:11; 2 Kgs 22:11, 19). Beged is the general word for clothing. Mĕʿîl is an outer robe of distinction, worn by Samuel (1 Sam 15:27; 28:14), by princes (Ezek 26:16), and as one of the high priest's garments (Exod 28:31).

Against the English

'Tunic and cloak' (BSB), 'garment and robe' (WEB, NASB) and 'garment and mantle' (KJV) are all reasonable. KJV's 'having rent' clearly reads the tearing as already done, which suits v. 3.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ezra 9:3 reports the original act: 'I tore my garment and my robe and pulled hair from my head and beard.' In Esther 4:1, Mordecai tears his clothes when he hears of a decree of destruction. The parallel in 1 Esdras 8 calls Ezra's robe his 'holy garment', reading the mĕʿîl as priestly dress.

From the study of Jeremiah 36:24

Range of meaning

To tear or rip apart, most often clothing, but also a kingdom torn from a ruler (1 Samuel 15:28; 1 Kings 11:11) or a cut made with a tool. It is even used of cutting out windows in a passage about this same king's palace (Jeremiah 22:14). Tearing garments is a recognized act of grief, horror or humbling.

Against the English

'Tear' and 'rend' are accurate here. The loss is in verse 23, where nearly all English versions say Jehoiakim 'cut' the scroll. That is a fair rendering, since he used a knife, but it hides the fact that the Hebrew uses this same verb in both verses.

Used elsewhere in the period

Garment-tearing appears across Israel's literature: Reuben and Jacob (Genesis 37:29, 34), David (2 Samuel 1:11), Hezekiah at a threat against Jerusalem (2 Kings 19:1), and mourners on the road (Jeremiah 41:5). The closest parallel is Josiah, who 'tore his garments' on hearing the book of the law (2 Kings 22:11, 19). Joel 2:13, 'tear your hearts and not your garments', assumes the gesture was the expected one and could become empty.