זְעָקָה
ze.a.qah
outcry
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
Supported# Zea'qah (זְעָקָה): The Language of Urgent Cry The Hebrew word *zea'qah* denotes an "outcry"—a vocal expression of distress, appeal, or alarm. With eighteen biblical occurrences, this term captures moments when individuals or groups voice their most pressing needs or grievances, typically in circumstances of suffering or urgency that demand immediate attention. The word functions as a noun, representing the actual cry itself rather than the act of crying, and appears consistently enough in biblical texts to suggest it held recognized significance in Hebrew communication about human suffering. The frequency and distribution of *zea'qah* across eighteen biblical instances indicate that outcries were understood as meaningful expressions worthy of being recorded and remembered in scripture. These utterances apparently carried weight—they were not casual exclamations but rather the sounds of serious distress that presumably called for response. The choice to use this specific term rather than synonymous words suggests the biblical writers recognized distinctions between types of vocal expression, with *zea'qah* reserved for particularly intense or urgent circumstances. Though the data provided does not specify the particular contexts of each occurrence, the existence of eighteen instances suggests *zea'qah* describes a recurring human experience across various biblical narratives. Its consistent presence in the biblical record indicates that the concept of crying out—whether in pain, supplication, or protest—was considered
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
18 total occurrences across the text
I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words.
Nehemiah 9:9“You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heard their cry by the Red Sea,
Esther 4:1Now when Mordecai found out all that was done, Mordecai tore his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the middle of the city, and wailed loudly and bitterly.
Esther 9:31to confirm these days of Purim in their appointed times, as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had decreed, and as they had imposed upon themselves and their descendants, in the matter of the fastings and their cry.
Job 16:18“Earth, don’t cover my blood. Let my cry have no place to rest.
Proverbs 21:13Whoever stops his ears at the cry of the poor, he will also cry out, but shall not be heard.
Ecclesiastes 9:17The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the cry of him who rules among fools.
Isaiah 15:5My heart cries out for Moab! Her nobles flee to Zoar, to Eglath Shelishiyah; for they go up by the ascent of Luhith with weeping; for on the way to Horonaim, they raise up a cry of destruction.
Isaiah 15:8For the cry has gone around the borders of Moab, its wailing to Eglaim, and its wailing to Beer Elim.
Isaiah 65:19I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; and the voice of weeping and the voice of crying will be heard in her no more.
Jeremiah 18:22Let a cry be heard from their houses when you bring a troop suddenly on them; for they have dug a pit to take me and hidden snares for my feet.
Jeremiah 20:16Let that man be as the cities which Yahweh overthrew, and didn’t repent. Let him hear a cry in the morning, and shouting at noontime;
Jeremiah 48:4Moab is destroyed. Her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.
Jeremiah 48:34From the cry of Heshbon even to Elealeh, even to Jahaz they have uttered their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim, to Eglath Shelishiyah; for the waters of Nimrim will also become desolate.
Jeremiah 50:46At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth trembles; and the cry is heard among the nations.
Jeremiah 51:54“The sound of a cry comes from Babylon, and of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
Ezekiel 27:28At the sound of the cry of your pilots, the pasture lands will shake.
Genesis 18:20Yahweh said, “Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous,