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CRY.—The term ‘cry’ occurs in the NT with various shades of meaning corresponding to different Greek words, which express sometimes articulate, sometimes inarticulate utterances; in some cases it connotes strong emotion, in others a more or less heightened emphasis is all that is expressed.
According to classical usage, the Gr. terms employed in the NT may be thus distinguished: ‘ êáëåἵí denotes “to cry out” for a purpose, to call; âïᾶí , to cry out as a manifestation of feeling; êñÜæåéí , to cry out harshly, often of an inarticulate and brutish sound’ (Grimm-Thayer, s.v. âïÜù ), êñáõãáæåéí is the intensive of êñÜæåéí . The corresponding nouns are âïἡ , ‘a cry for help,’ and êñáõãἠ , ‘outcry, clamour’ (both rare in NT). To these should be added the use of öùíåῖí = ‘to cry’ (most freq. in Lk.).
In classifying the NT usage of the term, it will be convenient to group the instances in each case under the Greek equivalents.
A. (1) ‘to cry’ or ‘cry out’ (= êñÜæåéí , ἀíáêñÜæåéí :
(a) of articulate cries, followed by words uttered (often with ‘saying’ or ‘and said’ added): of joy, Mar_11:9 and ||; Mat_21:15 (children crying in the temple, ‘Hosanna’); of complaint or distress, Mar_10:48 || Luk_18:39, Mat_20:31 (Bartimaeus); Mat_14:30 (Peter crying out while walking on the water);* [Note: Probably here should be added Mat_15:23 (‘she crieth after us’), where articulate cries seem to be meant, though the words uttered are not given.] Mar_1:23 || Luk_4:33 ( ἀíÝêñáîåí ; Lk. adds ‘with a loud voice’); Mar_9:24; Luk_4:41 (demons crying out and saying), cf. Mar_3:11; Mar_5:7; of the angry cries of the multitude, Mat_27:23, Mar_15:13-14† [Note: In || passages Luk_23:21 has ἑôåöþíïõí ëÝãïíôåò , Joh_19:6 ἑêñáýãáóáí ëÝãïíôåò .] (cf. Act_21:36); in ref. to Jesus, of solemn and impressive utterance, Joh_7:37 (cf. Joh_1:15; Joh_7:28; Joh_12:44).
(b) of inarticulate cries: with ref. to the possessed, Mar_5:5 (cf. Luk_8:28 ἀíáêñÜîáò ); Mar_9:26 || Luk_9:39; of the disciples, Mat_14:28 (‘and they cried out for fear’); with ref. to Jesus, of the cry on the cross (prob. inarticulate), Mat_27:50 (‘cried … with a loud voice, and yielded up his spirit’).‡ [Note: In the || passages Mar_15:37 has ἀöåὶò öùíὴí ìåãÜëçí , and Luk_23:46 öùíὴóáò öùíῃ ìåãáëῃ .]
(2) ‘To cry’ or ‘cry out’ (= êñáõãÜæåéí ):
(a) of articulate utterances [cf. (1) (a) ]: of joy, Joh_12:13 (‘Hosanna’); of distress, Mat_15:22 (Canaanitish woman … ‘cried, saying’: cf. v. 23); with ref. to Jesus, of utterance under strong emotion, Joh_11:43 (‘Lazarus, come forth!’).
(b) of undefined or inarticulate utterance: in the quotation from Isa_42:2, cited in Mat_12:19 (‘He shall not strive nor cry’ [ êñáõãÜóåé ], i.e. indulge in clamorous self-assertion).
(c) ‘Cry’ = êñáõãÞ : ‘the loud cry of deeply stirred feeling of joyful surprise’: Luk_1:42 (Elisabeth’s greeting of the Virgin-mother: ‘she lifted up her voice with a loud cry); the midnight cry, Mat_25:6 (‘Behold the bridegroom cometh’).
For Heb_5:7 see below under B.
(3) ‘To cry’ or ‘cry out’ (= âïᾷí , ἀíáâïᾷí , ἐðéâïᾷí ):
(a) of articulate utterances: of solemn and impressive emphasis (= to speak with a high, strong voice), Mat_3:3 || Mar_1:3, Luk_3:4, Joh_1:23 (all in the quotation from Isa_40:3 ‘the voice of one crying,’ etc.); of distressful appeal, Luk_9:38; esp. ‘to cry for help to’ (= åò÷ àì in OT), Luk_18:7 (the elect who day and night); ref. to Jesus, of the cry of agony on the cross (‘My God, my God,’ etc.), Mar_15:34 and || Mat_27:48.
In this connexion the passage in Jam_5:4 deserves notice: ‘Behold the hire of your lahourers … crieth out ( êñÜæåé ); and the cries ( âïáß ) of them that reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.’ Here the verb is used of crying for vengeance (cf. Hab_2:11) and the noun ( âïáß ) of cries for help. The latter sense is esp. frequent in the Psalms (e.g. Psa_5:2; Psa_18:6; Psa_18:41 etc.), corresponding to the Heb. ùָׁåַò and derivatives. This word is ‘used exclusively of crying for help’ (Driver).§ [Note: Parallel Psalter, p. 441.] Though frequent in the Psalms (LXX Septuagint and Heb.), it occurs rarely in the NT.
(b) of cries of joy, pain (inarticulate): of joy, Gal_4:27 (quotation from Isa_54:1); cf. of pain, Act_8:7 (of unclean spirits crying with a loud voice).
(4) ‘To cry,’ ‘cry out,’ or ‘cry aloud’ (= öùíåῖí , ἐðéöùíåῖí ):
(a) emphatic, followed by words uttered, Luk_8:8; Luk_8:54; cf. Luk_1:42 ( ἀíåöþíçóåí , ‘she spake out,’ Authorized Version ; ‘lifted up lier voice,’ Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 ); of angry cries of multitude ( ἐðéöùíåῖí ), Luk_23:21.
(b) of the inarticulate cries of the possessed, Mar_1:23 (‘and the unclean spirit … crying with a loud voice’).
(c) ‘cry’ = öùíÞ , esp. in the phrase öùíῇ ìåãÜëῃ , ‘with a loud voice or cry,’ added to verbs.
B. ‘Crying’ in Heb_5:7.—This passage, which has direct reference to our Lord, calls for special notice here: ‘Who, in his days of flesh, having offered up, with strong crying ( ìåôὰ êñáõãῆò ἰó÷õñᾶò ) and tears, prayers and supplications unto him that was able to save him out of death,’ etc. The ref. is doubtless primarily to Gethsemane (so Delitzsch, Westcott), though ‘a wider application of the words to other prayers and times of peculiar trial in our Lord’s life’* [Note: Westcott.] is not excluded. Schoettgen (ad loc.)† [Note: Cited in Westcott, ib.] quotes a Jewish saying which strikingly illustrates the phrase: ‘There are three kinds of prayers, each loftier than the preceding: prayer, crying, and tears. Prayer is made in silence; crying, with raised voice: but tears overcome all things.’ The conjunction of the terms mentioned often occurs in OT, esp. in the Psalms, e.g. Psa_39:13 :
‘Hear my prayer, O Lord,
And give ear unto my cry ( ùåòúé );
Hold not thy peace at my tears.’
Also Psa_61:2, and cf. Psa_80:5-6.
The close association of the idea of prayer with that of ‘crying’ or ‘cry’ may be illustrated from the Gospels, esp. perhaps in the case of our Lord’s cries on the cross (Mat_27:46; Mat_27:50, Luk_23:46). According to Jewish tradition, in the solemn prayer for forgiveness uttered by the high priest on the Day of Atonement in the Holy of Holies, the words àðà äùí ëôø ‘O Lord, forgive,’ were spoken with heightened voice, so that they could be heard at a distance.
Literature.—Art. ‘Call’ in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible i. 343f., and the Gr. Lexicons under the various Gr. terms (esp. Grimm-Thayer).
G. H. Box.