mourning rites

The rituals practiced upon the death of a relative or national figure or in times of national crisis. Death was variously acknowledged by rending the clothes, dressing in sackcloth, shaving one’s hair, or cutting oneself (Gen. 38:34 Job 1:20; Job 2:12-13; 2Sam 13:31; Mic 1:16; Jer 16:16; Ezek 27:30-31; but see the prohibitions in (Lev 19:27-28). Various mourning periods are specified in the narratives, ranging from seven days (Gen 50:10), to three weeks (Dan 10:2), to “many days” (Gen 37:34). There are no specific instructions for mourning in the NT, although the custom of communal mourning for the dead did continue (Mark 5:38; John 11:33).