Lexical Summary tsevachah: Cry, Shout Original Word: צְוָחָה Strong's Exhaustive Concordance crying From tsavach; a screech (of anguish) -- cry(-ing). see HEBREW tsavach NAS Exhaustive Concordance Word Originfrom tsavach Definition an outcry NASB Translation cry (2), outcry (2). Brown-Driver-Briggs צְוָחָה noun feminine outcry; — in distress, grief, absolute ׳צ Psalm 144:14; construct צִוְחַת Jeremiah 14:2; suffix צִוְחָתֵךְ Jeremiah 46:12; absolute also Isaiah 24:11 (with עַל for, because of). צול (√of following, compare miƒwal (in Syria), a stone-lined hollow, or basin, for washing grain, WetzstSiebe ZPV xiv (1891), 3). Topical Lexicon Essence and Nuanced Force צְוָחָה depicts a full-throated public outcry—never a private murmur. It is the collective scream that erupts when covenant blessing is withdrawn, when siege, drought, or defeat presses upon a people, or (in the sole positive use) when such a scream is mercifully absent. The term is acoustic proof of either judgment or deliverance. Canonical Distribution Psalm 144:14; Isaiah 24:11; Jeremiah 14:2; Jeremiah 46:12. Situational Profiles • Psalm 144:14 pictures an ideal social order under Yahweh’s favor: “May our oxen bear heavy loads, may there be no breach, no going into captivity, and no cry of distress in our streets.” Here צְוָחָה is the calamity that does not come, highlighting its association with civic collapse—breaches in wall, chains of captivity, emptied streets. Worshipers are taught to thank God not only for what is present, but also for what is providentially absent. • Isaiah 24:11 sets the word amid global judgment: “There is an outcry in the streets for wine; all joy turns to gloom; the merrymaking of the earth is gone.” The image is of citizens scouring a ravaged city for one last drop of consolation. Joyless streets filled with צְוָחָה reveal that rebellion against God dries up both provisions and celebrations. • Jeremiah 14:2 echoes drought-induced despair: “Judah mourns; her gates languish; her people sit on the ground in mourning, and the cry of Jerusalem rises up.” Gates—symbols of civic strength—droop, while a parched populace collapses on the earth that withholds its rain. The prophet lets the sound of the cry carry Judah’s confession to God. • Jeremiah 46:12 universalizes the shock of defeat: “The nations have heard of your shame; your cry fills the earth, because warrior stumbles against warrior and both fall together.” Egypt’s battlefield howl reverberates across borders, confirming that no empire can shout down divine sovereignty. Historical and Prophetic Significance Across these texts, צְוָחָה marks moments when human self-reliance is shattered. In pre-exilic Judah it warned that covenant curses (Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28) were materializing. In Isaiah’s apocalyptic preview it anticipates the final unraveling of a godless world order. Together the occurrences form a literary siren that calls every generation to renewed covenant fidelity. Ministry and Pastoral Application 1. Intercession: Jeremiah 14 legitimizes corporate lament; congregations may pray with open-throated honesty, trusting that God receives cries born of repentance. Christological and Eschatological Trajectory At Calvary the Messiah “cried out with a loud voice” (Matthew 27:46), absorbing the ultimate covenant curse so that a redeemed people might one day dwell in a New Jerusalem where “there will be no more crying or pain” (Revelation 21:4). Thus every Old Testament צְוָחָה either foreshadows the Lamb’s own cry or contrasts with the eternal quiet secured by His atonement. Worship and Liturgy Psalms of lament (for example, Psalms 44, 74, 79) give vocabulary for sacred outcry. Conversely, hymns of thanksgiving echo Psalm 144, celebrating rescued silence. Corporate worship should hold both: the honest scream of need and the grateful hush of peace. Summary צְוָחָה is the public sound created when divine protection recedes—or, in blessed moments, the sound mercifully missing. Its four appearances sketch a theology of lament that moves from warning, through repentance, to deliverance in Christ and consummated rest. Forms and Transliterations וְצִוְחַ֥ת וְצִוְחָתֵ֖ךְ וצוחת וצוחתך צְ֝וָחָ֗ה צְוָחָ֥ה צוחה ṣə·wā·ḥāh ṣəwāḥāh tzevaChah vetzivChat vetzivchaTech wə·ṣiw·ḥā·ṯêḵ wə·ṣiw·ḥaṯ wəṣiwḥaṯ wəṣiwḥāṯêḵLinks Interlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel TextsEnglishman's Concordance Psalm 144:14 HEB: יוֹצֵ֑את וְאֵ֥ין צְ֝וָחָ֗ה בִּרְחֹבֹתֵֽינוּ׃ NAS: [Let there be] no outcry in our streets! KJV: nor going out; that [there be] no complaining in our streets. INT: loss no outcry our streets Isaiah 24:11 Jeremiah 14:2 Jeremiah 46:12 4 Occurrences |
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