421. alah
Lexical Summary
alah: wail

Original Word: אָלָה
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: alah
Pronunciation: ah-LAH
Phonetic Spelling: (aw-law')
KJV: lament
NASB: wail
Word Origin: [a primitive root (rather identical with H422 (אָלָה - take) through the idea of invocation)]

1. to bewail

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
lament

A primitive root (rather identical with 'alah through the idea of invocation); to bewail -- lament.

see HEBREW 'alah

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
a prim. root
Definition
to wail
NASB Translation
wail (1).

Brown-Driver-Briggs
III. [אָלָה] verb wail (Aramaic אֲלָא, ) only

Qal Imperative feminine singular אֱלִי Joel 1:8 (see אַלְלַי).

Topical Lexicon
Root Idea and Essential Sense

אָָלָה (H421) conveys the involuntary, guttural cry that escapes when deep covenant hopes collapse. It is not the measured lament of a funeral dirge but the instinctive wail of a heart suddenly bereft.

Canonical Occurrence

Joel 1:8 supplies the single biblical instance: “Wail like a virgin dressed in sackcloth, grieving for the husband of her youth” (Berean Standard Bible). The prophet chooses the image of a young woman whose wedding joy has been shattered before consummation, capturing Judah’s devastation as locusts and drought dismantle harvest, worship, and national stability.

Literary Function in Joel

1. Intensifying the Call to Repentance. Joel piles image upon image—vipers of devastation (1:4), withered fields (1:12), extinguished grain and drink offerings (1:13)—but the command to אָָלָה is the emotional apex. It invites Judah to feel what covenant infidelity has cost.
2. Preparing for the Day of the Lord. By evoking betrothal sorrow, the prophet links agricultural ruin with a larger eschatological reckoning (2:1–11). The wail is therefore both grief over present loss and alarm for approaching judgment.
3. Foreshadowing Restoration. Joel will later promise that “I will restore to you the years the swarming locust has eaten” (2:25). The very intensity of אָָלָה sets the stage for an equally dramatic salvation.

Theological Themes

• Covenant Marriage: Israel is often portrayed as the bride (Isaiah 54:5; Hosea 2:19). The unfulfilled wedding in Joel 1:8 underscores how idolatry nullifies covenant joy.
• Corporate Solidarity in Sin and Sorrow: The virginal mourner stands for the nation; individual anguish embodies communal guilt.
• True Repentance: Mere ritual cannot replace the brokenhearted cry (Psalm 51:17). Joel’s imperative legitimizes emotional honesty before the Lord.

Historical Background

Joel ministered during or shortly after a catastrophic locust plague, likely between the ninth and seventh centuries B.C. In agrarian Judah, such devastation threatened food supply, temple offerings, and social order. The prophetic summons to אָָלָה would have echoed through emptied granaries and silent sanctuary courts, reminding a chastened people of their dependence on Yahweh.

Christological Perspective

The unconsummated marriage in Joel anticipates the Bridegroom language of the New Testament. John the Baptist rejoices “at the Bridegroom’s voice” (John 3:29), and Jesus identifies Himself as that Bridegroom (Mark 2:19). The wail of Joel 1:8 therefore prefigures the disciples’ brief sorrow during the crucifixion (John 16:20), even as resurrection restores joy.

Pastoral and Worship Implications

• Call to Authentic Lament: Congregations may resist sorrow, yet Joel validates corporate weeping in crises such as moral failure, natural disaster, or cultural decline.
• Prelude to Renewal: Just as Joel’s wail precedes the outpouring of the Spirit (2:28–32), seasons of genuine lament often precede spiritual awakening.
• Bridal Identity of the Church: Recognizing herself as Christ’s betrothed, the Church guards purity (2 Corinthians 11:2) and awaits consummation at the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:7).

Summary for Ministry Use

אָָלָה is a single-appearance verb that nevertheless epitomizes biblical lament. It instructs God’s people to voice grief openly, to treat national calamity as covenant crisis, and to couple sorrow with repentance that expects restoration. In preaching, worship, counseling, and intercession, Joel’s imperative still summons the Bride to cry out—so that despair may yield to deliverance, and ruined fields may blossom again under the faithful love of her Redeemer.

Forms and Transliterations
אֱלִ֕י אלי ’ĕ·lî ’ĕlî eLi
Links
Interlinear GreekInterlinear HebrewStrong's NumbersEnglishman's Greek ConcordanceEnglishman's Hebrew ConcordanceParallel Texts
Englishman's Concordance
Joel 1:8
HEB: אֱלִ֕י כִּבְתוּלָ֥ה חֲגֻֽרַת־
NAS: Wail like a virgin girded
KJV: Lament like a virgin girded
INT: Wail A virgin girded

1 Occurrence

Strong's Hebrew 421
1 Occurrence


’ĕ·lî — 1 Occ.

420
Top of Page
Top of Page