If there was ever anyone, who understood the pain of loss and what it meant to struggle with grief it was Job, from the Book of Job in the Bible. Job was a man who lost everything but his faith in the One True God.

As we explore what the word “grief” actually means and how it is defined by various sources, we will reference some verses from the Book of Job. In another part of the series, we will glean what we can learn about grief and how to handle grief from these same verses.

Job 2:13 (NKJV)

So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.

Job 6:2 (NKJV)

“Oh, that my grief were fully weighed,

And my calamity laid with it on the scales!

Job 16:5 (NKJV)

But I would strengthen you with my mouth,

And the comfort of my lips would relieve your grief.

Job 16:6 (NKJV)

“Though I speak, my grief is not relieved;

And if I remain silent, how am I eased?

Please take note of the various underlined terms or words within the definitions provided below. You will find my notes in italic font.

Grief per the Hebrew language as found in the above verses from the Book of Job.

3511. כְּאֵב k^e˒êb, keh-abe’; from 3510; suffering (phys. or ment.), adversity:— grief, pain, sorrow.

3510. כָּאַב kâ˒ab, kaw-ab’; a prim. root; prop. to feel pain; by impl. to grieve; fig. to spoil:— grieving, mar, have pain, make sad (sore), (be) sorrowful.

3707. כָּעַס kâ˓aç, kaw-as’; a prim. root; to trouble; by impl. to grieve, rage, be indignant:— be angry, be grieved, take indignation, provoke (to anger, unto wrath), have sorrow, vex, be wroth.

3708. כַּעַס ka˓aç, kah’-as; or (in Job)

כַּעַשׂ ka˓as, kah’-as; from 3707; vexation:— anger, angry, grief, indignation, provocation, provoking, × sore, sorrow, spite, wrath.

As you pour over the words and terms used in the Hebrew language to define grief it becomes clear that grief can cause a great deal and wide variety of feelings in a person. These feelings may manifest one at a time or several feelings may manifest simultaneously. Because grief involves so many emotions, it can be terribly destructive if the person does not handle their grief correctly or if a person attempts to deny their grief and stifle the grieving process.

Grief per the Merriam-Webster Dictionary

1 obsolete : GRIEVANCE
2 a : deep and poignant distress caused by or as if by bereavement b : a cause of such suffering
3 a : an unfortunate outcome : DISASTER — used chiefly in the phrase come to grief

Grief at its core means something has happened to us that we did not want to have happen, something we often have had little or no control over but not always, there are times when we are a part of producing our own grief.

Grief per the Merriam-Webster Medical Dictionary

deep and poignant distress caused by or as if by bereavement; also : a cause of such suffering

Grief per Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“Grief is a multifaceted response to loss, particularly to the loss of someone or something that has died, to which a bond or affection was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, it also has physical, cognitive, behavioral, social, spiritual, and philosophical dimensions. While the terms are often used interchangeably, bereavement refers to the state of loss, and grief is the reaction to loss, along with saudade.

Grief is a natural response to loss. It is the emotional suffering one feels when something or someone the individual loves is taken away. Grief is also a reaction to any loss. The grief associated with death is familiar to most people, but individuals grieve in connection with a variety of losses throughout their lives, such as unemployment, ill health or the end of a relationship. Loss can be categorized as either physical or abstract, the physical loss being related to something that the individual can touch or measure, such as losing a spouse through death, while other types of loss are abstract, and relate to aspects of a person’s social interactions.”

Grief affects not only our emotions it can affect how we act, our physical health, how we treat others, our desire to be with people, our spiritual beliefs, and even our life view or course of life. Although grief is a natural response to loss, mismanaged it can lead to various forms of destruction in our lives. People’s destructive behavior can often be traced back to unresolved grief in some area of their life.

In the next part of this series, part two, we will begin to examine the ten stages of grief.

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

¹¹And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, ¹²for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, ¹³till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; ¹⁴that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, ¹⁵but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— ¹⁶from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.