Frequent references are found in Scripture to,
Mourning was expressed, (1) by weeping ( Genesis 35:8 , marg.; Luke 7:38 , etc.); (2) by loud lamentation ( Ruth 1:9 ; 1 Samuel 6:19 ; 2 Sam 3:31 ); (3) by the disfigurement of the person, as rending the clothes ( Genesis 37:29 Genesis 37:34 ; Matthew 26:65 ), wearing sackcloth ( Genesis 37:34 ; Psalms 35:13 ), sprinkling dust or ashes on the person ( 2 Samuel 13:19 ; Jeremiah 6:26 ; Job 2:12 ), shaving the head and plucking out the hair of the head or beard ( Leviticus 10:6 ; Job 1:20 ), neglect of the person or the removal of ornaments ( Exodus 33:4 ; Deuteronomy 21:12 Deuteronomy 21:13 ; 2 Sam 14:2 ; 19:24 ; Matthew 6:16 Matthew 6:17 ), fasting ( 2 Samuel 1:12 ), covering the upper lip ( Leviticus 13:45 ; Micah 3:7 ), cutting the flesh ( Jeremiah 16:6 Jeremiah 16:7 ), and sitting in silence ( Judges 20:26 ; 2 Sam 12:16 ; 13:31 ; Job 1:20 ).
In the later times we find a class of mourners who could be hired to give by their loud lamentation the external tokens of sorrow ( 2 Chronicles 35:25 ; Jeremiah 9:17 ; Matthew 9:23 ).
The period of mourning for the dead varied. For Jacob it was seventy days ( Genesis 50:3 ); for Aaron ( Numbers 20:29 ) and Moses ( Deuteronomy 34:8 ) thirty days; and for Saul only seven days ( 1 Samuel 31:13 ). In 2 Samuel 3:31-35 , we have a description of the great mourning for the death of Abner.