Numbers 20:29

29. They mourned Literally, wept. The same verb is thus translated in Deuteronomy 34:8. The Hebrew tongue is exceedingly copious in words expressing the various actions characteristic of mourning, such as beating the breast, weeping, screaming loudly, wearing sad-coloured garments, singing dirges, funeral feasting, rending the clothes, sprinkling ashes or earth on the person, removal of ornaments, neglect of the body, fasting, shaving the head, plucking out the beard or hair, laying bare some part of the person, covering the upper lip, cutting the flesh, and sitting or lying in silence. One marked feature of Oriental mourning is what may be called its studied publicity, and the careful observance of the prescribed ceremonies. Genesis 23:2; 1Sa 11:4 ; 1 Samuel 30:4; 2 Samuel 15:30; Job 1:20; Job 2:8-13; Isaiah 15:3; Jeremiah 3:21.

Thirty days The customary period of mourning varied. In the case of Jacob it was seventy days in Egypt and seven in Canaan, (Genesis 50:3; Genesis 50:10, notes;) of Moses thirty, and of Saul seven, days.