ʾ-B-L is mourning: grief with a reason and often a name, felt in the body and made visible through weeping, wailing, torn clothes, and days set apart. The Beatitude speaks to the abila, the mourner, in the middle of grief, not after it.
| Form | Pattern | Transliteration | Script | Standard | Qala rendering |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ebal | simple-stem verb | ebal | אבל ܐܒܠ | to mourn | to mourn, to grieve |
| abila | passive participle, used as noun | abila | אבילא ܐܒܝܠܐ | mourner | one who is mourning |
| ebla | noun | ebla | אבלא ܐܒܠܐ | mourning | mourning: a regular formation; not attested in this corpus |
| Stem | Form | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| Pʿal (simple) | ebal / abilin | to mourn; "mourning ones" (Mark 16:10) |
| Ethpʿel (simple passive-reflexive) | tetʾablun | "you will mourn": the turn into mourning (Luke 6:25) |
| Paʿʿel (intensive) | — | not attested in this corpus |
| Ethpaʿʿal (intensive passive) | — | not attested |
| Aphʿel (causative) | — | not attested |
| Ettaphʿal (causative passive) | — | not attested |
| Shaphʿel (rare causative) | — | not attested |
Bring to mind one loss you have not finished grieving. Stay with the mourning for one minute, without reaching for comfort. Receive the promise there, in the middle.
Say abila aloud: a visible, bodily mourner, still inside grief, with comfort ahead.