vale of tears
/ˈveɪl əv ˈtɪɚz/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.56 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
1
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The world, a place where difficulties and the sorrows of life are felt, especially (Christianity) as a place to be left behind when one dies and goes to heaven.
Literary
Example Sentences
- "He [Vitus Theodorus] was called to be a Paſtor at Norinberg, his own country, [...] till it pleaſed God to put an end to his labors, by tranſlating him out of this vale of tears into his Everlaſting Kingdom, Anno Chriſti 1549."
- "While we ſojourn in this vale of Tears and Sorrow, we are detain'd from the bleſſ'd Sight and Enjoyment of God; and kept from the Happineſs of juſt Men made perfect."
- "But let us recommend all to god, who alone know what ſhall befal in this vale of tears, this evil world we have here, in which there is ſcarce any thing to be found without ſome mixture of iniquity, impoſture, or knavery."
- "Body o' me, it makes a man sick of his kind, ashamed to belong to the race of men, to see the envy that abounds in this here sublunary wale^([sic – meaning vale]) of tears!"
- "We must not call earth a vale of tears. It is neither pious to do so, nor in any respect proper. We might as well, nay, with far greater propriety, call it a field of laughter."
- "I excused myself and dropped to the rear of the procession, sad at heart, willing to go hence from this troubled life, this vale of tears, this brief day of broken rest, of cloud and storm, of weary struggle and monotonous defeat; and yet shrinking from the change, as remembering how long eternity is, and how many have wended thither who know that anecdote."
Etymology
Calque of Latin lacrimārum vallis from the “Salve Regina” (a hymn to the Virgin Mary), based on Hebrew עמק הבכא (ʿēmeq habbāḵāʾ) from Psalm 84:6 of the Bible. The Hebrew term may mean “valley of the baka tree”, a tree of uncertain species (compare 2 Samuel 5:23–24 where baka is used to refer to a tree, and is often translated into English as “balsam tree”, “mulberry tree”, or “poplar tree”), but ancient Greek translations assumed the word intended was בָּכָה (bakhá, “to cry, weep”) and so rendered the term as “valley of weeping”, which was then used in Latin and English translations. See, for example, the Douay–Rheims Bible (1610) where the verse is numbered as Psalm 83:6.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: עמק הבכא
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈveɪl əv ˈtɪɚz/
- British English: /ˈveɪl əv ˈtɪəz/