A verb meaning to grieve, afflict, or cause pain. It describes deep emotional pain and sorrow, both the experience of grieving and the act of causing grief to another. The word is used in lament contexts, in the Servant Songs, and in passages about God's compassion toward those in grief.
Grief in Scripture is not a weakness to overcome but a human reality to be held. Yagah and its cognates appear in some of the Bible's most profound passages — Lamentations' grief over Jerusalem, the Servant's bearing of our sorrows, Job's affliction. The God of Israel is not unmoved by grief; he is described as one who does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men (Lamentations 3:33). This means suffering occurs in a universe where God notices, cares, and eventually redeems. The grief Jesus carries in Gethsemane is not weakness but love bearing its full weight.