Bible dictionaries
Doleful
What Bible dictionaries say about “Doleful”, one article after the other.
Easton’s Bible Dictionary & Webster’s 1828 Dictionary
Doleful - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)
DOLEFUL, a. [dole and full.]
1. Sorrowful; expressing grief; as a doleful whine; a doleful cry.
2. Melancholy; sad; afflicted; as a doleful sire.
3. Dismal; impressing sorrow; gloomy; as doleful shades.
Matthew George Easton, Easton’s Bible Dictionary; Noah Webster, American Dictionary of the English Language (1828)
The article in Easton + Webster 1828International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE 1915)
dol'-fool ('oach, "howling"): The "doleful creatures" referred to in Isa 13:21 are probably "jackals," although some have suggested "leopard," or "hyena." The older English Versions of the Bible gives "great owls." The word rendered "doleful lamentation" in Mic 2:4 (niheyah) is simply a form of the word ordinarily translated "wailing" (nehi). Compare the King James Version margin.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia — James Orr, general editor and contributors; CrossWire SWORD module ISBE 2.2
The article in ISBE 1915