Bible Dictionary
BRAY
To make the harsh cry of a donkey, or to pound something thoroughly in a mortar. Scripture uses both senses literally and as figures for lamentation, mockery, or severe but ineffective discipline.
Biblical Usage
Job uses the donkey’s braying figuratively for the natural expression of suffering and for the cries of mockers. Proverbs 27:22 compares severe but ineffective discipline with pounding grain or meat in a mortar.