Reference: Ashes
American
To repent in sackcloth and ashes, or to lie down among ashes, was an external sign of self-affliction for sin, or of grief under misfortune. We find it adopted by Job, Job 2:8; by many Jews when in great fear, Es 4:3; and by the king of Nineveh, Jon 3:6. The ashes of a red heifer were used in ceremonial purification, Nu 19.
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And in every province, wherever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing: many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
And the word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
Easton
The ashes of a red heifer burned entire (Nu 19:5) when sprinkled on the unclean made them ceremonially clean (Heb 9:13).
To cover the head with ashes was a token of self-abhorrence and humiliation (2Sa 13:19; Es 4:3; Jer 6:26, etc.).
To feed on ashes (Isa 44:20), means to seek that which will prove to be vain and unsatisfactory, and hence it denotes the unsatisfactory nature of idol-worship. (Comp. Ho 12:1).
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And one shall burn the heifer before his eyes; its skin and its flesh, and its blood, with its dung, shall he burn.
And Tamar put ashes on her head, and rent her vest of many colours which was on her, and laid her hand on her head, and went away, crying out as she went.
And in every province, wherever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing: many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
He feedeth on ashes; a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?
Daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and roll thyself in ashes: make mourning, as for an only son bitter lamentation; for the spoiler cometh suddenly upon us.
Ephraim feedeth on wind, and pursueth after the east wind: all day long he multiplieth lies and desolation; and they make a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried into Egypt.
For if the blood of goats and bulls, and a heifer's ashes sprinkling the defiled, sanctifies for the purity of the flesh,
Fausets
Sitting down in, or covering one's self with, is the symbol of mourning (Job 2:8; 42:6; Es 4:1; Isa 61:3; Mt 11:21). To eat asides expresses figuratively mourning is one's food, i.e. one's perpetual portion (Ps 102:9). "He feedeth on ashes," i.e., tries to feed his soul with what is at once humiliating and unsatisfying, on an idol which ought to have been reduced to ashes, like the rest of the tree of which it is made (Isa 44:20). The ashes of a red heifer burnt entire (Numbers 19), when sprinkled upon, purified ceremonially the unclean (Heb 9:13) but defiled the clean person.
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And when Mordecai knew all that was done, Mordecai rent his garments, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and bitter cry,
And when Mordecai knew all that was done, Mordecai rent his garments, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and bitter cry,
Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.
Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.
For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping,
For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping,
He feedeth on ashes; a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?
He feedeth on ashes; a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?
to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, that beauty should be given unto them instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of the spirit of heaviness: that they might be called terebinths of righteousness, the planting of Jehovah, that he may be glorified.
to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, that beauty should be given unto them instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of the spirit of heaviness: that they might be called terebinths of righteousness, the planting of Jehovah, that he may be glorified.
Woe to thee, Chorazin! woe to thee Bethsaida! for if the works of power which have taken place in you, had taken place in Tyre and Sidon, they had long ago repented in sackcloth and ashes.
Woe to thee, Chorazin! woe to thee Bethsaida! for if the works of power which have taken place in you, had taken place in Tyre and Sidon, they had long ago repented in sackcloth and ashes.
For if the blood of goats and bulls, and a heifer's ashes sprinkling the defiled, sanctifies for the purity of the flesh,
For if the blood of goats and bulls, and a heifer's ashes sprinkling the defiled, sanctifies for the purity of the flesh,
Hastings
Ashes on the head formed one of the ordinary tokens of mourning for the dead (see Mourning Customs as of private (2Sa 13:19) and national humiliation (Ne 9:1,1Ma 3:47). The penitent and the afflicted might also sit (Job 2:8; Jon 3:6) or even wallow in ashes (Jer 6:25; Eze 27:30). In 1Ki 20:38,41 we must, with RV, read 'Headband' (wh. see) for 'ashes.'
In a figurative sense the term 'ashes' is often used to signify evanescence, worthlessness, insignificance (Ge 18:27; Job 30:19). 'Proverbs of ashes' (Pr 13:12 RV) is Job's equivalent for the modern 'rot.' For the use of ashes in the priestly ritual see Red Heifer.
A. R. S. Kennedy.
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And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have ventured to speak unto the Lord; I, who am dust and ashes.
And Tamar put ashes on her head, and rent her vest of many colours which was on her, and laid her hand on her head, and went away, crying out as she went.
And the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with a sash over his eyes.
Then he hastily took the sash away from his face; and the king of Israel discerned him, that he was of the prophets.
And on the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them.
And on the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them.
Hope deferred maketh the heart sick; but the desire that cometh to pass is a tree of life.
Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for there is the sword of the enemy, terror is on every side.
and shall cause their voice to be heard over thee, and shall cry bitterly; and they shall cast up dust upon their heads; they shall wallow themselves in ashes.
And the word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
Morish
Ashes, mostly from burnt wood, were used as a sign of sorrow or mourning, either put on the head, 2Sa 13:19, or on the body with sackcloth, Es 4:1; Jer 6:26; La 3:16; Mt 11:21; Lu 10:13; or strewn on a couch on which to lie, Es 4:3; Isa 58:5; Jon 3:6. To eat ashes expresses great sorrow, Ps 102:9; and to be reduced to them is a figure of complete destruction, Eze 28:18; Mal 4:3; to feed on them tells of the vanities with which the soul may be occupied. Isa 44:20. 'Dust and ashes' was the figure Abraham used of himself before Jehovah, Ge 18:27; and Job said he had become like them by the hand of God. Job 30:19. For the ashes of the Red Heifer see HEIFER.
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And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have ventured to speak unto the Lord; I, who am dust and ashes.
And Tamar put ashes on her head, and rent her vest of many colours which was on her, and laid her hand on her head, and went away, crying out as she went.
And when Mordecai knew all that was done, Mordecai rent his garments, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and bitter cry,
And in every province, wherever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing: many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping,
He feedeth on ashes; a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?
Is such the fast that I have chosen, a day for a man to afflict his soul, that he should bow down his head as a bulrush, and spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Wilt thou call this a fast, and a day acceptable to Jehovah?
Daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and roll thyself in ashes: make mourning, as for an only son bitter lamentation; for the spoiler cometh suddenly upon us.
He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes.
By the multitude of thine iniquities, by the unrighteousness of thy traffic, thou hast profaned thy sanctuaries: and I have brought forth a fire out of the midst of thee it hath consumed thee; and I have brought thee to ashes upon the earth, in the sight of all them that behold thee.
And the word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I prepare, saith Jehovah of hosts.
Woe to thee, Chorazin! woe to thee Bethsaida! for if the works of power which have taken place in you, had taken place in Tyre and Sidon, they had long ago repented in sackcloth and ashes.
Woe to thee, Chorazin! woe to thee, Bethsaida! for if the works of power which have taken place in you had taken place in Tyre and Sidon, they had long ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
Smith
Ashes.
The ashes on the altar of burnt offering were gathered into a cavity in its surface. The ashes of a red heifer burnt entire, according to regulations prescribed in Numb. 19, had the ceremonial efficacy of purifying the unclean,
but of polluting the clean. [SACRIFICE]
See Sacrifice
Ashes about the person, especially on the head, were used as a sign of sorrow. [MOURNING]
See Mourning
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For if the blood of goats and bulls, and a heifer's ashes sprinkling the defiled, sanctifies for the purity of the flesh,
Watsons
ASHES. Several religious ceremonies, and some symbolical ones, anciently depended upon the use of ashes. To repent in sackcloth and ashes, or, as an external sign of self-affliction for sin, or of suffering under some misfortune, to sit in ashes, are expressions common in Scripture. "I am but dust and ashes," exclaims Abraham before the Lord, Ge 18:27; indicating a deep sense of his own meanness in comparison with God. God threatens to shower down dust and ashes on the lands instead of rain, De 28:24; thereby to make them barren instead of blessing them, to dry them up instead of watering them. Tamar, after the injury she had received from Amnon, covered her head with ashes, 2Sa 13:19. The Psalmist, in great sorrow, says poetically, he had "eaten ashes as it were bread, Ps 102:9; that is, he sat on ashes, he threw ashes on his head; and his food, his bread, was sprinkled with the ashes wherewith he was himself covered. So Jeremiah introduces Jerusalem saying, "The Lord hath covered me with ashes," La 3:16. Sitting on ashes, or lying down among ashes, was a token of extreme grief. We find it adopted by Job 2:8; by many Jews when in great fear, Es 4:3; and by the king of Nineveh, Jon 3:6. He arose from his throne, laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. This token of affliction is illustrated by Homer's description of old Laertes. grieving for the absence of his son, "Sleeping in the apartment where the slaves slept, in the ashes, near the fire." Compare Jer 6:26, "Daughter of my people, wallow thyself in ashes." There was a sort of ley and lustral water, made with the ashes of the heifer sacrificed on the great, day of expiation; these ashes, were distributed to the people, and used in purifications, by sprinkling, to such as had touched a dead body, or had been present at funerals, Nu 19:17.
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And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have ventured to speak unto the Lord; I, who am dust and ashes.
And they shall take for the unclean of the ashes of the purification-offering that hath been burned, and shall put running water thereon in a vessel;
Jehovah will give as the rain of thy land powder and dust; from the heavens shall it come down upon thee until thou be destroyed.
And Tamar put ashes on her head, and rent her vest of many colours which was on her, and laid her hand on her head, and went away, crying out as she went.
And in every province, wherever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing: many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping,
Daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and roll thyself in ashes: make mourning, as for an only son bitter lamentation; for the spoiler cometh suddenly upon us.
He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes.
And the word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.