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, with fasting, weeping, and wailing, and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself, and he sat [down] among the ashes.
For word came to the king of Nineveh [of all that had happened to Jonah, and his terrifying message from God], and he arose from his throne and he laid his robe aside, 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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The heifer shall be burned in his sight, her skin, flesh, blood, and dung.
And [she] put ashes on her head and tore the long, sleeved robe which she wore, and she laid her hand on her head and went away shrieking and wailing.
And in every province, wherever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailing, and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
That kind of man feeds on ashes [and finds his satisfaction in ashes]! A deluded mind has led him astray, so that he cannot release and save himself, or ask, Is not [this thing I am holding] in my right hand a lie?
O daughter of my people [says Jeremiah], gird yourself with sackcloth and wallow in ashes; make mourning as for an only son, a most bitter lamentation, for the destroyer will suddenly come upon us [on prophet and people].
Ephraim herds and feeds on the wind and pursues the [parching] east wind; every day he increases lies and violence, and a covenant is made with Assyria and oil is carried to Egypt.
For if [the mere] sprinkling of unholy and defiled persons with blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a burnt heifer is sufficient for the purification of the body,
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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Now when Mordecai learned all that was done, [he] rent his clothes and put on sackcloth with ashes and went out into the midst of the city and cried with a loud and bitter cry.
Now when Mordecai learned all that was done, [he] rent his clothes and put on sackcloth with ashes and went out into the midst of the city and cried with a loud and bitter cry.
And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself, and he sat [down] among the ashes.
And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself, and he sat [down] among the ashes.
Therefore I loathe [my words] and abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes.
Therefore I loathe [my words] and abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes.
For I have eaten the ashes [in which I sat] as if they were bread and have mingled my drink with weeping
For I have eaten the ashes [in which I sat] as if they were bread and have mingled my drink with weeping
That kind of man feeds on ashes [and finds his satisfaction in ashes]! A deluded mind has led him astray, so that he cannot release and save himself, or ask, Is not [this thing I am holding] in my right hand a lie?
That kind of man feeds on ashes [and finds his satisfaction in ashes]! A deluded mind has led him astray, so that he cannot release and save himself, or ask, Is not [this thing I am holding] in my right hand a lie?
To grant [consolation and joy] to those who mourn in Zion -- "to give them an ornament (a garland or diadem) of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, the garment [expressive] of praise instead of a heavy, burdened, and failing spirit -- "that they may be called oaks of righteousness [lofty, strong, and magnificent, distinguished for uprightness, justice, and right standing with God], the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.
To grant [consolation and joy] to those who mourn in Zion -- "to give them an ornament (a garland or diadem) of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, the garment [expressive] of praise instead of a heavy, burdened, and failing spirit -- "that they may be called oaks of righteousness [lofty, strong, and magnificent, distinguished for uprightness, justice, and right standing with God], the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.
Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes [and their hearts would have been changed].
Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes [and their hearts would have been changed].
For if [the mere] sprinkling of unholy and defiled persons with blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a burnt heifer is sufficient for the purification of the body,
For if [the mere] sprinkling of unholy and defiled persons with blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a burnt heifer is sufficient for the purification of the body,
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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Abraham answered, Behold now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord.
And [she] put ashes on her head and tore the long, sleeved robe which she wore, and she laid her hand on her head and went away shrieking and wailing.
So the prophet departed and waited for King Ahab by the way, and disguised himself with ashes upon his face.
The man hastily removed the ashes from his face, and Ahab king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets.
Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month, the Israelites were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth and with earth upon their heads.
Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month, the Israelites were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth and with earth upon their heads.
And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself, and he sat [down] among the ashes.
[God] has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes.
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.
Go not out into the field nor walk on the road, for the enemy is armed with the sword; terror is on every side.
And are heard wailing loudly over you, and they cry bitterly. They cast up dust on their heads; they wallow in ashes,
For word came to the king of Nineveh [of all that had happened to Jonah, and his terrifying message from God], and he arose from his throne and he laid his robe aside, 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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Abraham answered, Behold now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord.
And [she] put ashes on her head and tore the long, sleeved robe which she wore, and she laid her hand on her head and went away shrieking and wailing.
Now when Mordecai learned all that was done, [he] rent his clothes 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, with fasting, weeping, and wailing, and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
[God] has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes.
For I have eaten the ashes [in which I sat] as if they were bread and have mingled my drink with weeping
That kind of man feeds on ashes [and finds his satisfaction in ashes]! A deluded mind has led him astray, so that he cannot release and save himself, or ask, Is not [this thing I am holding] in my right hand a lie?
Is such a fast as yours what I have chosen, a day for a man to humble himself with sorrow in his soul? [Is true fasting merely mechanical?] Is it only to bow down his head like a bulrush and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him [to indicate a condition of heart that he does not have]? Will you call this a fast and an acceptable day to the Lord?
O daughter of my people [says Jeremiah], gird yourself with sackcloth and wallow in ashes; make mourning as for an only son, a most bitter lamentation, for the destroyer will suddenly come upon us [on prophet and people].
He has also broken my teeth with gravel (stones); He has covered me with ashes.
You have profaned your sanctuaries by the multitude of your iniquities and the enormity of your guilt, by the unrighteousness of your trade. Therefore I have brought forth a fire from your midst; it has consumed you, and I have reduced you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all who looked at you.
For word came to the king of Nineveh [of all that had happened to Jonah, and his terrifying message from God], and he arose from his throne and he laid his robe aside, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
And you shall tread down the lawless and wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, says the Lord of hosts.
Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes [and their hearts would have been changed].
Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty miracles performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, 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 mere] sprinkling of unholy and defiled persons with blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a burnt heifer is sufficient for the purification of the body,
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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Abraham answered, Behold now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord.
And for the unclean, they shall take of the ashes of the burning of the sin offering, and the running water shall be put with it in a vessel.
The Lord shall make the rain of your land powdered soil and dust; from the heavens it shall come down upon you until you are destroyed.
And [she] put ashes on her head and tore the long, sleeved robe which she wore, and she laid her hand on her head and went away shrieking and wailing.
And in every province, wherever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailing, and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself, and he sat [down] among the ashes.
For I have eaten the ashes [in which I sat] as if they were bread and have mingled my drink with weeping
O daughter of my people [says Jeremiah], gird yourself with sackcloth and wallow in ashes; make mourning as for an only son, a most bitter lamentation, for the destroyer will suddenly come upon us [on prophet and people].
He has also broken my teeth with gravel (stones); He has covered me with ashes.
For word came to the king of Nineveh [of all that had happened to Jonah, and his terrifying message from God], and he arose from his throne and he laid his robe aside, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.