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 and province the place where the word of the king and his edict coming, great mourning to the Jews, and fasting and weeping and wailing; sackcloth and ashes will be spread to many.
And he will take to him a pot sherd to scrape himself with it, and he will sit in the midst of the ashes.
And the word will reach to the king of Nineveh, and he will rise from his throne, and he will take away his wide cloak from off him, and he will cover with sackcloth, and he will sit upon 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 he burnt the heifer before his eyes; her skin and her flesh and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn.
And Tamar will take ashes upon her head, and she rent the tunic reaching to the feet which was upon her, and she will put her hand upon her head and will go, going and crying.
And in every province and province the place where the word of the king and his edict coming, great mourning to the Jews, and fasting and weeping and wailing; sackcloth and ashes will be spread to many.
He fed upon ashes: a deceived heart turned him away, and he shall not deliver his soul, and he shall not say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?
O daughter of my people, gird on sackcloth, and roll thyself in ashes: make to thee the mourning of an only begotten, a wailing of bitterness; for he laying waste shall suddenly come upon us.
Ephraim fed upon the wind, and he pursued the east wind: all the day he multiplied falsehood and destruction; and they will cut out a covenant with Assur, and oil will be brought to Egypt
For if the blood of bulls and he-goats, and the ashes of a heifer besprinkling the polluted, consecrates to 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 Mordecai knew all that was done, and Mordecai will rend his garments, and put on sackcloth and ashes, and he will go forth into the city, and he will cry out a great and bitter cry;
And Mordecai knew all that was done, and Mordecai will rend his garments, and put on sackcloth and ashes, and he will go forth into the city, and he will cry out a great and bitter cry;
And he will take to him a pot sherd to scrape himself with it, and he will sit in the midst of the ashes.
And he will take to him a pot sherd to scrape himself with it, and he will sit in the midst of the ashes.
For this, I shall melt away, and I lamented in dust and ashes.
For this, I shall melt away, and I lamented in dust and ashes.
For I ate ashes as bread, and I mingled my drink with weeping.
For I ate ashes as bread, and I mingled my drink with weeping.
He fed upon ashes: a deceived heart turned him away, and he shall not deliver his soul, and he shall not say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?
He fed upon ashes: a deceived heart turned him away, and he shall not deliver his soul, and he shall not say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?
To set to those mourning in Zion, to give to them adorning instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, the vestment of praise for the spirit of faintness; and it shall be called to them, The mighty trees of justice of the planting of Jehovah, to be honored.
To set to those mourning in Zion, to give to them adorning instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, the vestment of praise for the spirit of faintness; and it shall be called to them, The mighty trees of justice of the planting of Jehovah, to be honored.
Woe to thee, Chorazin! woe to thee, Bethsaida! for if in Tyre and Sidon had been the powers being in you, long since had they repented in sackcloth and ashes.
Woe to thee, Chorazin! woe to thee, Bethsaida! for if in Tyre and Sidon had been the powers being in you, long since had they repented in sackcloth and ashes.
For if the blood of bulls and he-goats, and the ashes of a heifer besprinkling the polluted, consecrates to the purity of the flesh:
For if the blood of bulls and he-goats, and the ashes of a heifer besprinkling the polluted, consecrates to 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 will answer and say, Behold now, I have undertaken to speak to my Lord, and I dust and ashes.
And Tamar will take ashes upon her head, and she rent the tunic reaching to the feet which was upon her, and she will put her hand upon her head and will go, going and crying.
And the prophet will go and stand by the king by the way; and he will be disguised with a bandage over his eyes.
And he will hasten and remove the bandage from his eyes; and the king of Israel will know him that he is from the prophets.
And in the twenty and fourth day to this month, the sons of Israel were gathered together with fasting and with sackclothes, and earth upon them.
And in the twenty and fourth day to this month, the sons of Israel were gathered together with fasting and with sackclothes, and earth upon them.
And he will take to him a pot sherd to scrape himself with it, and he will sit in the midst of the ashes.
Hope being forgotten afflicts the heart: and desire coming, a tree of life.
Thou shalt not go forth to the field, and thou shalt not go by the way; for the sword to the enemy, fear from round about.
And with their voice they shall cause to be heard against thee, and they shall cry with bitterness, and they shall bring up dust upon their heads, and they shall roll themselves in ashes.
And the word will reach to the king of Nineveh, and he will rise from his throne, and he will take away his wide cloak from off him, and he will cover with sackcloth, and he will sit upon 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 will answer and say, Behold now, I have undertaken to speak to my Lord, and I dust and ashes.
And Tamar will take ashes upon her head, and she rent the tunic reaching to the feet which was upon her, and she will put her hand upon her head and will go, going and crying.
And Mordecai knew all that was done, and Mordecai will rend his garments, and put on sackcloth and ashes, and he will go forth into the city, and he will cry out a great and bitter cry;
And in every province and province the place where the word of the king and his edict coming, great mourning to the Jews, and fasting and weeping and wailing; sackcloth and ashes will be spread to many.
For I ate ashes as bread, and I mingled my drink with weeping.
He fed upon ashes: a deceived heart turned him away, and he shall not deliver his soul, and he shall not say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?
Will this be the fast I shall choose? a day for a man to humble his soul? to bend his head as a bulrush, and he will place sackcloth and ashes? wilt thou call this a fast and a day of acceptance to Jehovah.
O daughter of my people, gird on sackcloth, and roll thyself in ashes: make to thee the mourning of an only begotten, a wailing of bitterness; for he laying waste shall suddenly come upon us.
From the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic, thou didst profane my holy places; and I will bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall consume thee, and I will give thee for ashes upon the earth before the eyes of all seeing thee.
And the word will reach to the king of Nineveh, and he will rise from his throne, and he will take away his wide cloak from off him, and he will cover with sackcloth, and he will sit upon ashes.
And ye tread down the unjust; for they were ashes under the soles of your feet in the day which I doing, said Jehovah of armies.
Woe to thee, Chorazin! woe to thee, Bethsaida! for if in Tyre and Sidon had been the powers being in you, long since had they repented in sackcloth and ashes.
Woe to thee Chorazin! woe to thee Bethsaida! for if in Tyre and Sidon were the powers having been in you, long since had they changed the mind, 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 bulls and he-goats, and the ashes of a heifer besprinkling the polluted, consecrates to 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 will answer and say, Behold now, I have undertaken to speak to my Lord, and I dust and ashes.
And they took for the unclean from the dust of the burning of sin, and living water was given upon it into a vessel:
Jehovah will give the rain of thy land dust and clay: from the heavens shall it come down upon thee, till he destroyed thee.
And Tamar will take ashes upon her head, and she rent the tunic reaching to the feet which was upon her, and she will put her hand upon her head and will go, going and crying.
And in every province and province the place where the word of the king and his edict coming, great mourning to the Jews, and fasting and weeping and wailing; sackcloth and ashes will be spread to many.
And he will take to him a pot sherd to scrape himself with it, and he will sit in the midst of the ashes.
For I ate ashes as bread, and I mingled my drink with weeping.
O daughter of my people, gird on sackcloth, and roll thyself in ashes: make to thee the mourning of an only begotten, a wailing of bitterness; for he laying waste shall suddenly come upon us.
And the word will reach to the king of Nineveh, and he will rise from his throne, and he will take away his wide cloak from off him, and he will cover with sackcloth, and he will sit upon ashes.