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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In every province [each] place where the king's edict and his law came, there [was] great mourning for the Jews with fasting, crying, wailing, [and] sackcloth; and ashes were spread out as a bed for them.
{So} he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and he sat in the midst of the ashes.
And the news reached the king of Nineveh, and he rose from his throne and removed his royal robe, put on sackcloth, and sat in the 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 will be burned in his sight; its skin, its meat, and its blood, in addition to its offal, will burn.
Tamar put ashes on her head, and she tore the long-sleeved robe which [was] on her. She put her hand on her head, and {she went away, crying out as she went}.
In every province [each] place where the king's edict and his law came, there [was] great mourning for the Jews with fasting, crying, wailing, [and] sackcloth; and ashes were spread out as a bed for them.
[He] feeds [on] ashes; a {deceived mind} misleads him. And he cannot save {himself}, and he cannot say, "Is [this] not an illusion in my right hand?"
O daughter of my people, gird yourself [with] sackcloth, and roll about in the ashes in mourning, a mourning ceremony [as for] an only child. Make for yourself wailing of bitterness, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.
Ephraim herds [the] wind and [is] pursuing [the] east wind all day long; he multiplies deception and violence and he {makes a treaty with Assyria}, and oil is brought to Egypt.
For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow sprinkled on those who are defiled sanctify [them] for the ritual 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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Mordecai learned all that had been done and he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes. And he went through the middle of the city and cried out a loud and bitter cry;
Mordecai learned all that had been done and he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes. And he went through the middle of the city and cried out a loud and bitter cry;
{So} he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and he sat in the midst of the ashes.
{So} he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and he sat in the midst of the ashes.
Therefore I despise [myself] and repent in dust and ashes."
Therefore I despise [myself] and repent in dust and ashes."
Indeed, I eat ashes like bread and mix my drink with tears
Indeed, I eat ashes like bread and mix my drink with tears
[He] feeds [on] ashes; a {deceived mind} misleads him. And he cannot save {himself}, and he cannot say, "Is [this] not an illusion in my right hand?"
[He] feeds [on] ashes; a {deceived mind} misleads him. And he cannot save {himself}, and he cannot say, "Is [this] not an illusion in my right hand?"
to {give} for those in mourning in Zion, to give them a head wrap instead of ashes, [the] oil of joy instead of mourning, a garment of praise instead of a faint spirit. And {they will be called} oaks of righteousness, the planting of Yahweh, to show his glory.
to {give} for those in mourning in Zion, to give them a head wrap instead of ashes, [the] oil of joy instead of mourning, a garment of praise instead of a faint spirit. And {they will be called} oaks of righteousness, the planting of Yahweh, to show his glory.
"Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
"Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow sprinkled on those who are defiled sanctify [them] for the ritual purity of the flesh,
For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow sprinkled on those who are defiled sanctify [them] for the ritual 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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Then Abraham answered and said, "Look, please, I was bold to speak to my Lord, but I [am] dust and ashes.
Tamar put ashes on her head, and she tore the long-sleeved robe which [was] on her. She put her hand on her head, and {she went away, crying out as she went}.
Then the prophet went and {waited} for the king along the road and disguised himself with a headband over his eyes.
He quickly removed the headband from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him, that he [was] from the prophets.
On the twenty-fourth day of this month the {Israelites} gathered in fasting, in sackcloths, and with soil on them.
On the twenty-fourth day of this month the {Israelites} gathered in fasting, in sackcloths, and with soil on them.
{So} he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and he sat in the midst of the ashes.
He has cast me into the dirt, and I have become like dust and ashes.
Hope that is deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled [is] a tree of life.
You must not go out [into] the field, and you must not walk on the road, for {the enemy has a sword}, terror [is] all around.
and they will lament over you with their voice, and they will cry out bitterly, and they will throw dust on their heads, [and] they will roll in the dust.
And the news reached the king of Nineveh, and he rose from his throne and removed his royal robe, put on sackcloth, and sat in the 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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Then Abraham answered and said, "Look, please, I was bold to speak to my Lord, but I [am] dust and ashes.
Tamar put ashes on her head, and she tore the long-sleeved robe which [was] on her. She put her hand on her head, and {she went away, crying out as she went}.
Mordecai learned all that had been done and he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes. And he went through the middle of the city and cried out a loud and bitter cry;
In every province [each] place where the king's edict and his law came, there [was] great mourning for the Jews with fasting, crying, wailing, [and] sackcloth; and ashes were spread out as a bed for them.
He has cast me into the dirt, and I have become like dust and ashes.
Indeed, I eat ashes like bread and mix my drink with tears
[He] feeds [on] ashes; a {deceived mind} misleads him. And he cannot save {himself}, and he cannot say, "Is [this] not an illusion in my right hand?"
Is [the] fast I choose like this, a day for humankind to humiliate {himself}? To bow his head like a reed, and {make} his bed [on] sackcloth and ashes; you call this a fast and a day of pleasure to Yahweh?
O daughter of my people, gird yourself [with] sackcloth, and roll about in the ashes in mourning, a mourning ceremony [as for] an only child. Make for yourself wailing of bitterness, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.
He has broken my teeth on grit, he has trampled me down in ash.
From the abundance of your iniquities in the dishonesty of your trading, I profaned your sanctuaries and I brought fire from your midst; it consumed you, and I have turned you to ashes on the earth {before the eyes of everyone who sees you}.
And the news reached the king of Nineveh, and he rose from his throne and removed his royal robe, put on sackcloth, and sat in the ashes.
You will trample down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I [am] going to act," says Yahweh of hosts.
"Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were done in you had been done 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 blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow sprinkled on those who are defiled sanctify [them] for the ritual 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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Then Abraham answered and said, "Look, please, I was bold to speak to my Lord, but I [am] dust and ashes.
For the unclean [person] they will take from the powder of the {burnt purification offering}, and they will put running water into a container.
Yahweh will change the rain of your land [to] fine dust and [to] sand; from the heaven it shall come down upon you {until you are destroyed}.
Tamar put ashes on her head, and she tore the long-sleeved robe which [was] on her. She put her hand on her head, and {she went away, crying out as she went}.
In every province [each] place where the king's edict and his law came, there [was] great mourning for the Jews with fasting, crying, wailing, [and] sackcloth; and ashes were spread out as a bed for them.
{So} he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and he sat in the midst of the ashes.
Indeed, I eat ashes like bread and mix my drink with tears
O daughter of my people, gird yourself [with] sackcloth, and roll about in the ashes in mourning, a mourning ceremony [as for] an only child. Make for yourself wailing of bitterness, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.
He has broken my teeth on grit, he has trampled me down in ash.
And the news reached the king of Nineveh, and he rose from his throne and removed his royal robe, put on sackcloth, and sat in the ashes.