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, wherever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
He took for himself a potsherd to scrape himself with, and he sat among the ashes.
The news reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and took off his royal robe, 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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One shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn:
Tamar put ashes on her head, and tore her garment of various colors that was on her; and she laid her hand on her head, and went her way, crying aloud as she went.
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; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
He feeds on ashes. A deceived heart has turned him aside; and he can't deliver his soul, nor say, "Isn't there a lie in my right hand?"
"Daughter of my people, clothe yourself with sackcloth, and wallow in ashes. Mourn, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; for the destroyer shall suddenly come on us."
Ephraim feeds on wind, and chases the east wind. He continually multiplies lies and desolation. They make a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried into Egypt.
For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify to the cleanness 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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Now when Mordecai found out all that was done, Mordecai tore his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and wailed loudly and a bitterly.
Now when Mordecai found out all that was done, Mordecai tore his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and wailed loudly and a bitterly.
He took for himself a potsherd to scrape himself with, and he sat among the ashes.
He took for himself a potsherd to scrape himself with, and he sat among the ashes.
Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes."
Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes."
For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mixed my drink with tears,
For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mixed my drink with tears,
He feeds on ashes. A deceived heart has turned him aside; and he can't deliver his soul, nor say, "Isn't there a lie in my right hand?"
He feeds on ashes. A deceived heart has turned him aside; and he can't deliver his soul, nor say, "Isn't there a lie in my right hand?"
to appoint to those who mourn in Zion, to give to them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.
to appoint to those who mourn in Zion, to give to them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.
"Woe to you, Chorazin. Woe to you, Bethsaida. For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon which were done in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
"Woe to you, Chorazin. Woe to you, Bethsaida. For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon which were done in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify to the cleanness of the flesh:
For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify to the cleanness 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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Abraham answered, "See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord, who am but dust and ashes.
Tamar put ashes on her head, and tore her garment of various colors that was on her; and she laid her hand on her head, and went her way, crying aloud as she went.
So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with his headband over his eyes.
He hurried, and took the headband away from his eyes; and the king of Israel recognized that he was of the prophets.
Now in the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackcloth, and earth on them.
Now in the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackcloth, and earth on them.
He took for himself a potsherd to scrape himself with, and he sat among the ashes.
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when longing is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.
Do not go forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy and terror, are on every side."
and shall cause their voice to be heard over you, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust on their heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashes:
The news reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and took off his royal robe, 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, "See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord, who am but dust and ashes.
Tamar put ashes on her head, and tore her garment of various colors that was on her; and she laid her hand on her head, and went her way, crying aloud as she went.
Now when Mordecai found out all that was done, Mordecai tore his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and wailed loudly and a bitterly.
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; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mixed my drink with tears,
He feeds on ashes. A deceived heart has turned him aside; and he can't deliver his soul, nor say, "Isn't there a lie in my right hand?"
Is such the fast that I have chosen? the day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?
"Daughter of my people, clothe yourself with sackcloth, and wallow in ashes. Mourn, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; for the destroyer shall suddenly come on us."
By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your traffic, you have profaned your sanctuaries; therefore have I brought forth a fire from the midst of you; it has devoured you, and I have turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all those who see you.
The news reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
You shall tread down the wicked; for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I make," says the LORD of hosts.
"Woe to you, Chorazin. Woe to you, Bethsaida. For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon which were done in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
"Woe to you, Chorazin. Woe to you, Bethsaida. For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon which were done in you, 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 heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify to the cleanness 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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Abraham answered, "See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord, who am but dust and ashes.
"For the unclean they shall take of the ashes of the burning of the sin offering; and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel:
The LORD will make the rain of your land powder and dust: from the sky shall it come down on you, until you are destroyed.
Tamar put ashes on her head, and tore her garment of various colors that was on her; and she laid her hand on her head, and went her way, crying aloud as she went.
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; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
He took for himself a potsherd to scrape himself with, and he sat among the ashes.
For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mixed my drink with tears,
"Daughter of my people, clothe yourself with sackcloth, and wallow in ashes. Mourn, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; for the destroyer shall suddenly come on us."
The news reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.