Reference: Dung
American
Among the Israelites, the dung of animals was used only for manure, but, when dried, for fuel. In districts where wood is scarce, the inhabitants are very careful in collecting the dung of camels and asses; it is mixed with chopped straw, and dried. It is not unusual to see a whole village with portions of this material adhering to the walls of the cottages to dry; and towards the end of autumn it is piled in conical heaps or stacks on the roof. It is employed in heating ovens, and for other similar purposes, Eze 4:12-16. The use of dung for manure is intimated in Isa 25:10.
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For the hand of the Lord shall rest on this Mount [Zion], and Moab shall be threshed and trodden down in his place as straw is trodden down in the [filthy] water of a [primitive] cesspit.
And you shall eat your food as barley cakes and you shall bake it with human dung as fuel in the sight of the people. And the Lord said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the nations to whom I will drive them. read more. Then said I, Ah, Lord God! Behold, I have never defiled myself. From my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dies of itself or is torn in pieces; neither did there ever come abominable flesh into my mouth. Then He said to me, Behold, I will let you use cow's dung instead of human dung, and you shall prepare your food with it. Moreover, He said to me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread [by which life is supported] in Jerusalem; and they shall eat bread rationed by weight and with fearfulness, and they shall drink water rationed by measure and with dismay (silent, speechless grief caused by the impending starvation),
Easton
(1.) Used as manure (Lu 13:8); collected outside the city walls (Ne 2:13). Of sacrifices, burned outside the camp (Ex 29:14; Le 4:11; 8:17; Nu 19:5). To be "cast out as dung," a figurative expression (1Ki 14:10; 2Ki 9:37; Jer 8:2; Ps 18:42), meaning to be rejected as unprofitable.
(2.) Used as fuel, a substitute for firewood, which was with difficulty procured in Syria, Arabia, and Egypt (Eze 4:12-15), where cows' and camels' dung is used to the present day for this purpose.
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But the flesh of the bull, its hide, and the contents of its entrails you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.
But the hide of the bull and all its flesh, its head, its legs, its entrails, and its dung,
But the bull [the sin offering] and its hide, its flesh, and its dung he burned with fire outside the camp, as the Lord commanded Moses.
Therefore behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam and will cut off from [him] every male, both bond and free, in Israel, and will utterly sweep away the house of Jeroboam as a man sweeps away dung, till it is all gone.
I went out by night by the Valley Gate toward the Dragon's Well and to the Dung Gate and inspected the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and its gates, which had been destroyed by fire.
Then I beat them small as the dust before the wind; I emptied them out as the dirt and mire of the streets.
And they will [carelessly] scatter [the corpses] before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which [the dead] have loved and which they have served and after which they have walked and which they have sought, inquired of, and required and which they have worshiped. They shall not be gathered, or be buried; they shall be like dung upon the face of the earth.
And you shall eat your food as barley cakes and you shall bake it with human dung as fuel in the sight of the people. And the Lord said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the nations to whom I will drive them. read more. Then said I, Ah, Lord God! Behold, I have never defiled myself. From my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dies of itself or is torn in pieces; neither did there ever come abominable flesh into my mouth. Then He said to me, Behold, I will let you use cow's dung instead of human dung, and you shall prepare your food with it.
But he replied to him, Leave it alone, sir, [just] this one more year, till I dig around it and put manure [on the soil].
Fausets
Used as manure and fuel. Straw was trodden in the water of the dungheap to make it manure (compare Ps 83:10). Isa 25:10, "Moab shall be trodden down ... as straw is trodden down for the dunghill"; also Isa 5:25, margin The dung sweepings of the streets were collected in heaps at fixed places outside the walls, e.g. "the dung gate" at Jerusalem (Ne 2:13), and thence removed to the fields. The dunghill is the image of the deepest degradation (Ps 113:7; La 4:5; 1Sa 2:8). Manure is inserted in holes dug about the roots of fruit trees to the present day in S. Italy (Lu 13:8). The dung of sacrifices was burnt outside the camp (Ex 29:14). In Mal 2:3, "I will spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts," the point is, the maw was the priests' prequisite (De 18:3); you shall get the dung in the maw, instead of the maw.
The sanctity of the Israelites' camp through Jehovah's presence is made the ground for rules of cleanliness such as in De 23:12. The removal to separate receptacles, and exposure of human and other ordure, gives the force to the threats, Da 2:5; 3:29; Ezr 6:11; 2Ki 10:27; "a draught house," 2Ki 9:37; 1Ki 14:10; Jer 8:2. In Isa 36:12 the sense is, "Is it to thy master and thee I am sent? Nay, it is to the men off the wall, to let them know that (so far am I from wishing them not to hear), if they do not surrender they shall be reduced to eating their own excrement." (2Ch 32:11). Scarcity of fuel necessitated the use of cows' dung and camels' dung, formed in cakes with straw added, for heating ovens as at this day; but to use human dung implied cruel necessity (Eze 4:12). In Php 3:8, "I do count them dung," skubala means "refuse cast to the dogs."
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But the flesh of the bull, its hide, and the contents of its entrails you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.
And this shall be the priest's due from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep: they shall give to the priest the shoulder and the two cheeks and the stomach.
You shall have a place also outside the camp to which you shall go [as a comfort station];
The corpse of Jezebel shall be like dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel, so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.
Is not Hezekiah leading you on in order to let you die by famine and thirst, saying, The Lord our God will deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
Also I make a decree that whoever shall change or infringe on this order, let a beam be pulled from his house and erected; then let him be fastened to it, and let his house be made a dunghill for this.
I went out by night by the Valley Gate toward the Dragon's Well and to the Dung Gate and inspected the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and its gates, which had been destroyed by fire.
[The Lord] raises the poor out of the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap and the dung hill,
Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against His people, and He has stretched forth His hand against them and has smitten them. And the mountains trembled, and their dead bodies were like dung and sweepings in the midst of the streets. For all this, His anger is not turned away, but His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].
For the hand of the Lord shall rest on this Mount [Zion], and Moab shall be threshed and trodden down in his place as straw is trodden down in the [filthy] water of a [primitive] cesspit.
But the Rabshakeh said, Has my master sent me to speak these words only to your master and to you? Has he not sent me to the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?
And they will [carelessly] scatter [the corpses] before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which [the dead] have loved and which they have served and after which they have walked and which they have sought, inquired of, and required and which they have worshiped. They shall not be gathered, or be buried; they shall be like dung upon the face of the earth.
Those who feasted on dainties are perishing in the streets; those who were brought up in purple lie cleaving to refuse and ash heaps.
And you shall eat your food as barley cakes and you shall bake it with human dung as fuel in the sight of the people.
The king answered the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me! And the decree goes forth from me and I say it with all emphasis: if you do not make known to me the dream with its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces and your houses shall be made a dunghill!
Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, and language that speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be cut in pieces and their houses be made a dunghill, for there is no other God who can deliver in this way!
Behold, I will rebuke your seed [grain -- "which will prevent due harvest], and I will spread the dung from the festival offerings upon your faces, and you shall be taken away with it.
But he replied to him, Leave it alone, sir, [just] this one more year, till I dig around it and put manure [on the soil].
Yes, furthermore, I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege (the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage) of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him [of perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly]. For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish (refuse, dregs), in order that I may win (gain) Christ (the Anointed One),
Hastings
1. Used in the East as manure (Lu 13:8) and for fuel; especially that of cattle, where wood and charcoal are scarce or unattainable. Directions for personal cleanliness are given in De 23:10-14; and in the case of sacrifices the dung of the animals was burnt outside the camp (Ex 29:14; Le 4:11-12; 8:17; Nu 19:5). 2. The word is used (a) to express contempt and abhorrence, as in the case of the carcase of Jezebel (2Ki 9:37); and in that of the Jews (Jer 9:22; Zep 1:17). (b) To spread dung upon the face was a sign of humiliation (Mal 2:3). (c) As representing worthlessness, Paul counted all things but dung that he might win Christ (Php 3:8).
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But the flesh of the bull, its hide, and the contents of its entrails you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.
But the hide of the bull and all its flesh, its head, its legs, its entrails, and its dung, Even the whole bull shall he carry forth without the camp to a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn it on a fire of wood, there where the ashes are poured out.
But the bull [the sin offering] and its hide, its flesh, and its dung he burned with fire outside the camp, as the Lord commanded Moses.
If there is among you any man who is not clean by reason of what happens to him at night, then he shall go outside the camp; he shall not come within the camp; But when evening comes he shall bathe himself in water, and when the sun is down he may return to the camp. read more. You shall have a place also outside the camp to which you shall go [as a comfort station]; And you shall have a paddle or shovel among your weapons, and when you sit down outside [to relieve yourself], you shall dig a hole with it and turn back and cover up what has come from you. For the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp to deliver you and to give up your enemies before you. Therefore shall your camp be holy, that He may see nothing indecent among you and turn away from you.
The corpse of Jezebel shall be like dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel, so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.
Speak, Thus says the Lord: The dead bodies of men shall fall like dung on the open field and like sheaves [of grain] behind the reaper, and none shall gather them.
And I will bring distress upon men, so that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord; their blood shall be poured out like dust and their flesh like dung.
Behold, I will rebuke your seed [grain -- "which will prevent due harvest], and I will spread the dung from the festival offerings upon your faces, and you shall be taken away with it.
But he replied to him, Leave it alone, sir, [just] this one more year, till I dig around it and put manure [on the soil].
Yes, furthermore, I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege (the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage) of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him [of perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly]. For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish (refuse, dregs), in order that I may win (gain) Christ (the Anointed One),
Smith
Dung.
The uses of dung were two-fold --as manure and as fuel. The manure consisted either of straw steeped in liquid manure,
or the sweepings,
of the streets and roads, which were carefully removed from about the houses, and collected in heaps outside the walls of the towns at fixed spots --hence the dung-gate at Jerusalem --and thence removed in due course to the fields. The difficulty of procuring fuel in Syria, Arabia and Egypt has made dung in all ages valuable as a substitute. It was probably used for heating ovens and for baking cakes,
the equable heat which it produced adapting it pecularily for the latter operation. Cow's and camels dung is still used for a similar purpose by the Bedouins.
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Be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have come to Jerusalem. This rebellious and bad city they are rebuilding, and have restored its walls and repaired the foundations.
In order that a search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers, in which you will learn that this is a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and that sedition was stirred up in it of old. That is why [it] was laid waste.
Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against His people, and He has stretched forth His hand against them and has smitten them. And the mountains trembled, and their dead bodies were like dung and sweepings in the midst of the streets. For all this, His anger is not turned away, but His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].
For the hand of the Lord shall rest on this Mount [Zion], and Moab shall be threshed and trodden down in his place as straw is trodden down in the [filthy] water of a [primitive] cesspit.