'Ashes' in the Bible

Abraham answered, “Now behold, I who am but dust [in origin] and ashes have decided to speak to the Lord.

Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from the brick kiln, and let Moses throw it toward the sky in the sight of Pharaoh.

So they took soot from the kiln, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses threw it toward the sky, and it became boils erupting in sores on man and animal.

You shall make pots to remove its ashes, and shovels, basins [to catch the blood of the sacrificed animal], meat-forks, and firepans [to store live coals]. You shall make all its utensils of bronze.

He shall remove its crop with its feathers and throw it next to the east side of the altar, in the place for ashes.

that is, all the rest of the bull, he is to bring outside the camp to a clean place where the ashes are poured out, and burn it on a fire of wood. Where the ashes are poured out it shall be burned.

The priest is to put on his linen robe, with his linen undergarments next to his body. Then he shall take up the ashes of the burnt offering which the fire has consumed on the altar and put them beside the altar.

Then he shall take off his garments and put on something else, and take the ashes outside the camp to a (ceremonially) clean place.

Then they shall clean away the ashes from the altar [of burnt offering], and spread a purple cloth over it.

Now a man who is [ceremonially] clean shall collect the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place, and the congregation of the Israelites shall keep it for water to remove impurity; it is [to be used for] purification from sin.

The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until evening. This shall be a perpetual statute to the Israelites and to the stranger who lives as a resident alien among them.

That one shall purify himself from uncleanness with the water [made with the ashes of the burned heifer] on the third day and on the seventh day, and then he will be clean; but if he does not purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean.

Then for the unclean person they shall take some of the ashes of the heifer burnt for the purification from sin, and running water shall be added to them in a container.

So Tamar put dust on her head [in grief] and tore the long-sleeved robe which she had on, and she put her hand on her head and went away crying out [for help].

And he gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign which the Lord has spoken: ‘Behold, the altar shall be split apart and the ashes that are on it shall be poured out.’”

The altar also was split apart and the ashes were poured out from the altar in accordance with the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.

So the prophet left and waited for King Ahab by the road, and disguised himself [as a wounded soldier] with a bandage over his eyes.

Then the prophet quickly removed the bandage from his eyes, and [Ahab] the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets.

Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second rank and the doorkeepers to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the articles made for Baal, for [the goddess] Asherah, and for all the [starry] host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel [where Israel’s idolatry began].

They took action and removed the [pagan] altars which were in Jerusalem; they also removed all the incense altars and threw them into the Brook Kidron [the dumping place for the ashes of such repulsive things].

Now when Mordecai learned of everything that had been done, he tore his clothes [in mourning], and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the center of the city and cried out loudly and bitterly.

In each and every province that the decree and law of the king reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing; and many lay on sackcloth and ashes.

And Job took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself, and he sat [down] among the ashes (rubbish heaps).

“Your memorable sayings are [worthless, merely] proverbs of ashes;Your defenses are defenses of [crumbling] clay.

“God has cast me into the mire [a swampland of crisis],And I have become [worthless] like dust and ashes.

“Therefore I retract [my words and hate myself]And I repent in dust and ashes.”

For I have eaten ashes like bread,And have mingled my drink with tears

He gives [to the earth] snow like [a blanket of] wool;He scatters the frost like ashes.

That kind of man (the idolater) feeds on ashes [and is satisfied with ashes]! A deceived mind has led him astray, so that he cannot save himself, or ask, “Is this thing [that I am holding] in my right hand not a lie?”

“Is a fast such as this what I have chosen, a day for a man to humble himself [with sorrow in his soul]?Is it only to bow down his head like a reedAnd to make sackcloth and ashes as a bed [pretending to have a repentant heart]?Do you call this a fast and a day pleasing to the Lord?

To grant to those who mourn in Zion the following:To give them a turban instead of dust [on their heads, a sign of mourning],The oil of joy instead of mourning,The garment [expressive] of praise instead of a disheartened spirit.So they will be called the trees of righteousness [strong and magnificent, distinguished for integrity, justice, and right standing with God],The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.

O daughter of my people [says Jeremiah],Clothe yourself in sackcloth and wallow in ashes;Mourn [aloud] as for an only son,A most bitter cry [of sorrow and regret],For suddenly the destroyer will come upon us [on both prophet and people].

“Wail, you shepherds, and cry;And roll in ashes, you masters of the flock.For the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions have come in full,And you will fall and be broken into pieces like a choice vessel.

And the whole valley (Hinnom) of the dead bodies and [the hill] of the ashes [long dumped there from the temple sacrifices], and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be holy to the Lord. It (the city) will not be uprooted or overthrown anymore to the end of the age.”

They also took away the pots [for carrying away ashes] and the shovels and the snuffers and the bowls and the spoons and all the bronze articles used in the temple service.

He has broken my teeth with gravel;He has [covered me with ashes and] made me cower in the dust.

And they will make their voice heard [as they wail loudly] over youAnd they will cry bitterly.They will throw dust on their heads;They will wallow in ashes.

“You profaned your sanctuariesBy the great quantity of your sins 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 on the earthIn the sight of all who look at you.

So I directed my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.

When word reached the king of Nineveh [of Jonah’s message from God], he rose from his throne, took off his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in the dust [in repentance].

You will trample the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I do this,” says the Lord of hosts.

“Woe (judgment is coming) to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon [cities of the Gentiles], they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes [their hearts would have been changed and they would have expressed sorrow for their sin and rebellion against God].

“Woe (judgment is coming) to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented and changed their minds long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes [to show deep regret for sin].

For if the sprinkling of [ceremonially] defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a [burnt] heifer is sufficient for the cleansing of the body,

and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter;