'Dust' in the Bible
Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
The Lord God said to the serpent,“Because you have done this,Cursed are you more than all cattle,And more than every beast of the field;On your belly you will go,And dust you will eatAll the days of your life;
By the sweat of your faceYou will eat bread,Till you return to the ground,Because from it you were taken;For you are dust,And to dust you shall return.”
I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered.
And Abraham replied, “Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am but dust and ashes.
Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, that it may become gnats through all the land of Egypt.’”
They did so; and Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff, and struck the dust of the earth, and there were gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became gnats through all the land of Egypt.
It will become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and will become boils breaking out with sores on man and beast through all the land of Egypt.”
and the priest shall take holy water in an earthenware vessel; and he shall take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water.
“Who can count the dust of Jacob,Or number the fourth part of Israel?Let me die the death of the upright,And let my end be like his!”
I took your sinful thing, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it, grinding it very small until it was as fine as dust; and I threw its dust into the brook that came down from the mountain.
The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.
‘They will be wasted by famine, and consumed by plagueAnd bitter destruction;And the teeth of beasts I will send upon them,With the venom of crawling things of the dust.
Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until the evening, both he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads.
“He raises the poor from the dust,He lifts the needy from the ash heapTo make them sit with nobles,And inherit a seat of honor;For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,And He set the world on them.
Now a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes torn and dust on his head.
On the third day, behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul, with his clothes torn and dust on his head. And it came about when he came to David that he fell to the ground and prostrated himself.
It happened as David was coming to the summit, where God was worshiped, that behold, Hushai the Archite met him with his coat torn and dust on his head.
So David and his men went on the way; and Shimei went along on the hillside parallel with him and as he went he cursed and cast stones and threw dust at him.
“Then I pulverized them as the dust of the earth;I crushed and stamped them as the mire of the streets.
“Inasmuch as I exalted you from the dust and made you leader over My people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have made My people Israel sin, provoking Me to anger with their sins,
Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
Ben-hadad sent to him and said, “May the gods do so to me and more also, if the dust of Samaria will suffice for handfuls for all the people who follow me.”
For he left to Jehoahaz of the army not more than fifty horsemen and ten chariots and 10,000 footmen, for the king of Aram had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing.
He brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord outside Jerusalem to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and ground it to dust, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people.
The altars which were on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, the king broke down; and he smashed them there and threw their dust into the brook Kidron.
Furthermore, the altar that was at Bethel and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he broke down. Then he demolished its stones, ground them to dust, and burned the Asherah.
Now, O Lord God, Your promise to my father David is fulfilled, for You have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth.
When they lifted up their eyes at a distance and did not recognize him, they raised their voices and wept. And each of them tore his robe and they threw dust over their heads toward the sky.
‘How much more those who dwell in houses of clay,Whose foundation is in the dust,Who are crushed before the moth!
“For affliction does not come from the dust,Nor does trouble sprout from the ground,
“Why then do You not pardon my transgressionAnd take away my iniquity?For now I will lie down in the dust;And You will seek me, but I will not be.”
“Behold, this is the joy of His way;And out of the dust others will spring.
‘Remember now, that You have made me as clay;And would You turn me into dust again?
Water wears away stones,Its torrents wash away the dust of the earth;So You destroy man’s hope.
“I have sewed sackcloth over my skinAnd thrust my horn in the dust.
“Will it go down with me to Sheol?Shall we together go down into the dust?”
“His bones are full of his youthful vigor,But it lies down with him in the dust.
“Together they lie down in the dust,And worms cover them.
And place your gold in the dust,And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks,
“Though he piles up silver like dustAnd prepares garments as plentiful as the clay,
“Iron is taken from the dust,And copper is smelted from rock.
“He has cast me into the mire,And I have become like dust and ashes.
All flesh would perish together,And man would return to dust.
When the dust hardens into a massAnd the clods stick together?
For she abandons her eggs to the earthAnd warms them in the dust,
“Hide them in the dust together;Bind them in the hidden place.
Let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it;And let him trample my life down to the groundAnd lay my glory in the dust. Selah.
Then I beat them fine as the dust before the wind;I emptied them out as the mire of the streets.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd,And my tongue cleaves to my jaws;And You lay me in the dust of death.
All the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship,All those who go down to the dust will bow before Him,Even he who cannot keep his soul alive.
“What profit is there in my blood, if I go down to the pit?Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your faithfulness?
For our soul has sunk down into the dust;Our body cleaves to the earth.
Let the nomads of the desert bow before him,And his enemies lick the dust.
When He rained meat upon them like the dust,Even winged fowl like the sand of the seas,
O my God, make them like the whirling dust,Like chaff before the wind.
You have spurned the covenant of Your servant;You have profaned his crown in the dust.
You turn man back into dustAnd say, “Return, O children of men.”
Surely Your servants find pleasure in her stonesAnd feel pity for her dust.
For He Himself knows our frame;He is mindful that we are but dust.
You hide Your face, they are dismayed;You take away their spirit, they expireAnd return to their dust.
He raises the poor from the dustAnd lifts the needy from the ash heap,
Daleth.My soul cleaves to the dust;Revive me according to Your word.
While He had not yet made the earth and the fields,Nor the first dust of the world.
All go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust.
then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.
Enter the rock and hide in the dustFrom the terror of the Lord and from the splendor of His majesty.
Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes stubbleAnd dry grass collapses into the flame,So their root will become like rot and their blossom blow away as dust;For they have rejected the law of the Lord of hostsAnd despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
The nations rumble on like the rumbling of many waters,But He will rebuke them and they will flee far away,And be chased like chaff in the mountains before the wind,Or like whirling dust before a gale.
The unassailable fortifications of your walls He will bring down,Lay low and cast to the ground, even to the dust.
“For He has brought low those who dwell on high, the unassailable city;He lays it low, He lays it low to the ground, He casts it to the dust.
Your dead will live;Their corpses will rise.You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy,For your dew is as the dew of the dawn,And the earth will give birth to the departed spirits.
Then you will be brought low;From the earth you will speak,And from the dust where you are prostrateYour words will come.Your voice will also be like that of a spirit from the ground,And your speech will whisper from the dust.
But the multitude of your enemies will become like fine dust,And the multitude of the ruthless ones like the chaff which blows away;And it will happen instantly, suddenly.
Wild oxen will also fall with themAnd young bulls with strong ones;Thus their land will be soaked with blood,And their dust become greasy with fat.
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand,And marked off the heavens by the span,And calculated the dust of the earth by the measure,And weighed the mountains in a balanceAnd the hills in a pair of scales?
Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,And are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales;Behold, He lifts up the islands like fine dust.
“Who has aroused one from the eastWhom He calls in righteousness to His feet?He delivers up nations before himAnd subdues kings.He makes them like dust with his sword,As the wind-driven chaff with his bow.
“Come down and sit in the dust,O virgin daughter of Babylon;Sit on the ground without a throne,O daughter of the Chaldeans!For you shall no longer be called tender and delicate.
“Kings will be your guardians,And their princesses your nurses.They will bow down to you with their faces to the earthAnd lick the dust of your feet;And you will know that I am the Lord;Those who hopefully wait for Me will not be put to shame.
Shake yourself from the dust, rise up,O captive Jerusalem;Loose yourself from the chains around your neck,O captive daughter of Zion.
The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain,” says the Lord.
The elders of the daughter of ZionSit on the ground, they are silent.They have thrown dust on their heads;They have girded themselves with sackcloth.The virgins of JerusalemHave bowed their heads to the ground.
He has broken my teeth with gravel;He has made me cower in the dust.
Let him put his mouth in the dust,Perhaps there is hope.
“For her blood is in her midst;She placed it on the bare rock;She did not pour it on the groundTo cover it with dust.
Because of the multitude of his horses, the dust raised by them will cover you; your walls will shake at the noise of cavalry and wagons and chariots when he enters your gates as men enter a city that is breached.
And they will make their voice heard over youAnd will cry bitterly.They will cast dust on their heads,They will wallow in ashes.
Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.
“These who pant after the very dust of the earth on the head of the helplessAlso turn aside the way of the humble;And a man and his father resort to the same girlIn order to profane My holy name.
Tell it not in Gath,Weep not at all.At Beth-le-aphrah roll yourself in the dust.
They will lick the dust like a serpent,Like reptiles of the earth.They will come trembling out of their fortresses;To the Lord our God they will come in dreadAnd they will be afraid before You.
The Lord is slow to anger and great in power,And the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.In whirlwind and storm is His way,And clouds are the dust beneath His feet.
I will bring distress on menSo that they will walk like the blind,Because they have sinned against the Lord;And their blood will be poured out like dustAnd their flesh like dung.
For Tyre built herself a fortressAnd piled up silver like dust,And gold like the mire of the streets.