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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadJames Hastings Dictionary of the Bible: Ashes
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ASHES.—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 (Neh_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; 1Ki_20:41 we must, with RV [Note: Revised Version.] , read ‘Headband’ (wh. see) for ‘ashes.’
In a figurative sense the term ‘ashes’ is often used to signify evanescence, worthlessness, insignificance (Gen_18:27, Job_30:19). ‘Proverbs of ashes’ (Pro_13:12 RV [Note: Revised Version.] ) is Job’s equivalent for the modern ‘rot.’ For the use of ashes in the priestly ritual see Red Heifer.
A. R. S. Kennedy.