Ashes

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Epher

The noun אֵפֶר‎ ‘epher (AlefPeiReish)[1] can describe the gray powder that remains after fire has consumed fuel. The same letters אֲפֵר‎ (AlefPeiReish) given the Strong's number 0666[2] is sometimes translate ash but also bandage or covering.

We are told that scripture uses the term "אֵפֶר‎ ‘epher" literally for the residue of burnt materials and that could be if God and Moses wanted the people to actually burn up animals on dead stone providing no service nor social bonds for the nation but superstition.

  • Numbers 19:9 "And a man [that is] clean shall gather up the ashes <0665>[1] of the heifer, and lay [them] up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of separation: it [is] a purification for sin."

So, what does the verse mean when it communicates "And a man [that is] clean shall gather up the ashes <0665>?"

Who is clean (טָה֗וֹר)[3]?

Within the verse Numbers 19:9 there is a hidden word between clean and ashes which is the mysterious AlefTav which as we have seen at least suggests that a thing or action is modified only by divine inspiration through the true faith.

How can this cleaning be done by way of the Divine will except by a divine presence or what scripture calls the comforter,a.k.a. Holy Spirit?

Jesus came to serve and Moses and Jesus said to love your neighbor as yourself. John the Baptist said we were to care for one another, our neighbor, with freewill offerings and also did Jesus and the early Church say and do this.

Dust and ashes

So, if we go back to the first appearance of "ashes" in Genesis 18:27 "And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which [am but] dust(עָפָ֥ר aphar)[4] and ashes(וָאֵֽפֶר epher)[1]:"

But these two words are also found in Ezekiel 27:30 "And shall cause their voice to be heard against thee, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust(עָפָ֥ר aphar) upon their heads(רָ֣אשֵׁיהֶ֔ם rāšêhem)[5], they shall wallow themselves in the ashes(בָּאֵ֖פֶר bā’êp̄er) <0665>:"

But scripture also uses the term "אֵפֶר‎ ‘epher" figuratively for human frailty, grief, repentance, judgment, and transformation.

  • Job 30:19 "He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes <0665>."
  • Job 42:6 "Wherefore I abhor [myself], and repent(וְנִחַ֑מְתִּי wəniḥamtî)[6] in dust <06083> and ashes <0665>."

See Dry Bones.

Piyach

פִיחַ (Strong’s 6368) can denote the fine soot or powdery ash produced in a furnace. In the Old Testament its presence is confined to the narrative of the sixth plague, where the soot becomes an instrument of judgment in the hand of God.

The only two occurrences, describing “soot from a furnace” that Moses casts heavenward before Pharaoh, bringing festering boils upon man and beast.

  • Exodus 9:8 "And the LORD said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes <06368>פִיחַ[7](from פוּחַ‎ )[8] of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh.
  • Exodus 9:10 And they took ashes <06368> of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth [with] blains upon man, and upon beast.

Dashen

The noun דָּשֵׁן DaletShinNun[9] gathers the ideas of rich fatness, luxuriant fertility, and the residue of sacrifices appearing 11 times.[10]

In ancient Israel those concepts naturally converged: when the choicest fat was offered on the altar (Leviticus 3:16), the remaining “ashes” were themselves saturated with fat, a visible reminder that the LORD alone receives the best and that abundance flows from His altar.

Yet, in Leviticus 3:16 the other word for ashes (דֶּשֶׁן Deshen) [11] appears.

The same word therefore moves easily between concrete “ashes” (Exodus 27:3), bodily or agricultural “fatness” (Deuteronomy 31:20; Isaiah 34:7), and the figurative fullness of soul (Proverbs 11:25).

Even the “ashes” of worship hold significance; therefore, every act of service—however routine—should be handled with care.

There is an Eschatological Sobriety in the performance of this care. In Isaiah 34 there are warnings that those who oppose God will have their soil “enriched with fat” of judgment.

The same symbol that comforts believers thus cautions unbelievers concerning the wrath of God, affirming the consistent moral order required in Scripture.

  • Exodus 27:3 And thou shalt make his pans to receive his ashes <01878>[9], and his shovels, and his basons, and his fleshhooks, and his firepans: all the vessels thereof thou shalt make [of] brass.
  • Numbers 4:13 And they shall take away the ashes <01878>[9] from the altar, and spread a purple cloth thereon:
  • Deuteronomy 31:20 For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat <01878>[9]; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.

Deshen

The earliest occurrences of דֶּשֶׁן Deshen [11] are bound to the sacrificial system (Leviticus 1:16; 4:12; 6:10–11).

After the burnt offering was reduced to ashes, the priest gathered the דֶּשֶׁן and deposited it in “a ceremonially clean place outside the camp” (Leviticus 4:12).

The same material also accumulated on the altar itself and had to be removed daily before the morning sacrifice (Leviticus 6:10).

The repeated handling of these ashes underscores three intertwined truths:

1. Sacrifice was consistent and could not lapse; for care was continual in order to be seeking true atonement. 2. God requires a sacrifice that serves and strengthens according to its purpose as Pure Religion and what might remain with living altars without purpose as a treasure in a pit, or a light under a bushel basket. Mana was not stored up. 3. Even what might be discarded needed to be cared for lest waste and want come upon the people when sufficiency fails.

At Bethel, the unnamed man of God declared, “This is the sign that the LORD has spoken: ‘The altar will be split apart and the ashes on it will be poured out’” (1 Kings 13:3).

The immediate fulfillment (1 Kings 13:5) showed that corrupt worship defiles even a consecrated structure; its דֶּשֶׁן was no longer the residue of accepted offerings but evidence against apostasy.

The question is what corrupted the offering?

Similarly, Jeremiah foresaw a day when the “Valley of the Dead Bodies and of the Ashes” (Jeremiah 31:40) would become “holy to the LORD,” indicating a final, comprehensive cleansing that would reach even the places where impurity had collected.

How did impurity collect?


  • Leviticus 1:16 "And he shall pluck away his crop with his feathers, and cast it beside the altar on the east part, by the place of the ashes <01880>[11]:
  • Leviticus 4:12 Even the whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp unto a clean place, where the ashes <01880>[11] are poured out, and burn him on the wood with fire: where the ashes <01880> are poured out shall he be burnt.
  • Leviticus 6:10 And the priest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen breeches shall he put upon his flesh, and take up the ashes <01880>[11] which the fire hath consumed with the burnt offering on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar.
  • Leviticus 6:11 And he shall put off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry forth the ashes <01880>[11] without the camp unto a clean place.
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 0665 אֵפֶר‎ ‘epher ay’-fer from an unused root meaning to bestrew; n m; [BDB-68a] {See TWOT on 150 @@ "150a" } AV-ashes 22; 22
    1) ashes
    2) (CLBL) worthlessness (fig.)
    • 0666 אֲפֵר‎ ‘apher n covering, bandage
  2. ↑ 0666 אֲפֵר‎ ‘apher af-ayr’ from the same as 0665 (in the sense of covering); n m; [BDB-68a] {See TWOT on 151 @@ "151a" } AV-ashes 2; 2
    1) covering, bandage
    The noun אֲפֵר appears twice, both in the narrative of the unnamed prophet who confronts King Ahab after the battle with Ben-hadad (1 Kings 20:38; 1 Kings 20:41). In each verse the Berean Standard Bible renders the term “bandage”.
  3. ↑ 02889 טָהוֹר‎ tahowr [taw-hore’] TetHeyVavReish or טהר‎ tahor [taw-hore’] from 02891 moral; adj; [BDB-373a] [{See TWOT on 792 @@ "792d" }] AV-clean 50, pure 40, fair 2, purer 1, variant 1; 94
    1) pure, clean
    1a) clean (ceremonially-of animals)
    1b) pure (physically)
    1c) pure, clean (morally, ethically)
    • ט Tet Introversion - The Concealed power of good or paradoxically evil [to twist a snake... wheel To surround (gestation)] (Numeric value: 9)
    • ה Hey Expression, Thought, Speech, Action. Manifest seeds of thought and life. [Emphasize, jubilation, window, fence] (Numeric value: 5)
    • ו Vav Connection, Connecting realms and worlds or the dividing veil between them. [nail... And, Add, secure, hook] (Numeric value: 6)
    • ר Reish Process of Clarification The "head" or "beginning". Life's revelation. [Head... Person head highest] (Numeric value: 200).
    • 02890 טְהוֹר tahor pureness; 02891 טָהֵר taher moral verb for “to cleanse,” “to purify,” or “to pronounce clean”; 02892 טֹהַר tohar purifying, clearness, glory; 02893 טָהֱרָה tahorah cleansed "bound to holiness, atonement, and access to the presence of the LORD."
  4. ↑ 06083 עָפָר‎ ‘aphar [aw-fawr’] from 06080 dust cast; n m; [BDB-779b] [{See TWOT on 1664 @@ "1664a" }] AV-dust 93, earth 7, powder 3, rubbish 2, ashes 2, morter 2, ground 1; 110
    1) dry or loose earth
    1b) debris
    1c) mortar
    1d) ore
    • 06080 עָפַר‎ ‘aphar v. ‘’to dust’’; 06081 עֵפֶר‎ ‘Epher ‘’calf’’; 06082 עֹפֶר‎ ‘opher ‘’young’’; 06083 עָפָר‎ ‘aphar dust
  5. ↑ 07218 ^שׁאר^ ro’sh \@roshe\@ from an unused root apparently meaning to shake; n m; AV-head 349, chief 91, top 73, beginning 14, company 12, captain 10, sum 9, first 6, principal 5, chapiters 4, rulers 2, misc 23; 598
    1) head, top, summit, upper part, chief, total, sum, height, front, beginning
    1a) head (of man, animals)
    1b) top, tip (of mountain)
    1c) height (of stars)
    1d) chief, head (of man, city, nation, place, family, riest)
    1e) head, front, beginning
    1f) chief, choicest, best
    1g) head, division, company, band
    1h) sum
  6. ↑ 05162 נָחַם‎ nacham [naw-kham’] a primitive root; v; [BDB-636b] [{See TWOT on 1344 }] AV-comfort 57, repent 41, comforter 9, ease 1; 108
    1) to be sorry, console oneself, repent, regret, comfort, be comforted
    1a) (Niphal)
    1a1) to be sorry, be moved to pity, have compassion
    1a2) to be sorry, rue, suffer grief, repent
    1a3) to comfort oneself, be comforted
    1a4) to comfort oneself, ease oneself
    1b) (Piel) to comfort, console
    1c) (Pual) to be comforted, be consoled
    1d) (Hithpael)
    1d1) to be sorry, have compassion
    1d2) to rue, repent of
    1d3) to comfort oneself, be comforted
    1d4) to ease oneself
  7. ↑ 06368 פִיחַ‎ piyach pee’-akh from 06315 פוּחַ‎ to breathe, blow ; n m; [BDB-806a] {See TWOT on 1741 @@ "1741a" } AV-ashes 2; 2
    1) soot, ashes
  8. ↑ 06315 פוּחַ‎ puwach poo’akh a primitive root; v; [BDB-806a] {See TWOT on 1741 } AV-speak 6, puff 2, blow 2, break 2, utter 1, bring into a snare 1; 14
    1) to breathe, blow
    1a) (Qal) to breathe
    1b) (Hiphil)
    1b1) to cause to exhale or breathe
    1b2) to puff, snort
    1b3) to excite, inflame
    1b4) to puff, pant for it
    1b5) to breathe out, utter
    1b6) to blow, blast
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 01878 דָּשֵׁן‎ dashen daw-shane’ a primitive root; v; [BDB-206a] {See TWOT on 457 } AV-made fat 6, wax fat 1, take away ashes 1, anoint 1, receive his ashes 1, accept 1; 11
    1) to be fat, grow fat, become fat, become prosperous, anoint
    1a) (Qal) of prosperity (fig.)
    1b) (Piel)
    1b1) to make fat, anoint
    1b2) to find fat (of offering-acceptable)
    1b3) to take away ashes (from altar)
    1c) (Pual) to be made fat
    1d) (Hothpael) to fatten oneself (of Jehovah’s sword)
  10. ↑ דָּשֵׁן‎ Dashen
    * Exodus 27:3 And thou shalt make his pans to receive his ashes <01878>, and his shovels, and his basons, and his fleshhooks, and his firepans: all the vessels thereof thou shalt make [of] brass.
    • Numbers 4:13 And they shall take away the ashes <01878> from the altar, and spread a purple cloth thereon:
    • Deuteronomy 31:20 For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat <01878>; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.
    • Psalms 20:3 Remember all thy offerings, and accept <01878> thy burnt sacrifice; Selah.
    • Psalms 23:5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest <01878> my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
    • Proverbs 11:25 The liberal soul shall be made fat <01878>: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.
    • Proverbs 13:4 The soul of the sluggard desireth, and [hath] nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat <01878>.
    • Proverbs 15:30 The light of the eyes rejoiceth the heart: [and] a good report maketh <01878> the bones fat <01878>.
    • Proverbs 28:25 He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife: but he that putteth his trust in the LORD shall be made fat <01878>.
    • Isaiah 34:6 The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat <01878> with fatness, [and] with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.
    • Isaiah 34:7 And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat <01878> with fatness.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 01880 דֶּשֶׁן‎ deshen deh’-shen from 01878 dashen to be fat; n m; [BDB-206a] {See TWOT on 457 @@ "457a" } AV-ashes 8, fatness 7; 15
    1) fat ashes, fatness
    1a) fatness
    1a1) of fertility
    1a2) of blessing (fig.)
    1b) fat ashes (ashes of victims, mixed with the fat)
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