Dust
Summary
Small particles of earth, used in Scripture as a symbol of humanity's frailty and mortality, and in various customs expressing grief, humiliation, or renunciation.
☩Man's Origin and Destiny
God formed man from the dust of the ground, and to dust humanity returns at death. This became a profound symbol of human frailty: 'He knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.' The material from which Adam was created and to which all bodies return reminds humanity of both its humble origin and inevitable mortality.
☩Symbolic Actions
Lying in dust, licking dust, or placing dust on the head expressed deep humiliation, abasement, or lamentation. Job's friends cast dust upon their heads in grief. Shimei cursed David and threw dust at him as an act of execration. Shaking dust from one's feet symbolized renouncing all connection with a place—the Pharisees practiced this when passing from Gentile to Jewish soil, considering heathen dust defiling.
☩Figurative Uses
Dust represents the grave, extreme lowliness, or countless multitude ('as the dust of the earth'). To 'lick the dust' signifies utter defeat and submission. The promise that Abraham's descendants would be as the dust emphasizes their vast number. God raises the poor 'out of the dust' to set them among princes, transforming their condition from abject lowliness to honor.
Related Verses105 mentions
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Dust," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. II (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Orr (ed.), "Dust," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. II (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).