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Bible Dictionaries
Dust
American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
or Joshua 7:6 . Dust or ashes put upon the head was a sign of mourning; sitting in the dust, a sign of affliction, Lamentations 3:29 Isaiah 47:1 . "Dust" is also put for the grave, Genesis 3:19 Job 7:21 . It signifies a multitude, Genesis 13:16 , and a low and mean condition, 1 Samuel 2:8 . We have two remarkable instances of casting dust recorded in Scripture, and they seem to illustrate a practice common in Asia: those who demanded justice against a criminal were accustomed to throw dust upon him, signifying that he deserved to be cast into the grave. Shimei cast dust upon David when he fled from Jerusalem, 2 Samuel 16:13 . The Jews treated the apostle Paul in a similar manner in the same city: "They cried out, Away with such a fellow from the earth; for it is not fit that he should live.' And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air, the chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle," Acts 22:22-24 . To shake off the dust of the feet against another was expressive of entire renunciation, Matthew 10:14 Mark 6:11 Acts 13:51 . The threatening of God, recorded in Deuteronomy 28:24 , "The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed," means that instead of fertilizing rains, clouds of fine dust, raised from the parched ground and driven by fierce and burning winds, shall fill the air. Of such a rain of dust, famine and disease would be the natural attendants. See WIND.
These files are public domain and are a derivative of the topics are from American Tract Society Bible Dictionary published in 1859.
Rand, W. W. Entry for 'Dust'. American Tract Society Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ats/d/dust.html. 1859.
