Ashes: The ashes of a red heifer burned entire
(Numbers 19:5) when sprinkled on the
unclean made them ceremonially clean
(Hebrews 9:13) To cover the head with
ashes was a token of self-abhorrence and humiliation
(2 Samuel 13:19)
(Esther 4:3; Jeremiah 6:26) etc. To feed on ashes
(Isaiah 44:20) means to seek that
which will prove to be vain and unsatisfactory, and hence it denotes
the unsatisfactory nature of idol-worship. (Comp.)
(Hosea 12:1)
