efer · ashes

What it means

efer (אֵפֶר) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “ashes”.

"Dust and ashes" is a way of saying one is of very little account.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. Grey remains of a fire, a sign of grief; with "dust" it means very little.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• ashes ×19
• ash ×3

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Genesis×1
• Numbers×2
• 2 Samuel×1
• Esther×2
• Job×4
• Psalms×2
• Isaiah×3
• Jeremiah×1
• Lamentations×1
• Ezekiel×2
• Daniel×1
• Jonah×1
• Malachi×1

• Genesis 18:27

  Abraham answered and said, “Look, I have ventured to speak to Adonai, though I am dust and ashes.

• Numbers 19:9

  And a clean man shall gather up the ash of the cow and deposit it outside the camp in a clean place, and it shall be for the community of the sons of Israel to keep for the water of impurity; it is a sin offering.

• Numbers 19:10

  And the one who gathers the ash of the cow shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. And it shall be for the sons of Israel and for the resident alien who resides among them a statute forever.

• 2 Samuel 13:19

  Tamar took ashes and put them on her head, and the long robe that she had on she tore; she put her hand on her head and went away, crying out as she went.

• Esther 4:1

  And Mordecai knew all that had been done, and Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried out with a great and bitter cry;

• Esther 4:3

  And in every province, in the place where the word of the king and his law reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting and weeping and lamenting; sackcloth and ashes were spread out for many.

• Job 2:8

  He took a potsherd for himself to scrape himself with it, and he was sitting in the midst of the ashes.

• Job 13:12

  Your memorials are proverbs of ash; defenses of clay are your defenses.

• Job 30:19

  He has cast me into the mud, and I have become like dust and ashes.

• Job 42:6

  Therefore I despise what I said, and I repent on dust and ashes.”

• Psalms 102:9

  For ashes like bread I have eaten, and my drink with weeping I have mixed,

• Psalms 147:16

  He gives snow like wool; frost like ashes he scatters.

• Isaiah 44:20

  He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has led him astray, and he does not deliver his soul nor say, “Is there not falsehood in my right hand?”

• Isaiah 58:5

  Will the fast that I choose be like this: a day for a human being to humble his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast and a day of favor to YHWH?

• Isaiah 61:3

  to appoint for those who mourn in Zion, to give them a headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit; and they will be called terebinths of righteousness, the planting of YHWH, to glorify himself.

• Jeremiah 6:26

  Daughter of my people, gird yourself with sackcloth, and roll in ashes; make mourning as for an only son, most bitter lamentation, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.

• Lamentations 3:16

  And he has broken with gravel my teeth; he has pressed me down in the ashes.

• Ezekiel 27:30

  And they will make their voice heard over you, and cry out bitterly, and throw dust on their heads; in ashes they will roll.

• Ezekiel 28:18

  By the abundance of your iniquities, by the injustice of your trade, you profaned your sanctuaries; and I brought out fire from your midst; it devoured you, and I turned you to ashes on the earth in the eyes of all who see you.

• Daniel 9:3

  And I set my face toward Adonai Elohim, to seek him by prayer and supplications, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.

• Jonah 3:6

  And the word reached the king of Nineveh, and he rose from his throne, took off his robe from himself, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat on the ashes.

• Malachi 4:3

  And you will trample the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I am making, says YHWH Tsevaot.