עָפָר
a.phar
dust
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
ExploredBased on the biblical lexicon data, the Hebrew word "עָפָר" (a.phar) has a simple yet significant meaning. Its short definition is "dust," indicating that it refers to the fine particles that make up a particular type of soil or is the byproduct of decay. The word "עָפָר" appears 110 times in the Bible, which suggests its importance in the cultural and literary context of the ancient Hebrews. The frequency of its occurrence indicates that dust was likely a common element in the ancient Hebrews' everyday lives, possibly referred to in discussions of cleanliness, decay, or natural phenomena. The prevalence of "עָפָר" in the Bible also highlights the significance of its associated themes. Dust can evoke images of fragility, impermanence, and vulnerability, as seen in biblical passages where it is linked to mortality and the decay of human bodies. By analyzing this word, we gain insight into the Hebrews' relationship with their environment and their understanding of the human experience.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
110 total occurrences across the text — showing 50
Judah said, “The strength of the bearers of burdens is fading, and there is much rubble; so that we are not able to build the wall.”
Nehemiah 4:2He spoke before his brothers and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, since they are burned?”
Job 2:12When they lifted up their eyes from a distance, and didn’t recognize him, they raised their voices, and wept; and they each tore his robe, and sprinkled dust on their heads toward the sky.
Job 4:19How much more, those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth!
Job 5:6For affliction doesn’t come out of the dust, neither does trouble spring out of the ground;
Job 7:5My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust. My skin closes up, and breaks out afresh.
Job 7:21Why do you not pardon my disobedience, and take away my iniquity? For now will I lie down in the dust. You will seek me diligently, but I will not be.”
Job 8:19Behold, this is the joy of his way: out of the earth, others will spring.
Job 10:9Remember, I beg you, that you have fashioned me as clay. Will you bring me into dust again?
Job 14:8Though its root grows old in the earth, and its stock dies in the ground,
Job 16:15I have sewed sackcloth on my skin, and have thrust my horn in the dust.
Job 17:16Shall it go down with me to the gates of Sheol, or descend together into the dust?”
Job 19:25But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives. In the end, he will stand upon the earth.
Job 20:11His bones are full of his youth, but youth will lie down with him in the dust.
Job 21:26They lie down alike in the dust. The worm covers them.
Job 22:24Lay your treasure in the dust, the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks.
Job 27:16Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare clothing as the clay;
Job 28:2Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted out of the ore.
Job 28:6Sapphires come from its rocks. It has dust of gold.
Job 30:6So that they dwell in frightful valleys, and in holes of the earth and of the rocks.
Job 30:19He has cast me into the mire. I have become like dust and ashes.
Job 34:15all flesh would perish together, and man would turn again to dust.
Job 38:38when the dust runs into a mass, and the clods of earth stick together?
Job 39:14For she leaves her eggs on the earth, warms them in the dust,
Job 40:13Hide them in the dust together. Bind their faces in the hidden place.
Job 41:33On earth there is not his equal, that is made without fear.
Job 42:6Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”
Psalms 7:5let the enemy pursue my soul, and overtake it; yes, let him tread my life down to the earth, and lay my glory in the dust.
Psalms 18:42Then I beat them small as the dust before the wind. I cast them out as the mire of the streets.
Psalms 22:15My strength is dried up like a potsherd. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have brought me into the dust of death.
Psalms 22:29All the rich ones of the earth shall eat and worship. All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him, even he who can’t keep his soul alive.
Psalms 30:9“What profit is there in my destruction, if I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise you? Shall it declare your truth?
Psalms 44:25For our soul is bowed down to the dust. Our body clings to the earth.
Psalms 72:9Those who dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him. His enemies shall lick the dust.
Psalms 78:27He also rained meat on them as the dust, winged birds as the sand of the seas.
Psalms 102:14For your servants take pleasure in her stones, and have pity on her dust.
Psalms 103:14For he knows how we are made. He remembers that we are dust.
Psalms 104:29You hide your face; they are troubled. You take away their breath; they die and return to the dust.
Psalms 113:7He raises up the poor out of the dust. Lifts up the needy from the ash heap,
Psalms 119:25My soul is laid low in the dust. Revive me according to your word!
Proverbs 8:26while as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the beginning of the dust of the world.
Ecclesiastes 3:20All go to one place. All are from the dust, and all turn to dust again.
Ecclesiastes 3:20All go to one place. All are from the dust, and all turn to dust again.
Ecclesiastes 12:7and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
Isaiah 2:10Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust, from before the terror of Yahweh, and from the glory of his majesty.
Isaiah 2:19Men shall go into the caves of the rocks, and into the holes of the earth, from before the terror of Yahweh, and from the glory of his majesty, when he arises to shake the earth mightily.
Isaiah 25:12He has brought the high fortress of your walls down, laid low, and brought to the ground, even to the dust.
Isaiah 26:5For he has brought down those who dwell on high, the lofty city. He lays it low. He lays it low even to the ground. He brings it even to the dust.
Isaiah 26:19Your dead shall live. My dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust; for your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth will cast out the departed spirits.
Isaiah 29:4You will be brought down, and will speak out of the ground. Your speech will mumble out of the dust. Your voice will be as of one who has a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and your speech will whisper out of the dust.