Ash'erite (Judg. i, 32). See Asher.
Ashes (properly 1SX, e'pher, from its whiteness, (TirodoQ; twice "1SS, aphar', Num. xix, 17; 2 Kings xxiii, 1, elsewhere "dust;" also yiH, de'shen, \\t. fat- ness, i. c. the fat ashes from the victims of the altar, Lev. i, 16; iv, 12; vi, 10, 11; 1 Kings xiii, 3, 5; or of corpses burnt, Jer. xxxi, 40, ashes being used as a manure for land, Plin. xvii, 9. In 1 Kings xx, 38, 41, "X apher, incorrectly rendered "ashes," signifies a covering for the head or turban, Sept. rtXa/itov, and 80 ''"• ( h 'Wee ami Ahulwalid represent it by this lat- ter word, which in Syriac means a priestly tiara ; New Tost. airoSoi ). See Ash-cake.
In general, respecting the Biblical mention of ashes CjSn, •/ 'sh n; ~z\. e'pher), the following things de- B*ve QOtice: (1.) As the ashes of the sacrifices con- Mimed upon the altar of burnt-offerings accumulated continually (Lev. vi, :; Bq.), they were from time to time removed go as to cleanse (V»B-J) the altar. For this purpose there were in the sanctuary -hovels (D"iS •) and ash-pots (ri^-p) of hra-s, Kxod. xxvii, 3; xxxviii, 3). The performance of this ofiice (by the priests) is not prescribed in the law; but, according to the Mish-
na {Tamil, i and ii), tho scouring of the altar was as- signed by lot to a priest, who, after the top of the altar had been cleared of coals, etc., swept the ashes togeth- er into a heap (TOBt-l, apple, from its shape), and (ac- cording to the rabbins) took the greatest part of it away (for some of the ashes must always be allowed to remain), in order that they might be carried out of the city to a spot undisturbed by the wind. Only on high festivals the ashes were suffered to lie upon the altar as an ornament (Mishna, Tamid, ii, 2). Also upon the altar of incense ashes gradually accumulated ; and the removal of these was likewise apportioned among the priests by lot. The priest to whom this function fell gathered them in a basket, and then, after another priest had used a part in cleansing the candlestick, carried out and poured the contents on the floor of the porch (Mishna, Tamid, iii, 9; vi, 1; i, 4). See Al- tar. (2.) On the expiatory ashes of the red heifer (1£X, Num. xix), see Purification. (3.) In deep affliction persons were accustomed, as an act suitable to the violence of internal emotions, to scatter dust or ashes ("EX) on their heads or in their hair, and to sit, or lie, or even roll in ashes, whence ashes became the symbol of penitential mourning (Job xlii, 0 ; Matt. xi, 21). See Grief. The Mishna (Taamith, ii, 1) mentions a custom of covering the ark that contained the law with ashes on fast-days, and the rabbins even allude to a ceremonial sprinkling of persons with ashes on the same occasions (see Bartenora, on Taamith ii). (See generally Reinhard, De sacco et cmere, Vitemb. 1698; Plade, De c'.neris usu lugentibus, Hafn. 1713; Schmid, De cinerum, in sacris usu, Lips. 1722 ; Carpzov, Cinerum up. Heb. usus, Post. 1739 ; Quanat, Be cinere in sacris Ilebr. Regiom. 1713; Goetze, De cinerum in sacris usu, Lips. 1722.) (4.) The ancient Persians had a punishment which consisted in executing certain criminals by stifling them in ashes (Valerius Maximus, ix, 2). Thus the wicked Menelaus was despatched, who caused the troubles which had disquieted Judaja (2 Mace, xiii, 5, 6), being thrown headlong into a tower lift)' cubits deep, which was filled with ashes to a cer- tain height. The action of the criminal to disengage himself plunged him still deeper in the whirling ashes ; and this agitation was increased by a wheel, which kept them in continual movement till he was entirely choked. — Winer. Soe Execution.
Ashes were a symbol of human frailty (Gen. xviii, 27); of deep humiliation (Esth. iv, 1; Jon. iii, G; Matt, xi, 21; Luke x, 13; Job xlii, G; Jer. vi, 2G; Dan. ix, 3) ; a ceremonial mode of purification (Ileb. ix, 13; Num. xix, 17); they are likened to hoar-frost (Psa. cxlvii, 16). In Ezek. xxvii, 30, we find the mourning Tyrians described as wallowing in ashes; and we may remark that the Greeks had the like cus- tom of strewing themselves with ashes in mourning (Homer, Iliad, xviii, 22; Odyss. xxiv, 315; comp. Vir- gil, Jin. x, 844, and Ovid"s Mctam. viii, 528): Job ii,
8, "And he sat down among the ashes." So Ulysses in Odyssey, vii, 153 (see also Iliad, xviii, 26). Psa. cii,
9, " I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping," i. e. I have eaten the bread of humiliation, and drunk the water of affliction ; ashes being the emblem of the one, and tears the conse- quence of the other (see Home, w loc). So Isa. lxi, 3, "A beautiful crown instead of ashes" (sec Lowth's note). See 2 Sam. xiv, 2 ; Judith x, 3. Isa. xliv, 20, " lie feedeth on ashes." i. e. on that which affords no nourishment; a proverbial expression for using in- effectual means, and bestowing labor to no purpose. In the same sense Hosea says (xii, 1), " Ephraim feed- eth on wind" (see Lowth, in loc). See Mourning.