Many people believe the very familiar term:
“Ashes to Ashes - Dust to Dust” - is of biblical origin. Because of their assumption that it’s biblical, they further assume that there is absolutely nothing wrong with cremation, simply because the Bible clearly states:
“Ashes to ashes”.
Well, here is your very first reality check – have you ever searched or physically read the phrase: “Ashes to Ashes” in your Bible?
If you selected “Yes” as your answer, you must please let me know in which Bible you read it, as this phrase does not appear in the 1611 King James Version and also not in the Bible I am using to quote in this book, which is the 1769 King James Version of the Holy Bible (also known as the Authorized Version).
Why is the correct answer “No”? Because the term “Ashes to Ashes” is simply not written anywhere in the Bible! It does not appear in the Bible, not even once! Why then, is this phrase so commonly accepted as a biblical phrase?
Well, it comes from a book entitled: “Book of Common Prayer” and the phrase are listed in the “Funeral Service” section of the book. It is almost always used at funeral services, where the pastor or preacher stands at the grave, with the Bible in his hand and therefore, especially English folk, naturally assumes that this is a biblical phrase, which it is not. The literal phrase used in the Book of Common Prayer, (Burial Rite Section) is:
“In sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ, we commend to Almighty God our brother <name>; and we commit his body to the ground; earth to earth; ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The Lord bless him and keep him, the Lord make his face to shine upon him and be gracious unto him and give him peace. Amen.”
The phrase however is based on Genesis 3:19 which read as follows:
Gen 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
As you can see, there is nothing about “ashes to ashes”, but rather: “unto dust shalt thou return”. This “dust”, however is a far cry from “ashes” as in the “ash” from a fire, especially ashes in the true sense of cremation.
The Hebrew word for “dust” is: “‛âphâr” and simply means “dust from clay, earth or mud”.
Before we carry on, we must deal with two other verses as well.
Gen 18:27 And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes:
Here it would appear that Abraham is confirming that he is “ash”. This very first observation, (however silly this may sound) is that Abraham is alive and well, whilst uttering these words; he is most definitely not “ashes” when speaking to God. He is “dust” however, because he was made of dust. This is confirmed in the following verse:
Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
The logical question then is, what on earth could Abraham mean when he refers to himself as “ashes”? The answer is also rooted in the meaning of the Hebrew word – word number H665
Gen 18:27 And AbrahamH85 answeredH6030 and said,H559 BeholdH2009 now,H4994 I have taken uponH2974 me to speakH1696 untoH413 the Lord,H136 whichH595 am but dustH6083 and ashes:H665
The Hebrew word, is: “'êpher”, and apart from describing “ash”, it’s also used to describe something as: “worthlessness” (figuratively). There are many words, not only in the Bible, but also in our very own language which is the same word, but used in many different applications, both literally as well as figuratively.
Let’s take a simple word like: “door”. There are many uses for this word. He opened the door for her. I opened the door to my heart. When one door closes, another door opens. It’s best you keep that door closed. We have listed only but a few examples of both literal as well figurative meanings for the word “door”, with totally different meanings.
The clear answer then is, Abraham is simply referring to himself as (figuratively) worthless. This is not referring to ashes as in some left over remains as a result of burning.
Another verse which may be presented (in error) as defence for the term “ashes to ashes”, is as follows:
Job 30:19 He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes.
When we look at the word being used, we see that it’s the same word as Abraham used namely, word number H665.
Job 30:19 He hath castH3384 me into the mire,H2563 and I am becomeH4911 like dustH6083 and ashes.H665
This simply means that Job is so devastated, that he simply feels “worthless”, which is the same as Abraham’s description of himself in the preceding passage (Gen 18:27).
The word “ash” therefore has a few meanings in the Bible. Another good example is in the following passages:
1Kin_20:38 So the prophetH5030 departed,H1980 and waitedH5975 for the kingH4428 byH5921 the way,H1870 and disguised himselfH2664 with ashesH666 uponH5921 his face.H5869
1Kin_20:41 And he hasted,H4116 and tookH5493 (H853) the ashesH666 away fromH4480 H5921 his face;H5869 and the kingH4428 of IsraelH3478 discernedH5234 him thatH3588 heH1931 was of the prophets.H4480 H5030
The previous word number was H665, which is the root-word for H666, which is the Hebrew word: “'a˘phêr” and the definition is a “covering” or “bandage”, as one can clearly see from the two passages above when we read and understand the context.
Then there is yet another word for “ash” in the following passage:
Exo 9:8 And the LORD said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh.
Exo 9:8 And the LORDH3068 saidH559 untoH413 MosesH4872 and untoH413 Aaron,H175 TakeH3947 to you handfulsH4393 H2651 of ashesH6368 of the furnace,H3536 and let MosesH4872 sprinkleH2236 it toward the heavenH8064 in the sightH5869 of Pharaoh.H6547
The Hebrew word is: “pı̂yach” and it means “soot” or “ashes”.
We must remember that the translators, some of which did very good work, had to decide which words to number with what definition, but we always have the context of the passage, chapter and particular book to help us comprehend the exact meaning of the word used, as we have seen from the previous passages.
Now that we have a basic understanding of some of the words used and the context of the passage, we will continue with the questions and answers session in a moment, but just to recap…
Please answer this question again. Have you ever searched for or physically read the phrase: “Ashes to Ashes – Dust to Dust” in the Bible?
Well done! “No” is the right answer, as it does not appear in the Bible at all!
Wait; let me make it more interesting:
If you can find the exact phrase, in English, in this exact order:
“ASHES TO ASHES” in the 1611 King James Bible or in the 1769 King James Version of the Holy Bible (also known as the Authorized Version), I – the author will give you Ten Million South African Rand – how’s that?
(All right, I admit I don’t even have R10 to give away, but then again I know for a fact that the above phrase is not written anywhere, whatsoever in these Bibles! Therefore I can offer a hundred million or even 100 Billion… Rands 
)
For English speaking people: Study only the 1611/1769 King James Version of the Bible.
For Afrikaans speaking people, study only the 1933/53 “Afrikaans Ou Vertaling” Bible.
Avoid all other Bibles like the black plague! (Unless you are studying how these Bibles are corrupted with false church doctrine, political correctness and human rights!)
I am by no means claiming that these Bibles are 100% accurate. There are translation errors, additions and also omissions, but these Bibles are the best we currently have.
How do I test to see if I have the best Bible?
This is very easy; just open your Bible at Acts 8 verse 37.
If you have “the best Bible”, the verse will read as follows:
Act 8:37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
In future translations, the verse read as follows:
Act 8:37
Yes, that’s right – completely omitted!
If Acts 8:37 in your Bible is blank, don’t be concerned, you can still use your Bible…. AS A DOOR STOP…!!!
(…and remember, this is only one of a multitude of omitted or corrupted passages!)
When you attend a funeral service and the pastor says:
“ASHES TO ASHES”
…tell him you will donate R10,000,000 ZAR to his church, if he can show you where he read that phrase in the 1611/1769 King James Bible. Then watch him squirm like an eel in a wet bucket…
