Genesis 18:27
in Genesis 18Then Abraham answered, “Now that I have ventured to speak to the Lord—though I am but dust and ashes—
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, who am but dust and ashes:
KJV
And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes:
⋯
This verse in Genesis 18
Commentary
5 notes on this verseWhich am but dust and ashes - עפר ואפר aphar vaepher, words very similar in sound, as they refer to matters which so much resemble each other. Dust - the lightest particles of earth. Ashes - the residuum of consumed substances. By these expressions he shows how deeply his soul was humbled in the presence of God. He who has high thoughts of himself must have low thoughts of the dignity of the Divine nature, of the majesty of God, and the sinfulness of sin.
This site's exposition
I am but dust and ashes
on Genesis 18:27-29
He drops from fifty to forty-five and then to forty. At each step he names what he is, dust and ashes. Clarke pairs the two words as the lightest particles of earth and what is left when a thing has burned. Genesis 2:7 says the man was formed from the dust of the ground.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
A commentator
Clement of RomeClement's First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 17 · Written before 99.
proposed
Let us be imitators also of those who in goat-skins and sheep-skins [Hebrews 11:37] went about proclaiming the coming of Christ; I mean Elijah, Elisha, and Ezekiel among the prophets, with those others to whom a like testimony is borne [in Scripture]. Abraham was specially honoured, and was called the friend of God; yet he, earnestly regarding the glory of God, humbly declared, "I am but dust and ashes." [Genesis 18:27] Moreover, it is thus written of Job, "Job was a righteous man, and blameless, truthful, God-fearing, and one that kept himself from all evil." [Job 1:1] But bringing an accusation against himself, he said, "No man is free from defilement, even if his life be but of one day." [Job 14:4-5] Moses was called faithful in all God's house; and through his instrumentality, God punished Egypt with plagues and tortures. Yet he, though thus greatly honoured, did not adopt lofty language, but said, when the divine oracle came to him out of the bush, "Who am I, that Thou sendest me? I am a man of a feeble voice and a slow tongue." [Exodus 4:10] And again he said, "I am but as the smoke of a pot."
The Medieval Church1 voice
Since I have begun, I will speak to my Lord, though I am but dust and ashes. By this word he clearly rebukes our pride, we who are far distant from the height of his merits, far removed from divine conversation due to our slowness …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And Abraham answered and said,....
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּ֥עַן | vaiyaan | and he answered | H6030 → | 331 times |
| אַבְרָהָ֖ם | ʾavraham | Abraham | H85 → | 175 times |
| וַיֹּאמַ֑ר | vaiyomar | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הִנֵּה־ | hineh- | here! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| נָ֤א | na' | please | H4994 → | 404 times |
| הוֹאַ֙לְתִּי֙ | hoalti | I have undertaken | H2974 → | |
| לְדַבֵּ֣ר | ledaber | to speak | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֔י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| וְאָנֹכִ֖י | veanokhi | and I | H595 → | 359 times |
| עָפָ֥ר | ʾafar | [am] dust | H6083 → | 110 times |
| וָאֵֽפֶר׃ | vaefer | and ash[es] | H665 → |
וַיַּ֥עַןand he answered
vaiyaanH6030 →331 times
אַבְרָהָ֖םAbraham
ʾavrahamH85 →175 times
וַיֹּאמַ֑רand he said
vaiyomarH559 →5305 times
הִנֵּה־here!
hineh-H2009 →843 times
נָ֤אplease
na'H4994 →404 times
הוֹאַ֙לְתִּי֙I have undertaken
hoaltiH2974 →
לְדַבֵּ֣רto speak
ledaberH1696 →1141 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
אֲדֹנָ֔י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
וְאָנֹכִ֖יand I
veanokhiH595 →359 times
עָפָ֥ר[am] dust
ʾafarH6083 →110 times
וָאֵֽפֶר׃and ash[es]
vaeferH665 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 64:8But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand.
it leads to
- Ephesians 2:10
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.
- Psalms 119:73
Your hands have made me and fashioned me; give me understanding to learn Your commandments.
- Jeremiah 18:2–6
“Go down at once to the potter’s house, and there I will reveal My message to you.”
- Psalms 138:8
The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me. O LORD, Your loving devotion endures forever— do not abandon the works of Your hands.
- Psalms 100:3
Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.
- Ephesians 2:10
Through
Genesis 3:19By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground—because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 12:7
before the dust returns to the ground from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
- Ecclesiastes 12:7
Through
Isaiah 6:5Then I said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD…
it leads to
- Luke 5:8–9
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees. “Go away from me, Lord,” he said, “for I am a sinful man.”
- James 3:6–10
The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It pollutes the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on…
- Luke 5:8–9
Where this verse is studied
About Genesis
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron); Clement of Rome, Clement's First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 17; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).