Hebrew noun (masculine) · H665
אֵפֶר
epheray'-fer
ashes
22 uses in the Hebrew text, one for each word STEP Bible has tagged with this key
Concordance spelling: ʼêpher
Word page · Part of the concordance, one page for every word of the Hebrew and Greek text. Strong's H665is this word's number in James Strong's 1890 index of the King James Bible.
- 13 of 39Old Testament books
- 18spellings
The definition in full
Strong's key (1890) · H665
ashes
The King James renders it: ashes.
James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), public domain. Strong indexed the King James text, and this site quotes his entry as that index.
Summary
epher is rendered "ashes". It stands 22 times in the Hebrew text, across thirteen books.
- Four of the uses stand in Job, more than in any other book.
- Its first use in canonical order opens the ledger below.Genesis 18:27Then Abraham answered, “Now that I have ventured to speak to the Lord—though I am but dust and ashes—
- The Greek text spells it eighteen different ways.
The first use
Then Abraham answered, “Now that I have ventured to speak to the Lord—though I am but dust and ashes—
Genesis 18:27וָאֵֽפֶר׃
The first use, in the order of the Old Testament's books.
Where the word stands
What the word means
Each meaning, and the words it is translated by
How the Greek text is glossed, word by word
- and ash7
- ash6
- in the ash3
- ash of2
- the ash2
- into ash1
- like the ash1
The words built on the same word-part
Each word below begins with the same letters this one begins with. A shared word-part shows a family. It does not settle what any one of them means, so each word carries its own uses on its own page. Scholars call that shared part the stem.
The words it stands beside
All 22, in canonical order
Every use, in order
Every use, grouped by book, with its verse.
18 spellings and their grammar
STEP Bible tags every word of the Hebrew and Greek text with its spelling and its grammar. Both lists below count the rows printed underneath, written out in English, with the code beside each one as it was tagged.
How it is spelled
- וָאֵֽפֶר׃3
- אֵ֔פֶר2
- הָאֵֽפֶר׃2
- אֵ֭פֶר1
- אֵ֣פֶר1
- אֵ֤פֶר1
- אֵ֙פֶר֙1
- אֵ֑פֶר1
- אֵ֗פֶר1
- בָאֵ֔פֶר1
- בָּאֵ֖פֶר1
- בָּאֵֽפֶר׃1
and 6 more spellings in the ledger below.
The grammar of each form
- conjunction (“and”) + noun · masculine singular7HC/Ncmsa
- noun · masculine singular6HNcmsa
- preposition with the article + noun · masculine singular4HRd/Ncmsa
- noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)2HNcmsc
- the definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singular2HTd/Ncmsa
- preposition + noun · masculine singular1HR/Ncmsa
Genesis
one use
Then Abraham answered, “Now that I have ventured to speak to the Lord—though I am but dust and ashes—
- וָאֵֽפֶר׃vaeferconjunction (“and”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: and ash
Numbers
two uses
Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to gather up the ashes of the heifer and store them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They must be kept by the congregation of Israel for preparing the water of purification; this is for purification from sin.
- אֵ֣פֶרʾefernoun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: ash of
The man who has gathered up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he will be ceremonially unclean until evening. This is a permanent statute for the Israelites and for the foreigner residing among them.
- אֵ֤פֶרʾefernoun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: ash of
2 Samuel
one use
And Tamar put ashes on her head and tore her robe. And putting her hand on her head, she went away crying bitterly.
- אֵ֙פֶר֙ʾefernoun · masculine singulartagged: ash
Esther
two uses
When Mordecai learned of all that had happened, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the middle of the city, wailing loudly and bitterly.
- וָאֵ֑פֶרvaeferconjunction (“and”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: and ash
In every province to which the king’s command and edict came, there was great mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, and lamented, and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
- וָאֵ֔פֶרvaeferconjunction (“and”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: and ash
Job
four uses
And Job took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself as he sat among the ashes.
- הָאֵֽפֶר׃haeferthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: the ash
Your maxims are proverbs of ashes; your defenses are defenses of clay.
- אֵ֑פֶרʾefernoun · masculine singulartagged: ash
He throws me into the mud, and I have become like dust and ashes.
- וָאֵֽפֶר׃vaeferconjunction (“and”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: and ash
Therefore I retract my words, and I repent in dust and ashes.”
- וָאֵֽפֶר׃ פvaeferconjunction (“and”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: and ash
Psalms
two uses
For I have eaten ashes like bread and mixed my drink with tears
- אֵ֭פֶרʾefernoun · masculine singulartagged: ash
He spreads the snow like wool; He scatters the frost like ashes;
- כָּאֵ֥פֶרkaeferpreposition with the article + noun · masculine singulartagged: like the ash
Isaiah
three uses
He feeds on ashes. His deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”
- אֵ֔פֶרʾefernoun · masculine singulartagged: ash
Is this the fast I have chosen: a day for a man to deny himself, to bow his head like a reed, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast and a day acceptable to the LORD?
- וָאֵ֙פֶר֙vaeferconjunction (“and”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: and ash
to console the mourners in Zion—to give them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
- אֵ֗פֶרʾefernoun · masculine singulartagged: ash
Jeremiah
one use
O daughter of my people, dress yourselves in sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with bitter wailing, as you would for an only son, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.
- בָאֵ֔פֶרvaeferpreposition with the article + noun · masculine singulartagged: in the ash
Lamentations
one use
He has ground my teeth with gravel and trampled me in the dust.
- בָּאֵֽפֶר׃baeferpreposition with the article + noun · masculine singulartagged: in the ash
Ezekiel
two uses
They will raise their voices for you and cry out bitterly. They will throw dust on their heads and roll in ashes.
- בָּאֵ֖פֶרbaeferpreposition with the article + noun · masculine singulartagged: in the ash
By the multitude of your iniquities and the dishonesty of your trading you have profaned your sanctuaries. So I made fire come from within you, and it consumed you. I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the eyes of all who saw you.
- לְאֵ֙פֶר֙leeferpreposition + noun · masculine singulartagged: into ash
Daniel
one use
So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
- וָאֵֽפֶר׃vaeferconjunction (“and”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: and ash
Jonah
one use
When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
- הָאֵֽפֶר׃haeferthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: the ash
Malachi
one use
Then you will trample the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day I am preparing,” says the LORD of Hosts.
- אֵ֔פֶרʾefernoun · masculine singulartagged: ash
Where it leads
How the numbers are counted
Every count on this page comes from STEP Bible's tagged Hebrew and Greek text, the same text the ledger prints. A use is counted once each time the tagging marks a word with this key.
Spellings are counted as the Greek text spells them, with the sentence's own punctuation taken off the word first, so a form that ends a clause is not counted as a second spelling.
The words it stands beside are the nouns, verbs and adjectives immediately before or after it, counted in every verse where the word stands. The article, the conjunctions and the prepositions are left out, because they stand beside every word.
