Dust in Biblical History

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Schaff's Bible Dictionary

Definitions in Biblical History
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What is the Dust?
DUST
"To shake off the dust of one's feet" against another, Matt 10:14; Mark 6:11; Acts 13:51, was expressive of entire renunciation, because it conveyed the idea that "those against whom it was directed were so unworthy that it was defiling to one to allow so much as a particle of the soil to cleave to his garments." The custom is supposed to have been common among the Jews, when they had set a foot on heathen ground, to shake otf the dust, so as to carry nothing unclean or polluting into their own land. Dust thrown into the air, 2 Sam 16:13; Acts 22:23, was an expression of rage and threatening, while the very act probably increased the passionate hatred. "Dust and ashes" are coupled together as a phrase describing man's feebleness as contrasted with divine strength. Gen 18:27; Job 30:19. Dust, Rain of. Deut 28:24. In Judaea or its immediate vicinity are plains or deserts of fine sand, which when agitated by a violent wind makes most terrific and desolating storms. Eastern travellers describe them particularly, and think them much more dreadful than storms at sea. This fact affords us a striking illustration of the nature and horrors of the plague mentioned in Ex 8:16.

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Schaff, Philip, Dr. "Biblical Definition for 'dust' in Schaffs Bible Dictionary".
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