Ashes to Ashes

The word is taken from Genesis, xviii. 27.: "I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes." It is plain that this has nothing to do with the treatment of the corpse; but that whatever the exact meaning of the word in Hebrew may be, it is synonymous with dust. As to dust, this is perfectly plain in Genesis, iii. 19.: "Till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Here burial seems to be distinctly meant. The Latin word *cinis*, which denotes ashes produced by burning, is derived from the Greek, w…