Bible Dictionary: Dung

Jump to: Smith's • ATS • ISBE • Easton's • Webster's • Concordance • Thesaurus • Greek • Hebrew • Library • Subtopics • Terms

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Dung

The uses of dung were two-fold --as manure and as fuel. The manure consisted either of straw steeped in liquid manure, (Isaiah 25:10) or the sweepings, (Isaiah 5:25) of the streets and roads, which were carefully removed from about the houses, and collected in heaps outside the walls of the towns at fixed spots --hence the dung-gate at Jerusalem --and thence removed in due course to the fields. The difficulty of procuring fuel in Syria, Arabia and Egypt has made dung in all ages valuable as a substitute. It was probably used for heating ovens and for baking cakes, (Ezra 4:12,15) the equable heat which it produced adapting it pecularily for the latter operation. Cow's and camels dung is still used for a similar purpose by the Bedouins.

ATS Bible Dictionary

Dung

Among the Israelites, the dung of animals was used only for manure, but, when dried, for fuel. In districts where wood is scarce, the inhabitants are very careful in collecting the dung of camels and asses; it is mixed with chopped straw, and dried. It is not unusual to see a whole village with portions of this material adhering to the walls of the cottages to dry; and towards the end of autumn it is piled in conical heaps or stacks on the roof. It is employed in heating ovens, and for other similar purposes, Ezekiel 4:12-16. The use of dung for manure is intimated in Isaiah 25:10.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

(1.) Used as manure (Luke 13:8); collected outside the city walls (Nehemiah 2:13). Of sacrifices, burned outside the camp (Exodus 29:14; Leviticus 4:11; 8:17; Numbers 19:5). To be "cast out as dung," a figurative expression (1 Kings 14:10; 2 Kings 9:37; Jeremiah 8:2; Psalm 18:42), meaning to be rejected as unprofitable.

(2.) Used as fuel, a substitute for firewood, which was with difficulty procured in Syria, Arabia, and Egypt (Ezek. 4:12-15), where cows' and camels' dung is used to the present day for this purpose.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

1. (p. p.) of Ding.

2. (n.) The excrement of an animal.

3. (v. t.) To manure with dung.

4. (v. t.) To immerse or steep, as calico, in a bath of hot water containing cow dung; -- done to remove the superfluous mordant.

5. (v. i.) To void excrement.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

DUNG; DUNG GATE

dung ('ashpoth, domen, peresh; skubalon, etc.): Nine different words occurring in the Hebrew have been translated "dung" in the Old Testament. The word used to designate one of the gates of Jerusalem ('ashpoth, Nehemiah 2:13; Nehemiah 3:14) is more general than the others and may mean any kind of refuse. The gate was probably so named because outside it was the general dump heap of the city. Visitors in recent years riding outside the city walls of Jerusalem, on their way to the Mt. of Olives or Jericho, may have witnessed such a dump against the wall, which has existed for generations.

The first mention made of dung is in connection with sacrificial rites. The sacred law required that the dung, along with what parts of the animal were not burned on the altar, should be burned outside the camp (Exodus 29:14 Leviticus 4:11; Leviticus 8:17; Leviticus 16:27 Numbers 19:5). The fertilizing value of dung was appreciated by the cultivator, as is indicated by Luke 13:8 and possibly Psalm 83:10 and Isaiah 25:10.

Dung was also used as a fuel. Ezekiel 4:12, 15 will be understood when it is known that the dung of animals is a common fuel throughout Palestine and Syria, where other fuel is scarce. During the summer, villagers gather the manure of their cattle, horses or camels, mix it with straw, make it into cakes and dry it for use as fuel for cooking, especially in the winter when wood or charcoal or straw are not procurable. It burns slowly like peat and meets the needs of the kitchen. In Mesopotamia the writer saw it being used with forced draft to fire a steam boiler. There was no idea of uncleanness in Ezekiel's mind, associated with the use of animal dung as fuel (Ezekiel 4:15).

Figuratively: Dung was frequently used figuratively to express the idea

(a) of worthlessness, especially a perishable article for which no one cares (1 Kings 14:10 2 Kings 6:25; 2 Kings 9:37 Job 20:7 Psalm 83:10 Jeremiah 8:2; Jeremiah 9:22; Jeremiah 16:4; Jeremiah 25:33 Zephaniah 1:17 Philippians 3:8 (the American Standard Revised Version "refuse")). Dunghill was used in the same way (1 Samuel 2:8 Ezra 6:11 Psalm 113:7 Isaiah 25:10 Daniel 2:5; Daniel 3:29 Luke 14:35 Lamentations 4:5);

(b) as an expression of disgust (2 Kings 18:27 Isaiah 36:12);

(c) of rebuke (Malachi 2:3).

James A. Patch

Greek

2874b. koprion -- dung
... koprion. 2875 . dung. Transliteration: koprion Short Definition: fertilizer. Word
Origin from the same as kopria Definition dung NASB Word Usage fertilizer (1 ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2874b.htm - 5k

4657. skubalon -- refuse
... refuse. Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter Transliteration: skubalon Phonetic Spelling:
(skoo'-bal-on) Short Definition: refuse, dregs Definition: refuse, dregs, dung ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4657.htm - 7k

2874. kopria -- a dunghill
... Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine; Noun, Neuter Transliteration: kopria Phonetic Spelling:
(kop-ree'-ah) Short Definition: manure Definition: manure; a dung-hill. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2874.htm - 5k

2874a. kopria -- a dunghill
... a dunghill. Transliteration: kopria Short Definition: manure. Word Origin from kopros
(dung) Definition a dunghill NASB Word Usage manure pile (1). ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2874a.htm - 5k

954. Beelzeboul -- Beelzebul, a name of Satan
... Beelzebub. Of Chaldee origin (by parody on Ba'al Zbuwb); dung-god; Beelzebul,
a name of Satan -- Beelzebub. see HEBREW Ba'al Zbuwb. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/954.htm - 7k

906. ballo -- to throw, cast
... A primary verb; to throw (in various applications, more or less violent or intense) --
arise, cast (out), X dung, lay, lie, pour, put (up), send, strike, throw ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/906.htm - 10k

Strong's Hebrew

1561. gelel -- dung
gelel or gel. 1560, 1561. gelel or gel. 1562 . dung. Transliteration: gelel
or gel Phonetic Spelling: (gay'-lel) Short Definition: dung. ...
/hebrew/1561.htm - 6k

1557. galal -- dung
... dung. Transliteration: galal Phonetic Spelling: (gaw-lawl') Short Definition: dung.
Word Origin from galal Definition dung NASB Word Usage dung (2). dung. ...
/hebrew/1557.htm - 6k

6832. tsephua -- dung (of cattle)
... 6831, 6832. tsephua or tsaphia. 6833 . dung (of cattle). Transliteration: tsephua
or tsaphia Phonetic Spelling: (tsef-oo'-ah) Short Definition: dung. ...
/hebrew/6832.htm - 6k

2716. chere -- dung
... dung. Transliteration: chere Phonetic Spelling: (kheh'-reh) Short Definition: dung.
Word Origin of uncertain derivation Definition dung NASB Word Usage dung (2) ...
/hebrew/2716.htm - 5k

1686. dibyonim -- probably dove's dung
... 1685, 1686. dibyonim. 1687 . probably dove's dung. Transliteration: dibyonim
Phonetic Spelling: (dib-yone') Short Definition: dung. ...
/hebrew/1686.htm - 6k

1828. domen -- dung
... dung. Transliteration: domen Phonetic Spelling: (do'-men) Short Definition: dung.
Word Origin from an unused word Definition dung NASB Word Usage dung (6). dung ...
/hebrew/1828.htm - 5k

2755. chare yonim -- doves' dung
... 2754, 2755. chare yonim. 2756 . doves' dung. Transliteration: chare yonim Phonetic
Spelling: (khar-ay'-yo-neem') Short Definition: dung. ... doves' dung ...
/hebrew/2755.htm - 6k

4087. madmenah -- place of dung, dung pit
... 4086, 4087. madmenah. 4088 . place of dung, dung pit. Transliteration: madmenah
Phonetic Spelling: (mad-may-naw') Short Definition: pile. ...
/hebrew/4087.htm - 6k

6627. tseah -- filth, human excrement
... 6626, 6627. tseah. 6628 . filth, human excrement. Transliteration: tseah
Phonetic Spelling: (tsaw-aw') Short Definition: dung. Word ...
/hebrew/6627.htm - 6k

6569. peresh -- fecal matter
... Word Origin from an unused word Definition fecal matter NASB Word Usage refuse
(7). dung. From parash; excrement (as eliminated) -- dung. see HEBREW parash. ...
/hebrew/6569.htm - 6k

Library

Philippians iii. 10-Jul
... things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for
whom I suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I ...
/.../homily xi philippians iii 10-jul.htm

St. Ambrose Gives Additional Rules Concerning Repentance, and ...
... it cumber the ground?" [3049] And unless the vine-dresser should intercede and say:
"Lord, let it alone this year also, until I dig about it and dung it, and ...
/.../ambrose/works and letters of st ambrose/chapter i st ambrose gives.htm

Application of these Motives
... And oh that we may cast out the dung of our pride, contention, self-seeking, and
idleness; lest God should cast our sacrifices as dung in our faces, and should ...
//christianbookshelf.org/baxter/the reformed pastor/article 4.htm

Ephesians iv. 17
... "But," say they, "he nourishes the plants and the seeds." What then, at that
rate is not the very dung a god? for even that also nourishes. ...
/.../homily xii ephesians iv 17.htm

The Vengeance of Rome
... I may say the world has become to me but dung and dross, but that I should become
dung and dross to the world, is another matter." For Christ, it was sweet to ...
/.../bevan/three friends of god/chapter xxxv the vengeance of.htm

Meditations for the Sick.
... tells us, that there is no more comparison between the joys of eternal life, and
the pleasures of this world, than there is between the filthiest dung and the ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/bayly/the practice of piety/meditations for the sick.htm

"How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds. "
... Me ewh wan je me noo da ad Owh duh ya bwa yan dung. 2 Me ewh wan je pe zaun uh yaud
Owh ma goosh kah dan dung; Owh a ya koo zid e ne ne Oo dun wa be e goon. ...
/.../a collection of gospel hymns in ojibway and english/nuhguhmoowin 14 c m how.htm

On the Words of the Gospel, Luke xiii. 6, Where we are Told of the ...
... "I will dig about it, and put a basket of dung about it; if it bear fruit, well;
but if not, thou shalt come and cut it down." [3444] "Thou shalt come:" When? ...
/.../sermons on selected lessons of the new testament/sermon lx on the words.htm

Wesley Rides Twenty-Four Hundred Miles in Seven Months
... Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung
of your solemn feasts, and one shall take you away with it" [Mal.2-1-3]. ...
/.../wesley/the journal of john wesley/wesley rides twenty-four hundred miles.htm

Idols Unprofitable.
... I do not think, if one were to say to a king, I give you an equal share of honour
with that which I give to corpses and to worthless dung,'"I do not think ...
/.../unknown/the clementine homilies/chapter xii idols unprofitable.htm

Thesaurus

Dung (27 Occurrences)
... Of sacrifices, burned outside the camp (Exodus 29:14; Leviticus 4:11; 8:17; Numbers
19:5). To be "cast out as dung," a figurative expression (1 Kings 14:10; 2 ...
/d/dung.htm - 20k

Dung-gate (4 Occurrences)
Dung-gate. Dunggate, Dung-gate. Dunghill . Easton's Bible Dictionary (Nehemiah ...
Multi-Version Concordance Dung-gate (4 Occurrences). Nehemiah ...
/d/dung-gate.htm - 8k

Dung-hill (3 Occurrences)
Dung-hill. Dunghill, Dung-hill. Dunghills . Easton's Bible Dictionary
To ... Multi-Version Concordance Dung-hill (3 Occurrences). 1 ...
/d/dung-hill.htm - 7k

Dung-hills (1 Occurrence)
Dung-hills. Dunghills, Dung-hills. Dung-pit . Multi-Version
Concordance Dung-hills (1 Occurrence). Lamentations 4:5 ...
/d/dung-hills.htm - 6k

Dung-port (1 Occurrence)
Dung-port. Dung-pit, Dung-port. Duplicates . Multi-Version
Concordance Dung-port (1 Occurrence). Nehemiah 2:13 And I ...
/d/dung-port.htm - 6k

Dung-pit (1 Occurrence)
Dung-pit. Dung-hills, Dung-pit. Dung-port . Multi-Version Concordance
Dung-pit (1 Occurrence). Isaiah 25:10 For in this mountain ...
/d/dung-pit.htm - 6k

Dunghill (8 Occurrences)
... 1. (n.) A heap of dung. ... DUNGHILL. dung'-hil ('ashpoth, 1 Samuel 2:8, madhmenah, etc.,
with other words; kopria, Luke 14:35): Dung heap, or place of refuse. ...
/d/dunghill.htm - 10k

Offal (6 Occurrences)
... Offal (6 Occurrences). Exodus 29:14 But the flesh of the bullock, and its skin,
and its dung, shalt thou burn with fire without the camp; it is a sin-offering. ...
/o/offal.htm - 8k

Filth (21 Occurrences)
... fil'-thi-nes, fil'-thi (tso'ah, Tum'ah; rhupoo): The word once translated "filth"
in the Old Testament is tso'ah, "excrement" or "dung," elsewhere translated ...
/f/filth.htm - 17k

Gate (248 Occurrences)
...DUNG; DUNG GATE. dung ('ashpoth, domen, peresh; skubalon, etc.): Nine different
words occurring in the Hebrew have been translated "dung" in the Old Testament. ...
/g/gate.htm - 63k

Bible Concordance

Dung (27 Occurrences)

Luke 13:8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:
(KJV ASV DBY WBS YLT)

Luke 14:35 It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
(Root in KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS RSV)

Exodus 29:14 But the flesh of the bull, and its skin, and its dung, you shall burn with fire outside of the camp: it is a sin offering.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT RSV)

Leviticus 4:11 The bull's skin, all its flesh, with its head, and with its legs, its innards, and its dung,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT RSV)

Leviticus 8:17 But the bull, and its skin, and its flesh, and its dung, he burned with fire outside the camp; as Yahweh commanded Moses.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT RSV)

Leviticus 16:27 The bull for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be carried forth outside the camp; and they shall burn their skins, their flesh, and their dung with fire.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT RSV)

Numbers 19:5 One shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn:
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT RSV)

1 Kings 14:10 therefore, behold, I will bring evil on the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam everyone who urinates on a wall, he who is shut up and he who is left at large in Israel, and will utterly sweep away the house of Jeroboam, as a man sweeps away dung, until it is all gone.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

2 Kings 6:25 There was a great famine in Samaria. Behold, they besieged it, until a donkey's head was sold for eighty pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

2 Kings 9:37 and the body of Jezebel shall be as dung on the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel, so that they shall not say, "This is Jezebel."'"
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

2 Kings 18:27 But Rabshakeh said to them, "Has my master sent me to your master, and to you, to speak these words? Hasn't he sent me to the men who sit on the wall, to eat their own dung, and to drink their own water with you?"
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY YLT NAS RSV)

Nehemiah 2:13 I went out by night by the valley gate, even toward the jackal's well, and to the dung gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and its gates were consumed with fire.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT RSV NIV)

Nehemiah 3:13 The valley gate repaired Hanun, and the inhabitants of Zanoah; they built it, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and one thousand cubits of the wall to the dung gate.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT RSV NIV)

Nehemiah 3:14 The dung gate repaired Malchijah the son of Rechab, the ruler of the district of Beth Haccherem; he built it, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT RSV NIV)

Nehemiah 12:31 Then I brought up the princes of Judah on the wall, and appointed two great companies who gave thanks and went in procession. One went on the right hand on the wall toward the dung gate;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT RSV NIV)

Job 20:7 yet he shall perish forever like his own dung. Those who have seen him shall say,'Where is he?'
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT RSV NIV)

Psalms 83:10 who perished at Endor, who became as dung for the earth.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Isaiah 36:12 But Rabshakeh said, "Has my master sent me only to your master and to you, to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, who will eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?"
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY YLT NAS RSV)

Jeremiah 8:2 and they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the army of the sky, which they have loved, and which they have served, and after which they have walked, and which they have sought, and which they have worshiped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried, they shall be for dung on the surface of the earth.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Jeremiah 9:22 Speak, Thus says Yahweh, The dead bodies of men shall fall as dung on the open field, and as the handful after the harvester; and none shall gather them.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Jeremiah 16:4 They shall die grievous deaths: they shall not be lamented, neither shall they be buried; they shall be as dung on the surface of the ground; and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Jeremiah 25:33 The slain of Yahweh shall be at that day from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung on the surface of the ground.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Ezekiel 4:12 You shall eat it as barley cakes, and you shall bake it in their sight with dung that comes out of man.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY YLT NAS RSV)

Ezekiel 4:15 Then he said to me, Behold, I have given you cow's dung for man's dung, and you shall prepare your bread thereon.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Nahum 3:6 And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazing-stock.
(See JPS)

Zephaniah 1:17 I will bring distress on men, that they will walk like blind men, because they have sinned against Yahweh, and their blood will be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Malachi 2:3 Behold, I will rebuke your seed, and will spread dung on your faces, even the dung of your feasts; and you will be taken away with it.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT RSV)

Subtopics

Dung

Dung Gate

Related Terms

Dung-gate (4 Occurrences)

Dung-hill (3 Occurrences)

Dung-hills (1 Occurrence)

Dung-port (1 Occurrence)

Dung-pit (1 Occurrence)

Dunghill (8 Occurrences)

Offal (6 Occurrences)

Filth (21 Occurrences)