6080. aphar

Lexical Summary

aphar: Dust, ashes, earth, ground, powder

Original Word: עָפַר
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: `aphar
Pronunciation: ah-far
Phonetic Spelling: (aw-far')
KJV: cast (dust)
NASB: threw
Word Origin: []

1. used only as denominative from H6083, to be dust

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

cast dust

: a primitive root: meaning either to be gray or perhaps rather to pulverize; used only as denominative from aphar, to be dust -- cast (dust).

see HEBREW aphar

NAS Exhaustive Concordance

Word Origin
denominative verb from aphar
Definition
to throw dust
NASB Translation
threw (1).

Brown-Driver-Briggs

[עָפַר] verb denominative Pi`el וְעִמַּר בֶּעָפָר 2 Samuel 16:13 and kept dusting (him) with dust (throwing [lumps of] dry earth at him).

II. עפר (√ of following; compare Arabic young of mountain-goat, Late Hebrew עוֺפֶר young of animals).

Topical Lexicon

Biblical Occurrence and Context

In the only attestation of עָפַר (Strong’s 6080) Shimei antagonizes the fleeing King David: “Shimei went along the hillside opposite him, cursing as he went and throwing stones and flinging dust” (2 Samuel 16:13). The act intensifies Shimei’s insult, marking David as unclean and stripped of honor in the eyes of onlookers.

Cultural Background

Throwing dust was a recognized Near-Eastern gesture of contempt toward an enemy or criminal. It combined symbolic defilement (dust as filth) with public denunciation. Because dust also settles on the head in mourning rites, the gesture mocked the victim by treating him as already judged, bereaved, or dead.

Symbolic Significance

1. Mortality: Dust recalls humanity’s origin and end (Genesis 3:19). Showering David with dust implies he is as good as dead.
2. Shame and Social Reversal: Dust relegates a person to the ground, the lowest social space. Shimei’s action expresses the wish to topple David from royal heights.
3. Condemnation: In Scripture, dust on an offender (Joshua 7:6; Job 2:12) signals guilt. Shimei uses the sign to accuse David publicly.
4. Eschatological Irony: The king whom Shimei degrades will be divinely vindicated; the dust hurled in derision anticipates the “raising from the dust” motif found in 1 Samuel 2:8 and Isaiah 52:2.

Theological Implications

• Persecution of the Anointed: Shimei’s dust-throwing prefigures the hostility later directed at the greater Son of David (John 15:25).
• Divine Restraint and Sovereignty: David forbids retaliation, recognizing that the Lord may be speaking through Shimei’s cursing (2 Samuel 16:10–12). Dust thus becomes an instrument in God’s providential discipline, not merely an act of human spite.
• Vindication by Grace: David is eventually restored without answering insult for insult, illustrating the principle later articulated in Romans 12:19.

Ministry Applications

1. Responding to Hostility: Believers facing verbal or symbolic humiliation can emulate David’s composed trust, confident that “the LORD will repay” (2 Samuel 16:12).
2. Humility in Leadership: Even God-appointed leaders may endure seasons of apparent disgrace. Enduring dust rather than demanding immediate vindication models Christlike meekness.
3. Intercession for Enemies: David’s later charge to Solomon acknowledges Shimei’s wrongdoing (1 Kings 2:8–9), yet David himself refrains from vengeance. Pastoral ministry can call offenders to accountability while leaving final judgment to God.

Related Scriptural Echoes

• Acts 22:23—Jerusalem crowds “were tossing dust into the air” while rejecting Paul, a scene that mirrors Shimei’s act and shows the continuity of the symbol.
• Matthew 10:14—Disciples shake dust off their feet against unbelieving towns, transforming dust from a sign of shame to a testimony against rejection of the gospel.
• Lamentations 2:10; Nehemiah 9:1—Sitting in dust during repentance highlights the contrast between self-imposed abasement and the hostile dust-casting Shimei performs.

Practical Reflection

The solitary appearance of עָפַר as “flinging dust” captures a moment when human contempt collides with divine purpose. In ministry and personal discipleship, the episode teaches that disgrace borne righteously becomes a platform for God’s vindicating grace, turning thrown dust into fertile soil for spiritual growth.

Forms and Transliterations

וְעִפַּ֖ר ועפר veipPar wə‘ippar wə·‘ip·par

Englishman's Concordance

2 Samuel 16:13
HEB: בָּֽאֲבָנִים֙ לְעֻמָּת֔וֹ וְעִפַּ֖ר בֶּעָפָֽר׃ פ
NAS: and cast stones and threw dust at him.
KJV: stones at him, and cast dust.
INT: stones parallel and threw dust

1 Occurrence

Strong's Hebrew 6080
1 Occurrence

wə·‘ip·par — 1 Occ.