Ashes to Ashes

The phrase "earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust" is spoken as part of a eulogy at many funerals, leading to a widespread misconception that it comes from the Bible. It does not; it is a text in "Book of Common Prayer" from the following eulogy:In sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ, we commend to Almighty God: (name). We commit her body to the ground; earth to earth; ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The Lord bless her and keep her, the Lord maketh his face to shine upon her and be gracious unto her and give her peace. Amen.The phrase is inspired by one that originates in Genesis 3:19, which the King James Version of the Bible has translated to, "By the sweat of your brow you will eat your fooduntil you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return." In the original Hebrew text, the word "apar" means dust. The Bible makes several references to dust, one of the first being in Genesis 2:7, "God formed man out of the dust of the ground." This is not necessarily a literal reference to dust; it refers to a status of being, perhaps of nothingness."Book of Common Prayer" was originally published in 1549 as a result of the English Reformation under the reign of King Edward VI, son of Henry VIII, under whose reign the first English-language prayer books were written; under Edward VI, more revisions began. The book lays out the forms of service for daily and Sunday services, including morning and evening prayers, the Litany and Holy Communion. It remains the official prayer book of the Church of England to this day and has influenced other Protestant denominations' prayers and religious rites as well.

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