Hebrew word · H830

אַשְׁפֹּת

'ashpatot

Dung( Gate)

A refuse heap, ash heap or dunghill: the mound outside a town where ashes from ovens, animal dung and household rubbish were dumped. In Jerusalem the 'Dung Gate' (sha‘ar ha-ashpot, Neh 2:13; 3:13–14) led out to such a place.

Appears 7 times in 7 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

Dung( Gate) in Jerusalem

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Psalm 113:7

Range of meaning

A refuse heap, ash heap or dunghill: the mound outside a town where ashes from ovens, animal dung and household rubbish were dumped. In Jerusalem the 'Dung Gate' (sha‘ar ha-ashpot, Neh 2:13; 3:13–14) led out to such a place.

Against the English

KJV 'dunghill' makes modern readers think of a farmyard manure pile. 'Ash heap' (WEB, NIV, ESV) and 'dump' (BSB) are closer. None of them shows that this was where outcasts actually lived and begged.

How it drifted

Western towns have no communal midden where people sit, so the social picture is lost.

Used elsewhere in the period

1 Sam 2:8 (identical phrase); Lam 4:5 (those raised in purple now 'embrace ash heaps'). Job's sitting 'among the ashes' (Job 2:8, a different word, 'efer) is rendered in the Septuagint as sitting 'on the dung heap' (epi tēs koprias), the same word the Septuagint uses here. This shows how the image was understood.

From the study of 1 Samuel 2:8

Range of meaning

A refuse heap or dump: the place where a town's ashes, dung and garbage piled up. In Palestine dried dung was burned as fuel, so the heaps were a mix of ash and manure. They stood outside the walls, and Jerusalem had a 'Dung Gate' (ša'ar hā'ašpōt) that led to one (Neh 2:13; 3:13–14; 12:31).

Against the English

KJV/WEB 'dunghill' keeps the filth and the shame. BSB/NIV/ESV 'ash heap' is also accurate but can sound tidier, like a fireplace's leftovers. NLT 'garbage dump' gets the social picture well.

How it drifted

'Ash heap' is not wrong, but modern readers have no picture of a town dump where people lived. The word means a social location: the outcast's place.

Used elsewhere in the period

Lam 4:5: the once-pampered children of Jerusalem now 'embrace refuse heaps'. Ps 113:7 repeats this line almost word for word. Job, struck with disease, sits 'among the ashes' (Job 2:8); the Greek Septuagint expands this to 'on the dung heap outside the city', which shows how the scene was understood in antiquity.

From the study of Nehemiah 12:31

Range of meaning

A refuse heap, ash heap or dung heap outside a town — the place where rubbish, ash and dung were dumped and where the destitute sat.

Against the English

All the main English versions say 'Dung Gate'. 'Refuse Gate' or 'Rubbish Gate' would be just as accurate; the heap held ash and general refuse, not only dung.

Used elsewhere in the period

1 Samuel 2:8 and Psalm 113:7 ('he lifts the needy from the ash heap'); Lamentations 4:5. The gate itself appears in Neh 2:13, 3:13–14 and here. Neh 3:13 puts it 1,000 cubits (about 450 m) from the Valley Gate, at the southern tip of the City of David hill.

Where it appears

1 Samuel · 1

  1. 1 Samuel 2:8 מֵֽאַשְׁפֹּת֙ from [the] ash heap

    He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap. He seats them among princes and bestows on them a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s, and upon them He has set the world.

    Here: 'From the refuse heap.' This was the town dump of ashes, dung and garbage outside the walls, where outcasts, beggars and the diseased sat. It is a place of social death and filth, not just poverty.

Nehemiah · 4

  1. Nehemiah 2:13 הָאַשְׁפֹּ֑ת the dung

    So I went out at night through the Valley Gate toward the Well of the Serpent and the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that had been broken down and the gates that had been destroyed by fire.

    Here: 'The refuse heaps.' This was the gate at the southern tip of the city through which ash, rubbish and dung were carried out to the dumps below. Nehemiah 3:13 puts it 1,000 cubits (about 450 m) from the Valley Gate.

  2. Nehemiah 3:13 הָשֲׁפֽוֹת׃ the dung

    The Valley Gate was repaired by Hanun and the residents of Zanoah. They rebuilt it, installed its doors, bolts, and bars, and repaired a thousand cubits of the wall as far as the Dung Gate.

  3. Nehemiah 3:14 הָאַשְׁפּ֗וֹת the dung

    The Dung Gate was repaired by Malchijah son of Rechab, ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem. He rebuilt it and installed its doors, bolts, and bars.

    Here: 'Of the refuse heaps.' The gate is named for the city's rubbish dumps. Ash, broken pottery and household waste were carried out through it to the valley below.

  4. Nehemiah 12:31 הָאַשְׁפֹּֽת׃ the dung

    Then I brought the leaders of Judah up on the wall, and I appointed two great thanksgiving choirs. One was to proceed along the top of the wall to the right, toward the Dung Gate.

    Here: 'The refuse heaps': the gate at the city's southern tip through which rubbish and ash were carried out to the valley. The thanksgiving begins its march toward the city's least dignified gate.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 113:7 מֵֽ֝אַשְׁפֹּ֗ת from [the] ash heap

    He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the dump

    Here: 'From the ash heap.' This was the town's rubbish mound outside the walls, a pile of ashes, dung and waste. The destitute and the diseased sat there and begged. It is a picture of being thrown out of society, not only of being poor.

Lamentations · 1

  1. Lamentations 4:5 אַשְׁפַּתּֽוֹת׃ ס ash heaps

    Those who once ate delicacies are destitute in the streets; those brought up in crimson huddle in ash heaps.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.