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Re: Sackcloth and ashes

Posted by ESC on January 20, 2004

In Reply to: Sackcloth and ashes posted by mary on January 20, 2004

: what's the meaning and origin of "sackcloth and ashes"

From Bible Gateway (advanced search) at http://www.biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible :

Daniel 9
3 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:

TO WEAR SACKCLOTH AND ASHES - "To be contrite, penitent or chagrined over something one has done. It was an ancient Hebrew custom to wear sackcloth dusted with or accompanied by ashes as a sign of humbleness in religious ceremonies." From "The Dictionary of Cliches" by James Rogers (Ballantine Books, New York, 1985).