And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the LORD, which am but dust and ashes:
Parallel translations
- WEB Abraham answered, “See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord, although I am dust and ashes.
- BSB Then Abraham answered, “Now that I have ventured to speak to the Lord—though I am but dust and ashes—
- NKJV Then Abraham answered and said, “Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord:
- NASB And Abraham replied, “Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am only dust and ashes.
- NLT Then Abraham spoke again. “Since I have begun, let me speak further to my Lord, even though I am but dust and ashes.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Abraham, calling himself dust and ashes, humbly presses his appeal to the Lord.
Overview
His self-description acknowledges the vast gulf between the creature and the Creator even as he prays boldly. True intercession combines holy boldness with deep humility. Abraham models how God's people may approach him reverently yet confidently (Hebrews 4:16).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Isa 6:5Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
- Gen 3:19In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
- Luke 5:8When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
- Isa 64:8But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.
- Job 30:19He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes.
- 1 Cor 15:47–48The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
- Ps 8:4What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
- Gen 2:7And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
- Gen 18:30–32And he said unto him, Oh let not the LORD be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there.
- Ps 144:3LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!
- Eccl 12:7Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
- Luke 18:1And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
- Job 4:19How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?
- Job 42:6–8Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.
- 2 Cor 5:1–2For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
- Ezra 9:6And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 18:27 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.