Storms of sand and dust sometimes overtake Eastern travellers. They are very dreadful, many perishing under them. Jehovah threatens to bring on the land of Israel, as a punishment for forsaking him, a rain of "powder and dust" ( Deuteronomy 28:24 ).

To cast dust on the head was a sign of mourning ( Joshua 7:6 ); and to sit in dust, of extreme affliction ( Isaiah 47:1 ). "Dust" is used to denote the grave ( Job 7:21 ). "To shake off the dust from one's feet" against another is to renounce all future intercourse with him ( Matthew 10:14 ; Acts 13:51 ). To "lick the dust" is a sign of abject submission ( Psalms 72:9 ); and to throw dust at one is a sign of abhorrence ( 2 Samuel 16:13 ; Compare Acts 22:23 ).

These dictionary topics are from
M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition,
published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain, copy freely.