APAD: Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

The phrase 'ashes to ashes' expresses the notion that we come from dust and we return to dust.

'Ashes to ashes' derives from the English Burial Service. The text of that service is adapted from the Biblical text, Genesis 3:19 (King James Version):

In 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