Yosua 7:6

7:6 Joshua tore his clothes; ¹  he and the leaders ²  of Israel lay face down on the ground before the ark of the Lord until evening ³  and threw dirt on their heads. ⁴ 

Ratapan 2:10

י (Yod)

2:10 The elders of Daughter Zion

sit ⁵  on the ground in silence. ⁶ 

They have thrown dirt on their heads;

They have dressed in sackcloth. ⁷ 

Jerusalem’s young women ⁸  stare down at the ground. ⁹ 

Yehezkiel 27:30

27:30 They will lament loudly ¹⁰  over you and cry bitterly.

They will throw dust on their heads and roll in the ashes; ¹¹ 

[7:6]  ¹ sn Tearing one’s clothes was an outward expression of extreme sorrow (see Gen 37:34; 44:13).

[7:6]  ² tn Or “elders.”

[7:6]  ³ tn Heb “and fell on his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord until evening, he and the elders of Israel.”

[7:6]  ⁴ sn Throwing dirt on one’s head was an outward expression of extreme sorrow (see Lam 2:10; Ezek 27:30).

[2:10]  ⁵ tc Consonantal ישׁבו (yshvy) is vocalized by the MT as יֵשְׁבוּ (yeshvu), Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine plural from יָשַׁב (yashav, “to sit”): “they sit on the ground.” However, the ancient versions (Aramaic Targum, Greek Septuagint, Syriac Peshitta, Latin Vulgate) reflect an alternate vocalization tradition of יָשְׁבוּ (yashvu), Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine plural from שׁוּב (shuv, “to return”): “they return to the ground (= the grave).” The parallelism with the following line favors the MT.

[2:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “they sit on the ground, they are silent.” Based on meter, the two verbs יִדְּמוּ…יֵשְׁבוּ (yeshvu…yidÿmu, “they sit…they are silent”) are in the same half of the line. Joined without a ו (vav) conjunction they form a verbal hendiadys. The first functions in its full verbal sense while the second functions adverbially: “they sit in silence.” The verb יִדְּמוּ (yidÿmu) may mean to be silent or to wail.

[2:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “they have girded themselves with sackcloth.”

[2:10]  sn Along with putting dirt on one’s head, wearing sackcloth was a sign of mourning.

[2:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “the virgins of Jerusalem.” The term “virgins” is a metonymy of association, standing for single young women who are not yet married. These single women are in grief because their potential suitors have been killed. The elders, old men, and young women function together as a merism for all of the survivors (F. W. Dobbs-Allsopp, Lamentations [IBC], 92).

[2:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “have bowed down their heads to the ground.”

[27:30]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “make heard over you with their voice.”

[27:30]  ¹¹ tn Note a similar expression to “roll in the ashes” in Mic 1:10.