To repent in sackcloth and ashes, or to lie down among ashes, was an external sign of self-affliction for sin, or of grief under misfortune. We find it adopted by Job, Job 2:8; by many Jews when in great fear, Esther 4:3; and by the king of Nineveh, Jonah 3:6 . The ashes of a red heifer were used in ceremonial purification, Numbers 19:1-22 .