Genesis 3:19
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.
Study Note
Study Note
'By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return' — the divine sentence on Adam ties together labor, mortality, and creation's ground in a single theological vision of human existence east of Eden. The phrase 'dust to dust' became one of the most quoted lines in all mortuary liturgy, entering Christian burial rites and providing the theological vocabulary for reflection on mortality across cultures. The announcement of death as a curse provides the explanatory framework for Paul's theology of death as 'the wages of sin' (Romans 6:23) and Christ's reversal of the Adam-curse through his own death and resurrection (Romans 5:12–21; 1 Corinthians 15:21–22). The verse maintains the paradox of Genesis 2:7 — the one made from adamah (ground) returns to it — ensuring that human mortality is understood as deeply connected to creatureliness, not merely as punishment.
Other Translations
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.
by the sweat of thy face thou dost eat bread till thy return unto the ground, for out of it hast thou been taken, for dust thou <FI>art<Fi> , and unto dust thou turnest back.'
With the hard work of your hands you will get your bread till you go back to the earth from which you were taken: for dust you are and to the dust you will go back.
Cross References
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of …
And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but …
I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a buryingplace with you, that I …
And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and …
If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness.
They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest together is in the dust.
And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:
They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them.
All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me …