Dung; Dung Gate
Dung in Sacrificial Law
The first significant mention of dung in Scripture comes in connection with the sacrificial system. The law required that when a bull was offered as a sin offering, its dung, along with the hide, flesh, and intestines, had to be burned outside the camp in a clean place (Exodus 29:14; Leviticus 4:11; 8:17; 16:27). This regulation emphasized the thorough removal of sin symbolized by the sacrifice. The author of Hebrews drew a connection between this practice and Jesus' crucifixion outside the city gates (Hebrews 13:11-13), inviting believers to go to Him "outside the camp."
The red heifer ceremony also required that the entire animal, including its dung, be burned (Numbers 19:5). Nothing was to remain; the complete consumption symbolized the totality of purification.
Dung as Fuel and Fertilizer
In a land where wood was scarce, dried animal dung served as a common fuel source. Villagers throughout Palestine and Syria collected cattle, horse, or camel dung, mixed it with straw, formed it into cakes, and dried them for use in cooking fires. This practice, still observed in some regions today, explains the otherwise puzzling passage in Ezekiel 4:12-15, where God told Ezekiel to bake bread over human dung as a sign of Israel's coming defilement. When Ezekiel protested, God permitted him to use cow dung instead (Ezekiel 4:15). The issue was not that animal dung was inherently unclean, but that human dung carried associations of ritual impurity.
The fertilizing value of dung was also recognized. In the parable of the barren fig tree, the gardener pleaded for one more year, promising to dig around the tree and add manure (Luke 13:8). This practical agricultural detail illustrated God's patience and His willingness to provide every opportunity for fruitfulness.
The Dung Gate of Jerusalem
The Dung Gate was one of the gates in Jerusalem's walls, mentioned in Nehemiah's account of inspecting and rebuilding the city's defenses. Nehemiah passed through or near it during his nighttime survey of the broken walls (Nehemiah 2:13), and it was repaired by Malchijah son of Rechab (Nehemiah 3:14). The gate took its name from its function: it was the exit through which refuse and waste were carried out of the city to be disposed of in the valley below.
The Dung Gate was located on the southern side of Jerusalem, facing the Valley of Hinnom. This valley had dark associations in Israel's history, having been the site of child sacrifice to Molech (2 Kings 23:10; Jeremiah 7:31). By the time of Jesus, the valley had become the city's garbage dump, a place of perpetual burning that gave rise to the Greek word Gehenna, used by Jesus as an image of final judgment.
Dung as a Metaphor for Worthlessness
Scripture frequently uses dung as a metaphor for what is utterly worthless or contemptible. Bodies left unburied would become "like dung on the surface of the ground" (Jeremiah 8:2; 9:22; 16:4; 25:33). Zephaniah warned that in the day of judgment, the blood of the wicked would be poured out like dust and their flesh like dung (Zephaniah 1:17). Kings and dynasties are threatened with being swept away like dung (1 Kings 14:10).
Paul used this imagery in his most personal testimony. Comparing his former religious achievements to knowing Christ, he declared: "I count them as rubbish" (Philippians 3:8). The Greek word skubalon carries the force of "dung" or "refuse," expressing the most emphatic possible depreciation of everything Paul once valued.
God himself used dung language as a form of rebuke. Through Malachi, He warned the priests: "I will spread dung on your faces, the dung of your festival sacrifices" (Malachi 2:3), a devastating image of divine displeasure with corrupt worship.
Biblical Context
Dung appears in sacrificial legislation (Exodus 29:14; Leviticus 4:11; Numbers 19:5), in Ezekiel's prophetic sign-act (Ezekiel 4:12-15), in Jesus' parable of the fig tree (Luke 13:8), and extensively as a metaphor for worthlessness throughout the prophets. The Dung Gate features in Nehemiah 2:13 and 3:14. Paul's use of skubalon in Philippians 3:8 represents the New Testament climax of this imagery.
Theological Significance
The dung imagery in Scripture serves a powerful theological purpose: it strips away pretense and exposes the true value of things in God's sight. What the world considers impressive may be dung in God's estimation, while what seems lowly — like a crucifixion outside the city — may be the means of salvation. The burning of dung with sacrifices outside the camp prefigured Christ's suffering outside Jerusalem. Paul's willingness to count all things as dung for the sake of Christ models radical reorientation of values.
Historical Background
The use of dried dung as fuel is documented across the ancient Near East and continues in parts of the Middle East today. Archaeological evidence from Jerusalem has confirmed the location of ancient gates, and the Dung Gate area corresponds to the southern approach to the City of David. The Valley of Hinnom, accessed through the Dung Gate area, has been extensively studied, confirming its use as a refuse dump in the late Second Temple period. The modern Dung Gate in Jerusalem's Old City walls, built by Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th century, preserves the ancient name.