Original Word: מַחֲרָאָה
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: machara'ah
Pronunciation: makh-ar-aw'
Phonetic Spelling: (makh-ar-aw-aw')
KJV: draught house
NASB: latrine
Word Origin: [from the same as H2716 (חֶרֶא חֲרִי - dung)]

1. a sink

draught house

From the same as chere'; a sink -- draught house.

see HEBREW chere'

Word Origin
from the same as chere
Definition
a cloaca, cesspool
NASB Translation
latrine (1).

[מַחֲרָאָה] noun feminine plural draught house, 2 Kings 10:27.

[מַחֲרָאָה] noun feminine only plural cloaca, cess-pool; — מחראות 2 Kings 10:27 Kt (Qr מוֺצָאוֺת).

Concept Overview

מַחֲרָאָה (Strong’s Hebrew 4280) denotes the place where refuse—especially ashes or dung—is gathered and removed from the worshiping community. Though this specific noun does not appear in the canonical text, the idea it represents threads through Scripture wherever God’s people deal with the disposal of what is unclean or spent after sacrifice. The word therefore serves as a doorway into the biblical theology of purification, separation from defilement, and the Lord’s gracious condescension toward those who once sat “on the ash heap.”

Old Testament Background

1. Ritual Disposal of Ashes
• In daily Tabernacle worship the priest “shall remove the ashes from the burnt offering” and “carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place” (Leviticus 6:10-11).
• This regulated removal protected Israel from ritual impurity and visually proclaimed that God accepts sacrifice yet will not allow defilement to linger in His dwelling.

2. Ash Heaps Outside the City
• Nehemiah surveyed “the Valley Gate… facing the Dung Gate” (Nehemiah 2:13). The Dung Gate led to the refuse site south of Jerusalem where ashes, dung, and garbage were discarded.
• Job “sat among the ashes” (Job 2:8), showing that the ash heap could also be a place of deepest humiliation and mourning.

3. Divine Compassion From the Dunghill
• “He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the dunghill” (Psalm 113:7). The Lord’s readiness to rescue from the very place symbolized by מַחֲרָאָה displays His covenant love.

Theological Significance

1. Separation From Sin

The continual removal of ashes illustrated how atonement both covers guilt and removes its residue. Sin cannot remain within the sphere of holy fellowship; it must be carried “outside the camp.”

2. Anticipation of the Perfect Offering

Sacrificial animals whose blood was brought into the sanctuary on the Day of Atonement had their bodies burned “outside the camp” (Leviticus 16:27). Hebrews 13:11-12 connects this to Jesus Christ: “So Jesus also suffered outside the gate, to sanctify the people by His own blood.” The logic of מַחֲרָאָה culminates in Golgotha, where the true removal of sin occurred.

3. Humiliation and Exaltation

The ash heap is the lowest point socially and ceremonially, yet Psalm 113:7-8 reveals a pattern: God lifts the needy from that low place and seats them “with princes.” The Savior’s descent into the place of refuse and His resurrection glory supply the template for every believer’s story.

Historical and Cultural Notes

• Ancient Near-Eastern cities often designated a refuse mound downwind of residential areas. Ashes from household hearths, dung used as fuel, and sacrificial waste collected there, breeding disease if left unchecked. Israel’s Law uniquely wove this public-health measure into a theology of holiness.
• By Second Temple times the Kidron Valley received ashes from the Temple altar. Rabbinic sources describe a causeway built to keep Levitical feet from defilement on their way to the ash pile, underscoring the seriousness attached to purity.

New Testament Echoes

• Hebrews 9:13-14 contrasts the ashes of a heifer, sprinkled for outward cleansing, with the blood of Christ that “purifies our conscience from dead works.”
• In Philippians 2 the Messiah’s self-emptying can be read against the backdrop of the ash heap: He takes the lowest place so that God might “highly exalt Him” (Philippians 2:9).

Practical Ministry Applications

1. Pursue Personal Holiness

As the priests did not allow ashes to accumulate, believers must not let sin linger. Confession and repentance follow the pattern of immediate removal.

2. Serve in Humility

Ministry may at times resemble working at the מַחֲרָאָה—hidden, unpleasant, unnoticed. Yet such service mirrors the Savior who bore reproach outside the gate (Hebrews 13:13).

3. Proclaim Hope to the Outcast

Psalm 113:7 authorizes the church to announce that no one is beyond the Lord’s reach. From ash heap to royal fellowship remains the gospel trajectory.

Summary

Although מַחֲרָאָה itself never surfaces in the Hebrew text, its underlying reality pervades the biblical story: God removes impurity, bears reproach, and exalts the humbled. The term reminds worshipers that holiness requires both sacrifice and separation, and it directs eyes to Jesus Christ, who turned the place of refuse into the platform of redemption.

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