Dust. To lick the dust, Psalms 72:9, signifies abject submission. To shake the dust from the feet, Matthew 10:14; Luke 10:11, implies the renouncing of all contact. The Pharisees entering Judea from a Gentile country were accustomed to shake the dust from their feet, as a renunciation of Gentile communion. But there was a further meaning; as Paul's shaking his garments, Acts 18:6, so shaking off the dust was a declaration of being free from the blood of those who rejected the gospel-message. The casting of dust on or against a person was a form of bitter execration. 2 Samuel 16:13; Acts 22:23.