They cast dust (εβαλον χουν). Second aorist active of βαλλω. Χους is old word (from χεω to pour) for heap of earth, dust, in N.T. only here and Mark 6:11. Cf. Ezekiel 27:30; Luke 10:13. This is the dirge of the sea-folk (cf. verses Revelation 18:10; Revelation 18:16).

By reason of her costliness (εκ της τιμιοτητος αυτης). Occasionally in later literary Greek, though here only in N.T. and not in LXX. The same use of τιμη appears in 1. Peter 2:7. Common in the papyri as a title like "Your Honor" (Moulton and Milligan's Vocabulary).