Topical Bible: Sand

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In the Bible, sand is often used metaphorically to convey ideas of vastness, multitude, and sometimes instability. It appears in various contexts throughout the Scriptures, symbolizing both the innumerable and the transient.

Symbol of Multitude and Abundance

Sand is frequently employed to illustrate the concept of innumerability. In Genesis 22:17, God promises Abraham, "I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore." This imagery underscores the vastness of Abraham's progeny, emphasizing God's abundant blessing and the fulfillment of His covenant.

Similarly, in Hosea 1:10, the prophet declares, "Yet the Israelites will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted." Here, sand symbolizes the future restoration and growth of Israel, despite their current state of disobedience and dispersion.

Metaphor for Instability and Transience

Sand also serves as a metaphor for instability and the fleeting nature of life. In Matthew 7:26-27, Jesus uses the imagery of sand to illustrate the folly of building one's life on anything other than His teachings: "But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its collapse."

This parable highlights the importance of a solid foundation, contrasting the shifting, unstable nature of sand with the steadfastness of rock, which represents obedience to Christ's words.

Divine Wisdom and Creation

In the wisdom literature, sand is used to express the limits of human understanding compared to divine wisdom. In Job 6:3, Job laments, "For then it would outweigh the sand of the seas—no wonder my words have been rash." Here, sand signifies the overwhelming weight of Job's suffering, which he feels is beyond human comprehension.

Moreover, in Jeremiah 5:22, God declares His sovereign power over creation: "Do you not fear Me? declares the LORD. Do you not tremble before Me, the One who set the sand as the boundary for the sea, an everlasting barrier it cannot cross?" This passage underscores God's control over the natural world, using sand as a boundary that the mighty sea cannot surpass, illustrating His authority and the order He establishes in creation.

Cultural and Historical Context

In the ancient Near East, sand was a common feature of the landscape, particularly in desert regions. Its presence in biblical narratives would have been a familiar and powerful image for the original audience, evoking both the vastness of the desert and the proximity to the sea. The use of sand in biblical metaphors reflects the everyday experiences and environment of the people, grounding spiritual truths in tangible realities.

Overall, sand in the Bible serves as a multifaceted symbol, representing both the infinite and the impermanent, the blessings of God and the need for a firm foundation in His truth.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

1. (n.) Fine particles of stone, esp. of siliceous stone, but not reduced to dust; comminuted stone in the form of loose grains, which are not coherent when wet.

2. (n.) A single particle of such stone.

3. (n.) The sand in the hourglass; hence, a moment or interval of time; the term or extent of one's life.

4. (n.) Tracts of land consisting of sand, like the deserts of Arabia and Africa; also, extensive tracts of sand exposed by the ebb of the tide.

5. (n.) Courage; pluck; grit.

6. (v. t.) To sprinkle or cover with sand.

7. (v. t.) To drive upon the sand.

8. (v. t.) To bury (oysters) beneath drifting sand or mud.

9. (v. t.) To mix with sand for purposes of fraud; as, to sand sugar.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

SAND

(chol; ammos; a variant of the more usual psammos; compare amathos, psamathos): Sand is principally produced by the grinding action of waves. This is accompanied by chemical solution, with the result that the more soluble constituents of the rock diminish in amount or disappear and the sands tend to become more or less purely silicious, silica or quartz being a common constituent of rocks and very Insoluble. The rocks of Palestine are so largely composed of limestone that the shore and dune sands are unusually calcareous, containing from 10 to 20 per cent of calcium carbonate. This is subject to solution and redeposition as a cement between the sand grains, binding them together to form the porous sandstone of the seashore, which is easily worked and is much used in building.

See Rock, III, (2).

Figurative:

(1) Used most often as a symbol of countless multitude; especially of the children of Israel (Genesis 22:17; Genesis 32:12 2 Samuel 17:11 1 Kings 4:20 Isaiah 10:22; Isaiah 48:19 Jeremiah 33:22 Hosea 1:10 Romans 9:27 Hebrews 11:12); also of the enemies of Israel (Joshua 11:4 Judges 7:12 1 Samuel 13:5; compare Revelation 20:8). Joseph laid up gram as the sand of the sea (Genesis 41:49); God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding and largeness of heart as the sand that is on the seashore (1 Kings 4:29); Job says "I shall multiply my days as the sand" (Job 29:18); the multitude of quails provided for the Israelites in the desert is compared to the sand (Psalm 78:27); the Psalmist says of the thoughts of God, "They are more in number than the sand" (Psalm 139:18); Jeremiah, speaking of the desolation of Jerusalem, says that the number of widows is as the sand (Jeremiah 15:8).

(2) Sand is also a symbol of weight (Job 6:3 Proverbs 27:3), and

(3) of instability (Matthew 7:26).

It is a question what is meant by "the hidden treasures of the sand" in Deuteronomy 33:19.

Alfred Ely Day

SAND FLIES

sand'-fliz (kinnim (Exodus 8:16 margin; Wis 19:10 margin)): English Versions of the Bible "lice."

See FLEA; GNAT; INSECTS; LICE.

GLOWING, SAND

glo'-ing, (Isaiah 35:11).

See MIRAGE.

SAND, GLOWING

glo'-ing.

See MIRAGE.

Greek

285. ammos -- sand
... ammos. 286 . sand. Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: ammos Phonetic
Spelling: (am'-mos) Short Definition: sand Definition: sand, sandy ground. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/285.htm - 6k

4950. Surtis -- "shoal," Syrtis, the name of two large sandbanks ...
... quicksands, Syrtis. From suro; a shoal (from the sand drawn thither by the waves),
ie The Syrtis Major or great bay on the north coast of Africa -- quicksands. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4950.htm - 6k

Strong's Hebrew

2344. chol -- sand
... chol. 2345 . sand. Transliteration: chol Phonetic Spelling: (khole) Short Definition:
sand. Word Origin from chul Definition sand NASB Word Usage sand (23). sand ...
/hebrew/2344.htm - 6k

4579. maah -- a grain (of sand)
... 4578, 4579. maah. 4580 . a grain (of sand). Transliteration: maah Phonetic
Spelling: (may-aw') Short Definition: grains. Word Origin ...
/hebrew/4579.htm - 6k

2546. chomet -- (a kind of) lizard
... Definition: reptile. Word Origin from an unused word Definition (a kind
of) lizard NASB Word Usage sand reptile (1). snail. From an ...
/hebrew/2546.htm - 5k

Library

The Weight of Sand
... THE PROVERBS THE WEIGHT OF SAND. 'The sand is weighty.'"PROVERBS, xxvii.3. ... I want
to make a parable out of it. What is lighter than a grain of sand? ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture g/the weight of sand.htm

The House Built Upon the Sand.
... THE HOUSE BUILT UPON THE SAND. ... And the people; see how they are fleeing to save their
lives! And all this calamity because he built his house upon the sand. ...
/.../anonymous/mother stories from the new testament/the house built upon the.htm

Fortunatus of Thuccabori Said: "Jesus Christ Our Lord and God...
... build, who hear the word of God and do it, [1672] but, living contrary to Christ
in hearing the word and not doing it, and hereby building on the sand, in this ...
/.../chapter 24 42 fortunatus.htm

Caius Commands that his Statue Should be Set up in the Temple ...
... 13] and hath near it a place no larger than a hundred cubits, which deserves admiration;
for the place is round and hollow, and affords such sand as glass is ...
/.../chapter 10 caius commands that.htm

The Heart of the Gospel
... came to the shore, one by one, the poor people wrung their hands in bitter
disappointment, for on board the galleys there was nothing but sand which the tyrant ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 32 1886/the heart of the gospel.htm

Always Tell the Truth
... He will be like a little fellow of whom I heard once, whose mother told him that
if he vent to play in a bank from which the men had been drawing sand for a ...
/.../touching incidents and remarkable answers to prayer/always tell the truth.htm

Tire-Trouble
... There are also sand-blisters, caused by little particles of sand getting into
the tire and making a swelling in it, which soon gives way. ...
/.../chidley/fifty-two story talks to boys and girls/tire-trouble.htm

Mirage or Lake
... And the glowing sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water.'
Isaiah 35:6, 7. What a picture is painted in these verses! ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture h/mirage or lake.htm

Diamond and his Mother Sat Down Upon the Edge of the Rough Grass ...
... Diamond and his mother sat down upon the edge of the rough grass that bordered the
sand. ... He lay down on the dry sand, and his mother covered him with a shawl. ...
/.../macdonald/at the back of the north wind/chapter 13 diamond and his.htm

"Come Thou and all Thy House into the Ark. "
... "Well, how was the first rock made?". "Out of sand.". "How was the first sand made?". ...
You see he had it all arranged so nicely. Sand and rock, rock and sand. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/moody/the overcoming life/come thou and all thy.htm

Thesaurus

Sand (40 Occurrences)
... 3. (n.) The sand in the hourglass; hence, a moment or interval of time; the term
or extent of one's life. ... 6. (vt) To sprinkle or cover with sand. ...
/s/sand.htm - 24k

Sand-lizard (1 Occurrence)
Sand-lizard. Sandlizard, Sand-lizard. Sands . Int. Standard Bible
Encyclopedia SAND-LIZARD. sand'-liz-ard. (chomeT; Septuagint ...
/s/sand-lizard.htm - 7k

Seashore (20 Occurrences)
... Hebrews 11:12 wherefore, also from one were begotten -- and that of one who had
become dead -- as the stars of the heaven in multitude, and as sand that 'is ...
/s/seashore.htm - 12k

Seaside (12 Occurrences)
... Hebrews 11:12 So that from one man, who was near to death, came children in number
as the stars in heaven, or as the sand by the seaside, which may not be ...
/s/seaside.htm - 10k

Sea-shore (11 Occurrences)
... Hebrews 11:12 wherefore also there sprang of one, and him as good as dead, 'so many'
as the stars of heaven in multitude, and as the sand, which is by the sea ...
/s/sea-shore.htm - 9k

Glass (12 Occurrences)
... A hard, brittle, translucent, and commonly transparent substance, white or colored,
having a conchoidal fracture, and made by fusing together sand or silica ...
/g/glass.htm - 21k

Grains (6 Occurrences)
... Hebrews 11:12 Therefore as many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as
innumerable as the sand which is by the sea shore, were fathered by one man, and ...
/g/grains.htm - 8k

Shore (45 Occurrences)
... (2) saphah, literally, "lip"; compare Arabic shafat, "lip"; of the sand upon the
seashore, a ... See COAST; HAVEN; SAND. Alfred Ely Day. Multi-Version Concordance ...
/s/shore.htm - 22k

Lizard (3 Occurrences)
... compare Arabic laTa', "to cling to the ground"; (7) chormeT, the King James Version
"snail," the Revised Version (British and American) "sand-lizard" (which see ...
/l/lizard.htm - 16k

Seas (40 Occurrences)
... There they will offer sacrifices of righteousness, for they shall draw out the
abundance of the seas, the hidden treasures of the sand." (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE ...
/s/seas.htm - 18k

Resources

What was Jesus writing in the dirt/sand when the Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery? | GotQuestions.org

What does it mean that the wise man built his house upon a rock? | GotQuestions.org

Who was Antiochus Epiphanes? | GotQuestions.org

Sand: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

Bible Concordance • Bible Dictionary • Bible Encyclopedia • Topical Bible • Bible Thesuarus

Concordance

Sand (40 Occurrences)

Matthew 7:26
Everyone who hears these words of mine, and doesn't do them will be like a foolish man, who built his house on the sand.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Acts 27:17
After they had hoisted it up, they used cables to help reinforce the ship. Fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis sand bars, they lowered the sea anchor, and so were driven along.
(WEB KJV WEY WBS YLT NIV)

Acts 27:39
When daylight came, they tried in vain to recognise the coast. But an inlet with a sandy beach attracted their attention, and now their object was, if possible, to run the ship aground in this inlet.
(Root in WEY BBE NIV)

Acts 27:41
And coming to a point between two seas, they got the ship to land; and the front part was fixed in the sand and not able to be moved, but the back part was broken by the force of the waves.
(BBE NIV)

Romans 9:27
Isaiah cries concerning Israel, "If the number of the children of Israel are as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant who will be saved;
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Hebrews 11:12
Therefore as many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as innumerable as the sand which is by the sea shore, were fathered by one man, and him as good as dead.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Revelation 12:17
The dragon grew angry with the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her seed, who keep God's commandments and hold Jesus' testimony.
(See RSV)

Revelation 13:1
Then I stood on the sand of the sea. I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads. On his horns were ten crowns, and on his heads, blasphemous names.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS)

Revelation 20:8
and he will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war; the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Genesis 22:17
that I will bless you greatly, and I will multiply your seed greatly like the stars of the heavens, and like the sand which is on the seashore. Your seed will possess the gate of his enemies.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Genesis 32:12
You said,'I will surely do you good, and make your seed as the sand of the sea, which can't be numbered because there are so many.'"
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Genesis 41:49
Joseph laid up grain as the sand of the sea, very much, until he stopped counting, for it was without number.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 2:12
He looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no one, he killed the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 16:3
And the children of Israel said to them, It would have been better for the Lord to have put us to death in the land of Egypt, where we were seated by the flesh-pots and had bread enough for our needs; for you have taken us out to this waste of sand, to put all this people to death through need of food.
(BBE)

Leviticus 11:30
and the gecko, and the land-crocodile, and the lizard, and the sand-lizard, and the chameleon.
(See JPS ASV BBE NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 32:10
He came to him in the waste land, in the unpeopled waste of sand: putting his arms round him and caring for him, he kept him as the light of his eye.
(BBE)

Deuteronomy 33:19
They shall call the peoples to the mountain. There they will offer sacrifices of righteousness, for they shall draw out the abundance of the seas, the hidden treasures of the sand."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Joshua 11:4
They went out, they and all their armies with them, many people, even as the sand that is on the seashore in multitude, with very many horses and chariots.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Judges 7:12
The Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like locusts for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand which is on the seashore for multitude.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

1 Samuel 13:5
The Philistines assembled themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude: and they came up, and encamped in Michmash, eastward of Beth Aven.
(Root in WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

2 Samuel 17:11
But I counsel that all Israel be gathered together to you, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that you go to battle in your own person.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

1 Kings 4:20
Judah and Israel were many as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and making merry.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

1 Kings 4:29
God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and very great understanding, even as the sand that is on the seashore.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Job 6:3
For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas, therefore have my words been rash.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Job 29:18
Then I said,'I shall die in my own house, I shall number my days as the sand.
(WEB KJV ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Job 39:14
For she leaves her eggs on the earth, warms them in the dust,
(See NIV)

Psalms 78:27
He rained also flesh on them as the dust; winged birds as the sand of the seas.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Psalms 102:6
I am like a bird living by itself in the waste places; like the night-bird in a waste of sand.
(BBE)

Psalms 139:18
If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I wake up, I am still with you.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Proverbs 20:17
Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but after, his mouth will be full of sand.
(BBE)

Proverbs 27:3
A stone is heavy, and sand is a burden; but a fool's provocation is heavier than both.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Isaiah 10:22
For though your people, Israel, are like the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Isaiah 35:7
The burning sand will become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water. Grass with reeds and rushes will be in the habitation of jackals, where they lay.
(WEB ASV BBE RSV NIV)

Isaiah 48:19
your seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of your body like its grains: his name would not be cut off nor destroyed from before me.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Jeremiah 2:6
And they never said, Where is the Lord, who took us up out of the land of Egypt; who was our guide through the waste of sand, through an unplanted land full of deep holes, through a dry land of deep shade, which no one went through and where no man was living?
(BBE)

Jeremiah 5:22
Don't you fear me? says Yahweh: won't you tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it can't pass it? and though its waves toss themselves, yet they can't prevail; though they roar, yet they can't pass over it.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Jeremiah 15:8
Their widows are increased to me above the sand of the seas; I have brought on them against the mother of the young men a destroyer at noonday: I have caused anguish and terrors to fall on her suddenly.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Jeremiah 33:22
As the army of the sky can't be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured; so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites who minister to me.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Hosea 1:10
Yet the number of the children of Israel will be as the sand of the sea, which can't be measured nor numbered; and it will come to pass that, in the place where it was said to them,'You are not my people,' they will be called'sons of the living God.'
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Habakkuk 1:9
All of them come for violence. Their hordes face the desert. He gathers prisoners like sand.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Subtopics

Sand

Sand Flies

Related Terms

Sand-lizard (1 Occurrence)

Seashore (20 Occurrences)

Seaside (12 Occurrences)

Sea-shore (11 Occurrences)

Glass (12 Occurrences)

Grains (6 Occurrences)

Shore (45 Occurrences)

Lizard (3 Occurrences)