Dictionary of Bible Themes  »  4000 Creation  »  4300 Metals and minerals  »  4360 sand

A fine granular substance formed by the erosion of rocks, and found especially in the deserts and by the sea. It is often used as a symbol of innumerability and occasionally as a symbol of instability.

Sand as a fine granular substance

In the desert

Exodus 2:12 See also Job 39:13-15; Isaiah 35:6-7

At the sea

Jeremiah 5:22 See also Deuteronomy 33:18-19; Acts 27:39

Sand-bars

Acts 27:41 See also Acts 27:17

The weight of sand

Job 6:2-3 See also Proverbs 27:3

Sand representing innumerability

God promised that Israel would be as innumerable as sand

Genesis 22:15-18 See also Genesis 32:9-12; 1 Kings 4:20; Isaiah 10:20-22; Isaiah 48:17-19; Jeremiah 33:19-22; Hosea 1:8-10; Romans 9:22-27; Hebrews 11:11-12

Armies described as being as innumerable as sand

1 Samuel 13:5 See also Joshua 11:1-5; Judges 7:12; 2 Samuel 17:11; Revelation 20:7-8

Other comparisons with the innumerability of sand

Genesis 41:49 See also 1 Kings 4:29; Job 29:18; Psalm 78:27-29; Psalm 139:17-18; Jeremiah 15:8; Habakkuk 1:8-9

The instability and impermanence of sand

Matthew 7:24-27 pp Luke 6:46-49

See also

4281  stars
4306  minerals
4354  rock
5891  instability