SAND. A Similitude taken from the Sand of the Sea is often made use of, to express a very great Multitude, or a very great Weight, or something very mean and of little Consequence. God promises Abraham and Jacob to multiply their Posterity as the Stars of Heaven, and as the Sand of the Sea. Job compares the Weight of his Misfortunes to that of the Sand of the Sea. And Solomon Proverbs xxvii. 3.says, That tho’ Sand and Gravel are very heavy things, yet the Anger of a Fool is much heavier. And the Author of EcclesiasticusEcclus. xxii. 18. says, That a Fool is more insupportable than the Weight of Sand, Lead, or Iron.
We have already taken notice, under the Article GLASS, that the Sand of Palestine was much used for the making of Glass. See Deut. xxxiii. 19.
We have also observed, under the Word PHÆNIX, that the Passage of Job translated by sicut palma, or sicut Phœnix multiplicabo dies, signifies according to the Hebrew, I will multiply his Days as the Sand. Job xxix. 18.
The Prophets magnify the Omnipotence Jer. v. 22.of God, who has fix’d the Sand of the Shore for the Boundaries of the Sea, and has said to it; Hitherto thou shalt come, and here thou shalt break thy foaming Waves, and shalt pass no further.
Matth. vii. 26.Our Saviour tells us, that the Fool lays the Foundations of his House upon the Sand; whereas the Wise-man founds it upon a Rock.
Wis. vii. 9. Ecclus. xviii. 8.The Author of Ecclesiasticus says, That the Years of the longest Life of Man are but as a Drop of Water, or as a Grain of Sand. And the Author of the Book of Wisdom says, That all the Gold in the World, compared to Wisdom, are but as the smallest Grain of Sand.