καὶ πάλιν ἐν τῷ διαχωρισθῆναι αὐτὸν ἀπὸ Λὼτ εἴπεν αὐτῷ ὁ Θεός. + Ἀναβλέψας τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς σου, ἴδε ἀπὸ τοῦ τόπου, οὗ νῦν σὺ εἶ, πρὸς βορρᾶν καὶ λίβα καὶ ἀνατολὰς καὶ θάλασσαν· ὅτι πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν, ἥν σὺ ὁρᾷς, σοὶ δώσω αὐτὴν καὶ τῷ σπέρματί σου ἕως αἰῶνος· 5 καὶ ποιήσω τό σπέρμα σου ὡς τὴν ἄμμον τῆς γῆς εἰ δύναταί τις ἐξαριθμῆσαι τὴν ἄμμον τὴς γῆς, καὶ τὸ σπέρμα σου ἐξαριθμηθήσεται
Translation: And again, at the time of the separation from Lot, God said to him, Lift up your eyes and look about from where you stand, to the north and south, from the rising of the sun even to the sea – this is the place which I shall give to you and forever to your descendants; I will make your descendants as numerous as the sand of earth. If one is able to count the sand of the earth, then will your descendants be numbered.
Kirsopp Lake: 4 And again, when he was separated from Lot, God said to him, “Lift up thine eyes and look from the place where thou art now, to the North and to the South and to the East and to the West; for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it and to thy seed for ever. 5 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth. If a man can number the dust of the earth thy seed shall also be numbered.”
Translation notes:
καὶ πάλιν ἐν τῷ διαχωρισθῆναι αὐτὸν ἀπὸ Λὼτ εἴπεν αὐτῷ ὁ Θεός
And again, in the division (in the to have been divided) he from Lot, he said to him, (that) is God (said)
And again, when God spoke to him to depart from Lot
ὁ Θεός: Being in the nominative and being articular, God is plainly marked as the subject. Moreover, it matches the number of the verb “he said” εἴπεν.
αὐτῷ: that is, Abraham, the one to whom God spoke.
τῷ διαχωρισθῆναι: infinitive (here an aorist passive infinitive) of indirect discourse. This is seen, in part, by being matched to a verb of perception or communication which is a marker for the infinitive of indirect discourse (Wallace, 603-605). The verb form marks this as the summary of the communication from God. Wallace notes, “The general principle for these infinitives is th the infinitive of indirect discourse retains the tense of the direct discourse and usually represents either an imperative or a indicative” (Wallace, 604).
Ἀναβλέψας τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς σου: Lifting up the eyes of you (your eyes).
Ἀναβλέψας: aorist participle of attendant circumstance: 1) it is in the aorist; 2) the main verb (“see”) is aorist; 3) the mood of the main verb is imperatival; 4) the participle precedes the main verb; and 5) occurs in narrative.
τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς σου: the thing seen would be in the accusative (see, e.g., Matt. 14:19), the eyes, being moved are in the dative.
ἴδε ἀπὸ τοῦ τόπου: look from this place.
τοῦ: the article is deictic; that is, it refers to the particular place at hand. Translate as a demonstrative, this.
οὗ νῦν σὺ εἶ: where now you are.
Note: hou (the genitive of hos) means “where”; it marks a place. Ou (without the rough breathing) means no.
πρὸς βορρᾶν καὶ λίβα καὶ ἀνατολὰς καὶ θάλασσαν: to the north and south and rising (sun) (east) and sea (west).
ὅτι πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν: namely, all the land. This is an appositional use of the hoti: it elaborates the hen (that) of the next clause. Wallace, 458-4459.
ἥν σὺ ὁρᾷς: that you see
σοὶ δώσω αὐτὴν καὶ τῷ σπέρματί σου ἕως αἰῶνος: to you I shall give it and to the see of you until the ages.
σοὶ: to you, dative as indirect object.
δώσω αὐτὴν: I shall give it (that is the land; note feminine form)
καὶ τῷ σπέρματί σου: and to your seed (descendants). Dative of indirect object. The kai and indicates that the give to the descendants is parallel to the gift to Abraham.
ἕως αἰῶνος:
In other passages we have the expressions εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, εἰς τοὺς αἰώνας, ἕως αἰῶνος, εἰς τοὺς αἰώνας τῶν αἰώνων; see, e.g., Luke 1:33, 55; John 12:34, 13:8; Rom. 9:5; Gal. 1:5; 1 Tim. 1:17. Some translators have rendered these passages literally, and without respect to their usage in the LXX; (e.g. ‘unto the age,’ ‘unto the ages,’ &c.). In 1 Tim. 1:17, God is called ‘the King of ages’ (A. V. King Eternal); whilst in Heb. 1:2, 11:3, He is said to have made ‘the ages’ (A. V. the worlds). The rendering of the A. V. is no doubt right in the first case, and probably in the second also. Ages and worlds bear the same relation to one another as time and space do, and the process of creating worlds was the means of bringing ages into being.
Robert Baker Girdlestone, Synonyms of the Old Testament: Their Bearing on Christian Doctrine. (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1998), 318.
That God should remember his commitment to Abraham is the theme of Exod 2:24; 32:13; Deut 9:27 and Ps 104 [105]:8–11, 42. His mercy to the patriarchs or David appears in 2 Sam 22:51; Ps 97 [98]:3; Mic 7:20. Appeal to what was spoken to the patriarchs is also found in Deut 7:8, 12; Josh 1:6; 5:6; etc In language, “mercy—just as he spoke to our fathers—to Abraham” is close to Mic 7:20, but not closer to LXX than MT while “mercy to … and to his seed forever” could echo 2 Sam 22:51 (for “forever” Luke has εἰς τὸναἰῶνα [only here in Luke-Acts] rather than LXX ἕως αίῶνος). The first allusion underlines the eschatological coloring of the Magnificat. The second may draw in a messianic note, but probably only reflects the Jewish application to the nation of OT promises to the royal line.
John Nolland, vol. 35A, Luke 1:1–9:20, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 2002), 73.
καὶ ποιήσω τό σπέρμα σου: and I shall make the seed of you.
The kai (and) again draws a parallel, this time between the gift of the land and the extent of Abraham’s descendants.
ὡς τὴν ἄμμον τῆς γῆς εἰ δύναταί τις ἐξαριθμῆσαι τὴν ἄμμον τὴς γῆς: as the dust fo the earth – if you would be able anyone to number the dust of the earth.
ὡς τὴν ἄμμον: modifies “your seed” and thus matches the case (accusative).
Ammos, sand/dust is used idiomatically in the LXX fo something which cannot be numbered:
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Gen 13:16
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καὶ ποιήσω τὸ σπέρμα σου ὡς τὴν ἄμμον τῆς γῆς, εἰ δύναταί τις ἐξαριθμῆσαι τὴν ἄμμον τῆς γῆς, καὶ τὸ σπέρμα σου ἐξαριθμηθήσεται.
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I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted.
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Gen 22:17
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ἦ μὴν εὐλογῶν εὐλογήσω σε καὶ πληθύνων πληθυνῶ τὸ σπέρμα σου ὡς τοὺς ἀστέρας τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ὡς τὴν ἄμμον τὴν παρὰ τὸ χεῖλος τῆς θαλάσσης, καὶ κληρονομήσει τὸ σπέρμα σου τὰς πόλεις τῶν ὑπεναντίων,
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I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies,
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Gen 28:14
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καὶ ἔσται τὸ σπέρμα σου ὡς ἡ ἄμμος τῆς γῆς καὶ πλατυνθήσεται ἐπὶ θάλασσαν καὶ ἐπὶ λίβα καὶ ἐπὶ βορρᾶν καὶ ἐπʼ ἀνατολάς, καὶ ἐνευλογηθήσονται ἐν σοὶ πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἐν τῷ σπέρματί σου.
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Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
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Gen 32:13
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σὺ δὲ εἶπας Καλῶς εὖ σε ποιήσω καὶ θήσω τὸ σπέρμα σου ὡς τὴν ἄμμον τῆς θαλάσσης, ἣ οὐκ ἀριθμηθήσεται ἀπὸ τοῦ πλήθους.
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But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’ ”
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Gen 41:49
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καὶ συνήγαγεν Ιωσηφ σῖτον ὡσεὶ τὴν ἄμμον τῆς θαλάσσης πολὺν σφόδρα, ἕως οὐκ ἠδύναντο ἀριθμῆσαι, οὐ γὰρ ἦν ἀριθμός.
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And Joseph stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand of the sea, until he ceased to measure it, for it could not be measured.
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Exod 2:12
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περιβλεψάμενος δὲ ὧδε καὶ ὧδε οὐχ ὁρᾷ οὐδένα καὶ πατάξας τὸν Αἰγύπτιον ἔκρυψεν αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ ἄμμῳ.
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He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
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Josh 11:4
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καὶ ἐξῆλθον αὐτοὶ καὶ οἱ βασιλεῖς αὐτῶν μετʼ αὐτῶν ὥσπερ ἡ ἄμμος τῆς θαλάσσης τῷ πλήθει καὶ ἵπποι καὶ ἅρματα πολλὰ σφόδρα.
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And they came out with all their troops, a great horde, in number like the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots.
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Judg 7:12
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καὶ Μαδιαμ καὶ Αμαληκ καὶ πάντες οἱ υἱοὶ ἀνατολῶν παρεμβεβλήκεισαν ἐν τῇ κοιλάδι ὡς ἀκρὶς εἰς πλῆθος, καὶ ταῖς καμήλοις αὐτῶν οὐκ ἦν ἀριθμός, ἀλλʼ ἦσαν ὥσπερ ἡ ἄμμος ἡ ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖλος τῆς θαλάσσης εἰς πλῆθος.
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And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the East lay along the valley like locusts in abundance, and their camels were without number, as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance.
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1 Kgdms 13:5
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καὶ οἱ ἀλλόφυλοι συνάγονται εἰς πόλεμον ἐπὶ Ισραηλ, καὶ ἀναβαίνουσιν ἐπὶ Ισραηλ τριάκοντα χιλιάδες ἁρμάτων καὶ ἓξ χιλιάδες ἱππέων καὶ λαὸς ὡς ἡ ἄμμος ἡ παρὰ τὴν θάλασσαν τῷ πλήθει, καὶ ἀναβαίνουσιν καὶ παρεμβάλλουσιν ἐν Μαχεμας ἐξ ἐναντίας Βαιθων κατὰ νότου.
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And the Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude. They came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth-aven.
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2 Kgdms 17:11
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ὅτι οὕτως συμβουλεύων ἐγὼ συνεβούλευσα, καὶ συναγόμενος συναχθήσεται ἐπὶ σὲ πᾶς Ισραηλ ἀπὸ Δαν καὶ ἕως Βηρσαβεε ὡς ἡ ἄμμος ἡ ἐπὶ τῆς θαλάσσης εἰς πλῆθος, καὶ τὸ πρόσωπόν σου πορευόμενον ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν,
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But my counsel is that all Israel be gathered to you, from Dan to Beersheba, as the sand by the sea for multitude, and that you go to battle in person.
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3 Kgdms 2:35a
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Καὶ ἔδωκεν κύριος φρόνησιν τῷ Σαλωμων καὶ σοφίαν πολλὴν σφόδρα καὶ πλάτος καρδίας ὡς ἡ ἄμμος ἡ παρὰ τὴν θάλασσαν,
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3 Kgdms 2:46a
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Καὶ ἦν ὁ βασιλεὺς Σαλωμων φρόνιμος σφόδρα καὶ σοφός, καὶ Ιουδα καὶ Ισραηλ πολλοὶ σφόδρα ὡς ἡ ἄμμος ἡ ἐπὶ τῆς θαλάσσης εἰς πλῆθος, ἐσθίοντες καὶ πίνοντες καὶ χαίροντες,
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3 Kgdms 5:9
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Καὶ ἔδωκεν κύριος φρόνησιν τῷ Σαλωμων καὶ σοφίαν πολλὴν σφόδρα καὶ χύμα καρδίας ὡς ἡ ἄμμος ἡ παρὰ τὴν θάλασσαν,
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And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore,
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Jdth 2:20
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καὶ πολὺς ὁ ἐπίμικτος ὡς ἀκρὶς συνεξῆλθον αὐτοῖς καὶ ὡς ἡ ἄμμος τῆς γῆς, οὐ γὰρ ἦν ἀριθμὸς ἀπὸ πλήθους αὐτῶν.
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1 Macc 11:1
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Καὶ βασιλεὺς Αἰγύπτου ἤθροισεν δυνάμεις πολλὰς ὡς ἡ ἄμμος ἡ παρὰ τὸ χεῖλος τῆς θαλάσσης καὶ πλοῖα πολλὰ καὶ ἐζήτησε κατακρατῆσαι τῆς βασιλείας Ἀλεξάνδρου δόλῳ καὶ προσθεῖναι αὐτὴν τῇ βασιλείᾳ αὐτοῦ.
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Ps 77:27
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καὶ ἔβρεξεν ἐπʼ αὐτοὺς ὡσεὶ χοῦν σάρκας καὶ ὡσεὶ ἄμμον θαλασσῶν πετεινὰ πτερωτά,
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he rained meat on them like dust, winged birds like the sand of the seas;
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Ps 138:18
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ἐξαριθμήσομαι αὐτούς, καὶ ὑπὲρ ἄμμον πληθυνθήσονται, ἐξηγέρθην καὶ ἔτι εἰμὶ μετὰ σοῦ.
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If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.
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Odes 7:36
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οἷς ἐλάλησας πρὸς αὐτοὺς λέγων πληθῦναι τὸ σπέρμα αὐτῶν ὡς τὰ ἄστρα τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ὡς τὴν ἄμμον τὴν παρὰ τὸ χεῖλος τῆς θαλάσσης.
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Prov 27:3
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βαρὺ λίθος καὶ δυσβάστακτον ἄμμος, ὀργὴ δὲ ἄφρονος βαρυτέρα ἀμφοτέρων.
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A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty, but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.
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Job 6:3
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καὶ δὴ ἄμμου παραλίας βαρυτέρα ἔσται, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἔοικεν, τὰ ῥήματά μού ἐστιν φαῦλα.
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For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea; therefore my words have been rash.
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Sirach 1:2
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ἄμμον θαλασσῶν καὶ σταγόνας ὑετοῦ καὶ ἡμέρας αἰῶνος τίς ἐξαριθμήσει;
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Sirach 18:10
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ὡς σταγὼν ὕδατος ἀπὸ θαλάσσης καὶ ψῆφος ἄμμου, οὕτως ὀλίγα ἔτη ἐν ἡμέρᾳ αἰῶνος.
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Sirach 22:15
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ἄμμον καὶ ἅλα καὶ βῶλον σιδήρου εὔκοπον ὑπενεγκεῖν ἢ ἄνθρωπον ἀσύνετον.
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Hos 2:1
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Καὶ ἦν ὁ ἀριθμὸς τῶν υἱῶν Ισραηλ ὡς ἡ ἄμμος τῆς θαλάσσης, ἣ οὐκ ἐκμετρηθήσεται οὐδὲ ἐξαριθμηθήσεται, καὶ ἔσται ἐν τῷ τόπῳ, οὗ ἐρρέθη αὐτοῖς Οὐ λαός μου ὑμεῖς, ἐκεῖ κληθήσονται υἱοὶ θεοῦ ζῶντος.
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Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.”
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Hab 1:9
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συντέλεια εἰς ἀσεβεῖς ἥξει ἀνθεστηκότας προσώποις αὐτῶν ἐξ ἐναντίας καὶ συνάξει ὡς ἄμμον αἰχμαλωσίαν.
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They all come for violence, all their faces forward. They gather captives like sand.
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Isa 10:22
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καὶ ἐὰν γένηται ὁ λαὸς Ισραηλ ὡς ἡ ἄμμος τῆς θαλάσσης, τὸ κατάλειμμα αὐτῶν σωθήσεται, λόγον γὰρ συντελῶν καὶ συντέμνων ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ,
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For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness.
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Isa 48:19
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καὶ ἐγένετο ἂν ὡς ἡ ἄμμος τὸ σπέρμα σου καὶ τὰ ἔκγονα τῆς κοιλίας σου ὡς ὁ χοῦς τῆς γῆς, οὐδὲ νῦν οὐ μὴ ἐξολεθρευθῇς, οὐδὲ ἀπολεῖται τὸ ὄνομά σου ἐνώπιόν μου.
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your offspring would have been like the sand, and your descendants like its grains; their name would never be cut off or destroyed from before me.”
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Jer 5:22
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μὴ ἐμὲ οὐ φοβηθήσεσθε; λέγει κύριος, ἢ ἀπὸ προσώπου μου οὐκ εὐλαβηθήσεσθε; τὸν τάξαντα ἄμμον ὅριον τῇ θαλάσσῃ, πρόσταγμα αἰώνιον, καὶ οὐχ ὑπερβήσεται αὐτό, καὶ ταραχθήσεται καὶ οὐ δυνήσεται, καὶ ἠχήσουσιν τὰ κύματα αὐτῆς καὶ οὐχ ὑπερβήσεται αὐτό.
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Do you not fear me? declares the Lord. Do you not tremble before me? I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass; though the waves toss, they cannot prevail; though they roar, they cannot pass over it.
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Jer 15:8
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ἐπληθύνθησαν χῆραι αὐτῶν ὑπὲρ τὴν ἄμμον τῆς θαλάσσης, ἐπήγαγον ἐπὶ μητέρα νεανίσκου ταλαιπωρίαν ἐν μεσημβρίᾳ, ἐπέρριψα ἐπʼ αὐτὴν ἐξαίφνης τρόμον καὶ σπουδήν.
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I have made their widows more in number than the sand of the seas; I have brought against the mothers of young men a destroyer at noonday; I have made anguish and terror fall upon them suddenly.
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Jer 26:22
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φωνὴ ὡς ὄφεως συρίζοντος, ὅτι ἐν ἄμμῳ πορεύσονται, ἐν ἀξίναις ἥξουσιν ἐπʼ αὐτὴν ὡς κόπτοντες ξύλα.
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“She makes a sound like a serpent gliding away; for her enemies march in force and come against her with axes like those who fell trees.
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Dan 3:36
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οἷς ἐλάλησας πρὸς αὐτοὺς λέγων πληθῦναι τὸ σπέρμα αὐτῶν ὡς τὰ ἄστρα τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ὡς τὴν ἄμμον τὴν παρὰ τὸ χεῖλος τῆς θαλάσσης.
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εἰ δύναταί τις ἐξαριθμῆσαι: if one (anyone, tis) to number.
To number is a complementary infinitive (Wallace 598-599); it gives content to “to be able” which requires an additional action to make a complete thought. The preposition on “to count” does not seem to add any intensive force to the base verb “to count”. Perhaps it means something like “thoroughly count”, but such a sense seems to be limited. There are instances of it being used with very large numbers, (Herodotus, 2.143.2, “counting them out to the very large number”; 4.87.1, counting out 700,000 calvary; 7.59.2, Xeres counting his troops). The verb is used only in this sentence in the entire addition of the apostolic fathers.
καὶ τὸ σπέρμα σου ἐξαριθμηθήσεται: and (then) the seed of you (your descendants) shall be counted (future passive).
