for though your people Israel were like the sand of the sea . . .

For the phrases “For though your people Israel were like the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness. For the Lord God of hosts will make a full end, as decreed, in all the earth,” see Romans 9:27 and Romans 9:28.

Note that this quote in the New Testament is not taken from the Hebrew Bible but from the Greek Septuagint (LXX) which translates into English as “And if the people of Israel become like the sand of the sea, the remnant will be saved, for he is completing and cutting short a reckoning with righteousness, because God will perform a shortened reckoning in the whole world.'” (Translation by NETS — for the Greek version see the title’s tooltip)

righteous, righteousness

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The Greek, Hebrew, and Latin terms that are translated in English mostly as “righteous” as an adjective or personified noun or “righteousness” (also as “justice”) are most commonly expressed with concept of “straightness,” though this may be expressed in a number of ways. (Click or tap here to see the details)

Following is a list of (back-) translations of various languages:

  • Bambara, Southern Bobo Madaré, Chokwe (ululi), Amganad Ifugao, Chol, Eastern Maninkakan, Toraja-Sa’dan, Pamona, Batak Toba, Bilua, Tiv: “be straight”
  • Laka: “follow the straight way” or “to straight-straight” (a reduplicated form for emphasis)
  • Highland Puebla Nahuatl, Kekchí, Muna: “have a straight heart”
  • Kipsigis: “do the truth”
  • Mezquital Otomi: “do according to the truth”
  • Huautla Mazatec: “have truth”
  • Yine: “fulfill what one should do”
  • Indonesian: “be true”
  • Navajo: “do just so”
  • Anuak: “do as it should be”
  • Mossi: “have a white stomach” (see also happiness / joy)
  • Paasaal: “white heart” (source: Fabian N. Dapila in The Bible Translator 2024, p. 415ff.)
  • Nuer: “way of right” (“there is a complex concept of “right” vs. ‘left’ in Nuer where ‘right’ indicates that which is masculine, strong, good, and moral, and ‘left’ denotes what is feminine, weak, and sinful (a strictly masculine viewpoint!) The ‘way of right’ is therefore righteousness, but of course women may also attain this way, for the opposition is more classificatory than descriptive.”) (This and all above from Bratcher / Nida except for Bilua: Carl Gross; Tiv: Rob Koops; Muna: René van den Berg)
  • Central Subanen: “wise-good” (source: Robert Brichoux in OPTAT 1988/2, p. 80ff. )
  • Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac: “live well”
  • Mezquital Otomi: “goodness before the face of God” (source for this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
  • Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl: “the result of heart-straightening” (source: Nida 1947, p. 224)
  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “entirely good” (when referred to God), “do good” or “not be a debtor as God sees one” (when referred to people)
  • Carib: “level”
  • Tzotzil: “straight-hearted”
  • Ojitlán Chinantec: “right and straight”
  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “walk straight” (source for this and four previous: John Beekman in Notes on Translation November 1964, p. 1-22)
  • Aari: The Pauline word for “righteous” is generally rendered by “makes one without sin” in the Aari, sometimes “before God” is added for clarity. (Source: Loren Bliese)
  • North Alaskan Inupiatun: “having sin taken away” (Source: Nida 1952, p. 144)
  • Nyamwezi: wa lole: “just” or “someone who follows the law of God” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Venda: “nothing wrong, OK” (Source: J.A. van Roy in The Bible Translator 1972, p. 418ff. )
  • Ekari: maakodo bokouto or “enormous truth” (the same word that is also used for “truth“; bokouto — “enormous” — is being used as an attribute for abstract nouns to denote that they are of God [see also here]; source: Marion Doble in The Bible Translator 1963, p. 37ff. ).
  • Guhu-Samane: pobi or “right” (also: “right (side),” “(legal) right,” “straightness,” “correction,” “south,” “possession,” “pertinence,” “kingdom,” “fame,” “information,” or “speech” — “According to [Guhu-Samane] thinking there is a common core of meaning among all these glosses. Even from an English point of view the first five can be seen to be closely related, simply because of their similarity in English. However, from that point the nuances of meaning are not so apparent. They relate in some such a fashion as this: As one faces the morning sun, south lies to the right hand (as north lies to the left); then at one’s right hand are his possessions and whatever pertains to him; thus, a rich man’s many possessions and scope of power and influence is his kingdom; so, the rich and other important people encounter fame; and all of this spreads as information and forms most of the framework of the people’s speech.”) (Source: Ernest Richert in Notes on Translation 1964, p. 11ff.)

See also respectable, righteous, righteous (person), and She is more in the right(eous) than I.

Translation commentary on Isaiah 10:22

Just as in verse 19 the forest implied a vast number of trees, here the figure of grains of sand also indicates a large number. In this case the figure is applied to Israel, not Assyria. This verse makes a contrast between the original vast number of people and the small number of those who will return.

For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea: The people of Israel are as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore. This kind of idiom is widely known, not just in Hebrew. But it may be more correct in many languages to say “as the sand of the seaside” rather than as the sand of the sea. Good News Translation has “as there are grains of sand by the sea.” Some translators may want to bring out the meaning of the idiom more clearly by saying “as countless as the [grains of] sand by the sea.” This is of course an exaggeration, used to emphasize the large number of Israelites. Where sand and sea are not part of a people’s experience, translators may use the dust of the ground as an alternative image, or they may state the underlying meaning by saying “very, very many.” It may also be possible to use an ideophone rather than the image.

In Hebrew the name Israel is a vocative here. The prophet is addressing the people of Israel, so this name may be placed at the beginning of the verse if required: “Israel, your people….” The vocative form in English may be expressed as “O Israel”; for example, New International Version has “Though your people, O Israel, be like the sand by the sea.” Other languages may have different ways of expressing it. Good News Translation drops the pronoun your to avoid all ambiguity.

Only a remnant of them will return: In contrast to the countless grains of sand, only a tiny number of Israelites, a remnant, will return home.

Destruction is decreed: The challenge here is to determine who decrees, who destroys, and who is being destroyed. God is the one who has decreed, or announced, that destruction is coming. It is not specified who is actually going to carry out the destruction. The context suggests Israel will be destroyed, referring back to the events surrounding the captivity by Assyria. However, this does not need to be made explicit. If the passive verb decreed is made active, Yahweh should be the subject. Bible en français courant has “The destruction is decided,” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch says “Your downfall is a sure [or, decided] thing.”

Overflowing with righteousness seems to say the opposite of the previous clause. The Hebrew participle rendered overflowing means something that is so full that it overflows; it is more than just abundant. The Hebrew noun for righteousness also means “justice/right.” So this clause is literally “justice overflows.” It means God’s decree of destruction is fully just and deserved. Here Good News Translation offers an excellent translation model with “and it is fully deserved.” New American Bible says “as overwhelming justice demands,” and Bible en français courant has “justice will take its course.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, however, suggests that it means “Retribution comes like a flood,” making it parallel to the previous clause (similarly Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). We prefer the meaning of Good News Translation and New American Bible.

As examples of translation for this verse, consider the following:

• O Israel!
Even though your people are as numerous as sand on the seashore,
only a remnant will return home.
God says: “I have determined to destroy the land; justice will overflow.”

• You people Israel, even though you are like sand on the seashore in number, only a few will return home. Your destruction is determined; it is fully just.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .