'Sand' in the Bible

And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.

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.