Hand

Called by Galen “the instrument of instruments.” It is the symbol of human action (Ps. 9:16; Job 9:30; Isa. 1:15; 1 Tim. 2:8). Washing the hands was a symbol of innocence (Ps. 26:6; 73:13; Matt. 27:24), also of sanctification (1 Cor. 6:11; Isa. 51:16; Ps. 24:3, 4). In Ps. 77:2 the correct rendering is, as in the Revised Version, “My hand was stretched out,” etc., instead of, as in the Authorized Version, “My sore ran in the night,” etc.

The right hand denoted the south, and the left the north (Job 23:9; 1 Sam. 23:19). To give the right hand was a pledge of fidelity (2 Kings 10:15; Ezra 10:19); also of submission to the victors (Ezek. 17:18; Jer. 50:15). The right hand was lifted up in taking an oath (Gen. 14:22, etc.). The hand is frequently mentioned, particularly the right hand, as a symbol of power and strength (Ps. 60:5; Isa. 28:2). To kiss the hand is an act of homage (1 Kings 19:18; Job 31:27), and to pour water on one’s hands is to serve him (2 Kings 3:11). The hand of God is the symbol of his power: its being upon one denotes favour (Ezra 7:6, 28; Isa. 1:25; Luke 1:66, etc.) or punishment (Ex. 9:3; Judg. 2:15; Acts 13:11, etc.). A position at the right hand was regarded as the chief place of honour and power (Ps. 45:9; 80:17; 110:1; Matt. 26:64).

(yadh, "hand"; kaph, "the hollow hand," "palm"; yamin, "the right hand"; semo'l, "the left hand"; cheir, "hand"; dexia, "the right hand"; aristera, "the left hand" (only Lu 23:33; 2Co 6:7), or euphemistically (for evil omens come from the left hand; compare Latin sinister, German linkisch, etc.); euonumos, literally, "having a good name"): The Hebrew words are used in a large variety of idiomatic expressions, part of which have passed into the Greek (through the Sepuagint) and into modern European languages (through the translations of the Bible; see Oxford Hebrew Lexicon, under the word "yadh"). We group what has to be said about the word under the following heads:

1. The Human Hand: Various Uses:

The human hand (considered physically) and, anthropopathically, the hand of God (Ge 3:22; Ps 145:16): The hand included the wrist, as Will be seen from all passages in which bracelets are mentioned as ornaments of the hand, e.g. Ge 24:22,30,47; Eze 16:11; 23:42, or where the Bible speaks of fetters on the hands (Jud 15:14, etc.). On the other hand, it cannot seem strange that occasionally the expression "hand" may be used for a part, e.g. the fingers, as in Ge 41:42, etc.. According to the lexicon talionis, justice demanded "hand for hand" (Ex 21:24; De 19:21). We enumerate the following phrases without claiming to present a complete list: "To fill the hand" (Ex 32:29 m; 1Ch 29:5 margin) means to consecrate, evidently from the filling of hands with sacrificial portions for the altar. Compare also Le 7:37; 8:22,28,29,31,33, where the sacrifice, the ram, the basket of consecration are mentioned. "To put or set the hand unto" (De 15:10; 23:20; 28:8,20), to commence to do; "to put forth the hand" (Ge 3:22; 8:9); "to stretch out the hand" (Eze 25:13,16; Ze 2:13); "to shake or wag the hand upon" (Isa 10:32; Ze 2:15; Zec 2:9), to defy. "To lay the hand upon the head" (2Sa 13:19) is an expression of sadness and mourning, as we see from Egyptian representations of scenes of mourning. Both in joy and in anger hands are "smitten together" (Nu 24:10), and people "clap their hands" at a person or over a person in spiteful triumph (Job 27:23; La 2:15; Na 3:19). "To put one's life into one's hand" is to risk one's life (1Sa 19:5; 28:21). "To lay hands upon" is used in the sense of blessing (Mt 19:13), or is symbolical in the act of miraculous healing (Mt 9:18; Mr 8:23; Ac 28:8), or an emblem of the gift of the Holy Spirit and His endowments (Ac 8:17-19; 13:3; 1Ti 4:14; 2Ti 1:6); but it also designates the infliction of cruelty and punishment (Ge 37:22; Le 24:14), the imposition of responsibility (Nu 8:10; De 34:9). Thus also the sins of the people were symbolically transferred upon the goat which was to be sent into the wilderness (Le 16:21). This act, rabbinical writings declare, was not so much a laying on of hands, as a vigorous pressing. "Lifting up the hand" was a gesture accompanying an oath (De 32:40) or a blessing pronounced over a multitude (Le 9:22; Lu 24:50), a prayer (Ps 119:48). "To put the hands to the mouth" is indicative of (compulsory) silence (Job 21:5; 40:4; Pr 30:32; Mic 7:16). To "slack one's hand" is synonymous with negligence and neglect (Jos 10:6), and "to hide or bury the hand in the dish" is descriptive of the slothful, who is tired even at meals (Pr 19:24; 26:15).

2. The Hand as Power:

The hand in the sense of power and authority: (compare Assyrian idu, "strength"); Jos 8:20 margin, "They had no hands (the Revised Version (British and American) "power") to flee this way or that way"; Jud 1:35, "The hand of the house of Joseph prevailed"; Ps 76:5, "None of the men of might have found their hands"; Ps 89:48 margin, "shall deliver his soul from the hand (the Revised Version (British and American) "power") of Sheol"; 2Ki 3:15, "The hand of Yahweh came upon him"; Ex 14:31 margin, "Israel saw the great hand (the Revised Version (British and American) "work") which Yahweh did upon the Egyptians"; De 34:12, "in all the mighty hand .... which Moses wrought in the sight of all Israel."

3. The Hand for the Person:

The hand used (pars pro toto) for the person: "His hand shall be against every man" (Ge 16:12). "Slay the priests of Yahweh; because their hand also is with David" (1Sa 22:17). "Jonathan went to David into the wood and strengthened his hand in God" (1Sa 23:16). In this sense penalty is exacted "from the hand" or "at the hand" of the transgressor (Ge 9:5; Eze 33:8).

4. Hand, Meaning Side:

The hand in the sense of side: "All the side (Hebrew "hand") of the river Jabbok" (De 2:37); "by the wayside" (Hebrew "by the hand of the way," 1Sa 4:13). The manuscripts have here the error yakh, for yadh; compare the Hebrew of Ps 140:5 (6) (leyadh ma`gal); "On the side (Hebrew "hand") of their oppressors there was power" (Ec 4:1); "I was by the side (Hebrew "hand") of the great river" (Da 10:4).

5. English Idiom:

Mention must also be made here of the English idiom, "at hand," frequently found in our versions of the Scriptures. In Hebrew and Greek there is no reference to the word "hand," but words designating nearness of time or place are used. The usual word in Hebrew is qarabh, "to be near," and qarobh, "near"; in Greek eggus, "near," and the verb eggizo, "to come near." Rarely other words are used, as enesteken, "has come," the English Revised Version "is now present" (2Th 2:2), and ephesteken, "is come" (2Ti 4:6).

Frequently the words refer to the "day" or "coming of the Lord"; still it must not be forgotten that it may often refer to the nearness of God in a local sense, as in Jer 23:23, "Am I a God at hand, saith Yahweh, and not a God afar off?" and probably in Php 4:5, "The Lord is at hand," though many, perhaps most, commentators regard the expression as a version of the Aramaic maran atha (1Co 16:22). Passages such as Ps 31:20; 119:151; Mt 28:20 would, however, speak for an interpretation which lays the ictus on the abiding presence of the Lord with the believer.

NOTE.--The ancients made a careful distinction of the respective values of the two hands. This is perhaps best seen from Ge 48:13-19, where the imposition of the hands of aged Israel upon the heads of Joseph's sons seems unfair to their father, because the left hand is being placed upon the elder, the right hand upon the younger son. The very word euonumos proves the same from the Greek point of view. This word is a euphemistic synonym of aristera, and is used to avoid the unlucky omen the common word may have for the person spoken to. Thus the goats, i.e. the godless, are placed at the left hand of the great Judge, while the righteous appear at His right (Mt 25:33). We read in Ec 10:2, "A wise man's heart is at his right hand; but a fool's heart at his left," i.e. is inclined to evil. As the Jews orientated themselves by looking toward the rising of the sun (Latin oriens, the east), the left hand represented the north, and the right hand the south (1Sa 23:19,24; 2Sa 24:5). The right hand was considered the more honorable (1Ki 2:19; Ps 45:9); therefore it was given in attestation of a contract, a federation or fellowship (Ga 2:9). It is the more valuable in battle; a friend or protector will therefore take his place at the right to guard it (Ps 16:8; 73:23; 109:31; 110:5; 121:5), but the enemy will, for the same reason, try to assail it (Job 30:12; Ps 109:6; Zec 3:1). It was also the unprotected side, because the shield was carried on the left arm: hence, the point of danger and honor. The right hand is also the side of power and strength (Ps 60:5; 63:8; 108:6; 118:15,16; 110:1; Mt 22:44; Mt 20:21,23). Both hands are mentioned together in the sense of close proximity, intimate association, in Mr 10:37.

H. L. E. Luering

• → Imposition of hands Heb 6:2
• → In consecration Ge 48:14; Ex 29:10,15,19; Le 1:4; 3:2,8,13; 4:15,24,33; 16:21
• → In ordaining the Levites Nu 8:10,11
• → Joshua Nu 27:18-23; De 34:9
• → Timothy 1Ti 4:14; 2Ti 1:6
• → In healing Mr 6:5; 7:32; 16:18; Lu 4:40; Ac 19:6,11
• → In blessing children Mt 19:13; Mr 10:16
• → In solemnizing testimony Le 24:14
• → Lifted up in benediction Le 9:22; Lu 24:50
• → In prayer
  • See PRAYER, ATTITUDES IN
• → Ceremonial washing of Mt 15:2; Mr 7:2-5
• → See ABLUTIONS
• → See CLEAN
• → Symbolical of righteousness Job 17:9
• → Washing of, a symbol of innocency De 21:6; Mt 27:24
• → Clasping of, in token of contract Ezr 10:19; Pr 6:1; 17:18; La 5:6; Eze 17:18
• → Of friendship 2Ki 10:15; Job 17:3
• → Right hand lifted up in swearing Ge 14:22; Ps 106:26; Isa 62:8
• → Symbol of power Isa 23:11; 41:10
• → Place of honor Ps 45:9; 80:17
• → FIGURATIVE Mt 5:30; 18:8; Mr 9:43
  • Anthropomorphic use of
• The hand of the Lord
  • Is not limited Nu 11:23
  • Is mighty Jos 4:24
  • Was heavy 1Sa 5:6
  • Was against the Philistines 1Sa 7:13
  • Was on Elijah 1Ki 18:46
  • Has unlimited power Isa 59:1
  • Was with the early Christians Ac 11:21
  • For extended anthropomorphisms consult a concordance under the word “hand.”
  • See ANTHROPOMORPHISMS