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).