'Hands' in the Bible

He named him Noah, saying, “This one shall bring us rest and comfort from our work and from the [dreadful] toil of our hands because of the ground which the Lord cursed.”

But Abram said to Sarai, “Look, your maid is entirely in your hands and subject to your authority; do as you please with her.” So Sarai treated her harshly and humiliated her, and Hagar fled from her.

Did Abraham not tell me, ‘She is my sister?’ And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this.”

When the camels had finished drinking, Eliezer took a gold ring weighing a half-shekel and two bracelets for her hands weighing ten shekels in gold,

And she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.

So Jacob approached Isaac, and his father touched him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”

He could not recognize him [as Jacob], because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him.

If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and [the Feared One] of Isaac, had not been with me, most certainly you would have sent me away now empty-handed. God has seen my affliction and humiliation and the [exhausting] labor of my hands, so He rendered judgment and rebuked you last night.”

Now Reuben [the eldest] heard this and rescued him from their hands and said, “Let us not take his life.”

Reuben said to them, “Do not shed his blood, but [instead] throw him [alive] into the pit that is here in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him [to kill him]”—[he said this so] that he could rescue him from them and return him [safely] to his father.

But Israel reached out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, crossing his hands [intentionally], even though Manasseh was the firstborn.

“But his bow remained firm and steady [in the Strength that does not fail],For his arms were made strong and agileBy the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,(By the name of the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),

Moses said to him, “As soon as I leave the city, I will stretch out my hands to the Lord; the thunder will cease and there will be no more hail, so that you may know [without any doubt] and acknowledge that the earth is the Lord’s.

So Moses left the city and Pharaoh, and stretched out his hands to the Lord; then the thunder and hail ceased, and rain no longer poured on the earth.

“You will bring them [into the land of promise] and plant them on the mountain (Mt. Moriah in Jerusalem) of Your inheritance,The place, O Lord, You have made for Your dwelling [among them],The sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established.

But Moses’ hands were heavy and he grew tired. So they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Then Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side and one on the other side; so it was that his hands were steady until the sun set.

“Then you shall bring the bull before the Tent of Meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the bull’s head.

“And you shall take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram;

“Then you shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram.

Then you shall kill the ram, and take some of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ears of Aaron and his sons and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet, and sprinkle the [rest of the] blood around on the altar [of burnt offering].

and you shall put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons, and wave them as a wave offering before the Lord.

Then you shall take them from their hands, add them to the burnt offering, and burn them on the altar for a sweet and soothing aroma before the Lord; it is an offering by fire to the Lord.

Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet.

They shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they will not die; it shall be a perpetual statute for them, for Aaron and his descendants throughout their generations.”

And as soon as he approached the camp and he saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned; and he threw the tablets from his hands and smashed them at the foot of the mountain.

All the skilled and talented women spun thread with their hands, and brought what they had spun, blue and purple and scarlet fabric and fine linen.

and he made under the twenty boards forty silver sockets; two sockets under one board for its two tenons (dovetails), and two sockets under another board for its two tenons.

Then from it Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet.

He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering [transferring symbolically his guilt to the sacrifice], that it may be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf.

He shall lay his hand on the head of his offering [transferring symbolically his guilt to the sacrifice] and kill it at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting; and Aaron’s sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood around on the altar.

and he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering and kill it before the Tent of Meeting, and Aaron’s sons shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar.

and he shall lay his hand on its head [transferring symbolically his guilt to the sacrifice], and kill it before the Tent of Meeting; and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar.

He shall bring the bull to the doorway of the Tent of Meeting before the Lord, and shall lay his hand on the bull’s head [transferring symbolically his guilt to the sacrifice] and kill the bull before the Lord.

Then the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the Lord [to transfer symbolically the congregation’s guilt to the sacrifice], and they shall kill the bull before the Lord.

With his own hands he is to bring offerings by fire to the Lord; he shall bring the fat with the breast, so that the breast may be presented as a wave offering before the Lord.

Then he brought the bull for the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull.

He brought the ram for the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram.

Then he brought the second ram, the ram of consecration (ordination), and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram.

He also brought Aaron’s sons forward and put some of the blood on the lobes of their right ears, and the thumbs of their right hands, and the big toes of their right feet; and Moses sprinkled the rest of the blood around on the altar.

and he put all these things in Aaron’s hands and his sons’ hands and presented them as a wave offering before the Lord.

Then Moses took these things from their hands and offered them up in smoke on the altar with the burnt offering. They were a consecration (ordination) offering for a sweet and soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord.

Then Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them, and came down [from the altar of burnt offering] after presenting the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offerings.

Whomever the one with the discharge touches without rinsing his hands in water shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.

He shall take a censer full of burning coals from the [bronze] altar before the Lord, and two handfuls of finely ground sweet incense, and bring it inside the veil [into the Most Holy Place],

Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the wickedness of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat [the scapegoat, the sin-bearer], and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is prepared [for the task].

“Bring the one who has cursed [the Lord] outside the camp, and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head [as witnesses to his guilt]; then let all the congregation stone him.

I will bring a sword on you that will execute vengeance for [breaking] the covenant; and when you gather together in your cities, I will send pestilence (virulent disease) among you, and you shall be handed over to the enemy.

The priest shall then have the woman stand before the Lord, and let the hair of the woman’s head hang loose, and put the memorial grain offering in her hands, which is the jealousy offering, and in the hand of the priest is to be the water of bitterness that brings a curse.

The priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened [ring-shaped] loaf out of the basket, and one unleavened flat cake and shall put them on the hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved his dedicated hair.

and present the Levites before the Lord, and the Israelites shall lay their hands on the Levites.

Then the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, then you are to offer the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to the Lord, to make atonement for the Levites.

So the elders of Moab and of Midian departed with fees for divination (foretelling) in hand; and they came to Balaam and told him the words of Balak.

Then Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have done nothing but bless them these three times.

and Moses laid his hands on Joshua and commissioned him, just as the Lord had commanded through Moses.

Then they took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us; and they reported back to us, and said, ‘It is a good land which the Lord our God is about to give us.’

So the Lord our God also handed over Og king of Bashan, and all his people, into our hand and we struck him until no survivor was left.

And there you will serve [false and foreign] gods, the work of human hands, [lifeless images of] wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell [the offerings of food given to them].

“So I turned and came down from the mountain while the mountain was burning with fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands.

So I took hold of the two tablets and threw them from my two hands and smashed them before your very eyes!

“Therefore, you shall impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul, and tie them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as bands (frontals, frontlets) on your forehead.

There you shall bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the contribution of your hand, your votive (pledged, vowed) offerings, your freewill (voluntary) offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock.

Instead, you shall most certainly execute him; your hand shall be first [to be raised] against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.

The Levite, because he has no share [of land] or an inheritance among you, and the stranger, and the orphan and the widow who are within your [city] gates, shall come and eat and be satisfied, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

“If there is a poor man among you, one of your fellow Israelites, in any of your cities in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not be heartless, nor close-fisted with your poor brother;

but you shall freely open your hand to him, and shall generously lend to him whatever he needs.

For the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy, and to your poor in your land.’

Seven days you shall celebrate a feast to the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful.

The hand of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall remove the evil from among you.

When the Lord your God gives it into your hand, you shall strike down all the men in it with the edge of the sword.

All the elders of that city nearest to the dead man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley;

and they shall respond, and say, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it.

“When you go out to battle against your enemies, and the Lord your God hands them over to you and you lead them away captive,

“When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf [of grain] in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the stranger, for the orphan, and for the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

‘Cursed is the man who makes a carved or cast image (idol), a repulsive thing to the Lord, the work of the hands of the artisan, and sets it up in secret.’ All the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’

The Lord will open for you His good treasure house, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand; and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow.

For I know that after my death you will behave corruptly and turn from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will come upon you in the latter days, because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger with the work of your hands.”

And [Moses said] this of Judah:“Hear, O Lord, the voice of Judah,And bring him to his people.With his hands he contended for them,And may You be a help against his enemies.”

“O Lord, bless Levi’s substance (ability),And accept and take pleasure in the work of his hands;Crush and shatter the loins of those who rise up against him,And of those who hate him, so that they do not rise again.”

Now Joshua the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; so the sons of Israel listened to him and did as the Lord commanded Moses.

They said to Joshua, “Certainly the Lord has given all the land into our hands; for all the inhabitants of the land have melted [in despair] because of us.”

The Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the mighty warriors.

Joshua said, “Alas, O Lord God, why have You brought this people across the Jordan at all, only to hand us over to the Amorites, to destroy us? If only we had been willing to live beyond the Jordan!

The Lord gave it also along with its king into the hands of Israel, and Joshua struck it and every person who was in it with the edge of the sword. He left no survivor in it. So he did to the king of Libnah just as he had done to the king of Jericho.

The Lord gave Lachish into the hands of Israel; and Joshua captured it on the second day, and struck it and every person who was in it with the edge of the sword, just as he had done to Libnah.

The Lord gave them rest [from conflict] on every side, in accordance with everything that He had sworn to their fathers, and not one of all their enemies stood before them [in battle]; the Lord handed over all their enemies to them.

You crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho; and the citizens of Jericho fought against you, as did the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Girgashite, the Hivite and the Jebusite; and so I gave them into your hand.

So the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He gave them into the hands (power) of plunderers who robbed them; and He sold them into the hands of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer stand [in opposition] before their enemies.

Then the Lord raised up judges who rescued them from the hands of those who robbed them.

When the Lord raised up judges for them, He was with the judge and He rescued them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed and afflicted them.

Then the Lord said to Gideon, “There are too many people with you for Me to hand over Midian to them, otherwise Israel will boast [about themselves] against Me, saying, ‘My own power has rescued me.’

So the three hundred men took people’s provisions [for the journey] and their trumpets [made of rams’ horns] in their hands. And Gideon sent [away] all the other men of Israel, each to his tent, but kept the three hundred men. And the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

and you will hear what they say; and afterward you will have the courage to go down against the camp.” Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outposts of the army that was in the camp.

He divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put trumpets and empty pitchers into the hands of all of them, with torches inside the pitchers.

So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when the guards had just been changed, and they blew the trumpets and smashed the pitchers that were in their hands.

When three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers, they held the torches in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow, and they shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!”

God has given the leaders of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb into your hands; and what was I able to do in comparison with you?” Then their anger toward him subsided when he made this statement.

so that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal (Gideon) might come [on the guilty], and that their [innocent] blood might be laid on Abimelech their brother, who had killed them, and on the leaders of Shechem, who strengthened his hands (encouraged him) to kill his brothers.

So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites,

Also when the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites oppressed and crushed you, you cried out to Me, and I rescued you from their hands.

And Jephthah said to them, “My people and I were in a major conflict with the Ammonites, and when I called you [for help], you did not rescue me from their hand.