'Stretched' in the Bible

Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son.

But the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and grasp it by the tail.” So he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand—

So Aaron stretched out his hand [with his staff] over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.

They did so; Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and there were [biting] gnats on man and animal. All the dust of the land became gnats through all the land of Egypt.

Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and lightning (fireballs) ran down to the earth and along the ground. And the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt.

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.

So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind on the land all that day and all that night; when it was morning, the east wind had brought the [swarms of] locusts.

So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and for three days a thick darkness was all over the land of Egypt [no sun, no moon, no stars].

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord swept the sea back by a strong east wind all that night and turned the seabed into dry land, and the waters were divided.

So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal flow at sunrise; and the Egyptians retreated right into it [being met by the returning water]; so the Lord overthrew the Egyptians and tossed them into the midst of the sea.

“You stretched out Your right hand,The sea swallowed them.

Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Reach out with the spear that is in your hand [and point it] toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.” So Joshua reached out with the spear in his hand [and pointed it] toward the city.

The [men in] ambush emerged quickly from their [hiding] place, and when Joshua stretched out his hand they ran and entered the city and captured it, and quickly set the city on fire.

For Joshua did not withdraw his hand with which he stretched out the spear until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.

When the [avenging] angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the disaster and said to the angel who destroyed the people, “It is enough! Now relax your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

He put the cherubim [above the ark] inside the innermost room of the house, and their wings were spread out so that the wing of the one touched one wall, and the wing of the other cherub was touching the other wall; and their inner wings were touching each other in the middle of the house.

When Solomon finished offering this entire prayer and supplication to the Lord, he arose from before the Lord’s altar, where he had knelt down with his hands stretched toward heaven.

Then he stretched himself out upon the child three times, and called to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, please let this child’s life return to him.”

Then he went up and lay on the child and put his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. And as he stretched himself out on him and held him, the boy’s skin became warm.

Then he returned and walked in the house once back and forth, and went up [again] and stretched himself out on him; and the boy sneezed seven times and he opened his eyes.

Then David raised his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, covered in sackcloth, fell on their faces.

“Because he has stretched out his hand against GodAnd behaves arrogantly against the Almighty,

“Who determined the measurements [of the earth], if you know?Or who stretched the [measuring] line on it?

If we had forgotten the name of our GodOr stretched out our hands to a strange god,

In the day of my trouble I [desperately] sought the Lord;In the night my hand was stretched out [in prayer] without weariness;My soul refused to be comforted.

To Him who stretched out the earth upon the waters,For His lovingkindness endures forever;

“Because I called and you refused [to answer],I stretched out my hand and no one has paid attention [to my offer];

“When He established the heavens, I [Wisdom] was there;When He drew a circle upon the face of the deep,

Therefore the anger of the Lord has burned against His people,And He has stretched out His hand against them and has struck them down.And the mountains trembled, and their dead bodies lay like rubbish in the middle of the streets.In spite of all this God’s anger is not turned away,But His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].

The Arameans on the east and the Philistines on the west;And they devour Israel with gaping jaws.In spite of all this, God’s anger does not turn awayBut His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].

Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men,Nor does He have compassion on their fatherless or their widows;For every one of them is godless and an evildoer,And every mouth is speaking foolishness.In spite of all this, God’s anger does not turn awayBut His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].

[The tribe of] Manasseh devours [the tribe of his brother] Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh,And together they are against Judah (the southern kingdom, the house of David).In spite of all this, God’s anger does not turn awayBut His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].

Nothing remains but to crouch among the captivesOr fall [dead] among the slain [on the battlefield].In spite of all this, God’s anger does not turn away,But His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].

This is the plan [of God] decided for the whole earth [regarded as conquered and put under tribute by Assyria]; and this is the hand [of God] that is stretched out over all the nations.

For the Lord of hosts has decided and planned, and who can annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?”

For the fields of Heshbon have languished and withered, and the vines of Sibmah as well;The lords of the nations have trampled down [Moab’s] choice vine branches,Which reached as far as Jazer and wandered into the wilderness;Its tendrils stretched out, they passed over [the shores of] the [Dead] Sea.

He has stretched out His hand over the sea,He has shaken the kingdoms;The Lord has given a command concerning Canaan to destroy her strongholds and her fortresses [like Tyre and Sidon].

This is what God the Lord says,He who created the heavens and stretched them out,Who spread out the earth and its produce,Who gives breath to the people on itAnd spirit to those who walk on it,

For the Lord, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb says this,“I am the Lord, Maker of all things,Who alone stretches out the heavens,Who spreads out the earth by Myself,

“I made the earth and created man upon it.My hands, stretched out the heavens,And I commanded all their host.

That you have forgotten the Lord your Maker,Who stretched out the heavensAnd laid the foundations of the earth,That you continually tremble with fear all day long because of the rage of the oppressor,As he takes aim to destroy?And where is the rage of the oppressor?

“Enlarge the site of your tent [to make room for more children];Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, do not spare them;Lengthen your tent ropesAnd make your pegs (stakes) firm [in the ground].

God made the earth by His power;He established the world by His wisdomAnd by His understanding and skill He has stretched out the heavens.

and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Behold, I am going to send and get Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and I am going to set his throne over these stones that I have hidden; and his [majestic, royal] canopy will be spread over them.

He made the earth by His power;He established the world by His wisdomAnd stretched out the heavens by His understanding.

Such were their faces. Their wings were stretched out upward; two [wings] of each one were touching another [the wings of the beings on either side of it], and [the remaining] two [wings of each being] were covering their bodies.

Now stretched over the heads of the living beings there was something like an expanse, looking like the terrible and awesome shimmer of icy crystal.

Under the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another. Every living being had two wings which covered its body on one side and on the other side.

Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out toward me; and behold, a scroll of a book was in it.

Then a cherub stretched out his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between [the four of] them, and took some [of it] and put it into the hands of the man clothed in linen, who took it and departed.

Behold now [listen very carefully], I have stretched out My hand against you, reduced your portion, and handed you over to the desire of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your infamous behavior.

therefore, behold, I have stretched out My hand against you and will hand you over as prey and spoil to the nations. And I will cut you off from the peoples and will cause you to perish from the countries; I will destroy you. Then you shall know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.”

On the [special] day of our king, the princes became sick with the heat of wine;The king stretched out his hand [in association] with scoffers (lawless people).

Therefore, thus says the Lord, “I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy and compassion. My house shall be built in it,” says the Lord of hosts, “and a measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem.”’

Now at that time Herod [Agrippa I] the king [of the Jews] arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to harm them.

But when they had stretched him out with the leather straps [in preparation for the whip], Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it legal for you to whip a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned [without a trial]?”

Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You are [now] permitted to speak on your own behalf.” At that, Paul stretched out his hand [as an orator] and made his defense [as follows]:

But of Israel he says, “All day long I have stretched out My hands [in compassion] to a disobedient and obstinate people.”