WORD STUDY – RIGHT HAND
Isaiah 41:13: “For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.”
Right hand – Hebrew: Yamen – right hand.
In ancient culture the right hand was always a symbol of strength as the right hand for most people was one’s dominate hand. It was the right that you extended when you shake hands with someone as it was believed you heart was in your right hand. Hence when you shake hands you are sharing your heart with someone. The handshake had a much stronger meaning in those days.
All that is considered good came from your right hand. Before the advent of toilet paper it was your left hand that performed the tasked. Hence the left hand came to represent all that is bad, corrupted, and soiled.
As the right hand was, in most cases, the dominate hand it was considered the most powerful hand and when speaking of a metaphor the right hand in Hebrew culture represent strength and power. The word for right hand in Hebrew is “Yamen” and means, get this, right hand. Do you ever have the problem of looking a word up in the back of Strong’s or your Lexicon and having it tell you what you already know? There are some other ways to get insight into a Hebrew word. For instance the word is spelled “Yod, Mem, Nun.” The Yod speaks of a message from heaven, the Mem speaks of a revelation from heaven and the Nun tells you that this revelation will give you strength and power. That helps.
The numerical value of the word for right hand is Yod = 10, Mem = 40 and Nun = 50 for a total of 100. Other words in the Hebrew which have a value of 100 and are related to the right hand are chakah which means wait. Even today in Israel an orthodox rabbi can cross a busy street by simply holding up his right hand and bringing the tips of three fingers together and traffic will stop and wait for him to cross. Another word with a value of 100 related to the right hand is yadah which means praise. Many ancient Hebrews would praise God by lifting their right hand to Him as inviting God to take hold of their right hand with His so they can share their hearts with each other. The word for beloved friend is yadyad which means hand in hand. Two people joining their right hands, like in a handshake, were really saying that they were going to share their hearts with each other. I have sometimes observed people in praise and worship lifts just their right
hand rather than both hands as a gesture of praise and worship. Another word with a numerical value the same as yamen (right hand) is lacheam which means to fight. The right hand of God is a symbol of God fighting for us. The word lechem which means bread also has a value of 100; the right hand of God symbolizes his provision for our material needs. In the Aramaic you have the word tseda’ which means truth. Even today as in ancient times when taking an oath or swearing to tell the truth you raise your right hand as a sign of truth. Finally, the number 100 itself symbolizes fulfillment or completion of a task. In ancient times when a servant of a king fulfilled or completed his mission he was said to sit at the right hand of the king. This did not literally mean he had a seat at the right side of the king but that he had completed his mission. In Romans 8:34 we learn that Jesus is sitting at the “right hand” of God. This is not an
expression of the proximity of Jesus to God as Jesus is God Himself. But this is an ancient Hebraic idiom expressing the idea that Jesus has fulfilled and completed all that He needed to do to bring us into a proper relationship with God.
So the expression of God upholding our right hand could have a number of applications. Which is the correct application for Isaiah 41:13? I believe God’s Word is big enough and infinite enough to carry many, if not all the metaphoric meanings behind the use of the word yamen (right hand). Let God reveal His personal message to you through the enlightenment of His Holy Spirit that lives inside of you and is your yamen (right hand – 100) that leads you into all tseda’ (truth – 100).
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