HEBREW WORD STUDY – GOD HOLDS OUR HAND – ELOHEKA  MACHAZIQ YAMINAKA  אלהיכ  קיחמ  ימינכ

Isaiah 41:13: “For I the Lord thy God will uphold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.” 

Various translations will say that God “upholds” your right hand, some will say he “takes’ your right hand and some will say “strengthen” your right hand. Some render it as God holding our right hand. Today on my disability bus I seemed to have all the floppers. Those are the ones who refuse to walk with a walker or cane and I have to stay right behind them as they go from the house to the doctor’s office standing ready to catch them before they land on their keister.  That is why I thought of this verse, I was praying that God would “hold” my right hand so they didn’t land on their keister on top of me.

But just what is my right hand anyways?  Is it literally just my right hand or is this a metaphor?  If we are speaking of a metaphor, then the right hand in Hebrew culture represent strength and power. The word for right hand is yamen in Hebrew which your lexicon and Strongs will tell you means, get this, right hand. Yet, I can speak only from personal experience it is both a metaphor and literal. I literally feel God holding my hand.

The word hold is chazaq which means to strengthen, confirm or restore. I like the word restore. Today, as one of my passengers was heading for a rough landing, I really felt God restore the strength of this 68-year-old caregiver as I kept her from falling. I know maybe it was just adrenaline but I will swear on the 36 Bibles I have on my I Pad that I felt God holding my hand.

 Still, that does not fully explain chazaq. Chazaq is to have your strength restored or renewed by the addition of His strength. Like chopping wood. He grabs the ax with you and the combination of your strength and His makes the job seem effortless.

So what is it, does God uphold our hand, strengthen our hand, take our hand or hold our hand. It could be translated any of this ways. It is up to you to decide. You know my choice. The word for hold is chazaq which is found in a Hiphal participle form. So it is not that He will, but he is at this moment holding our hands encouraging us. 

I remember as a pastor I had a couple of occasions when I had to deliver some tragic news to a husband and wife. Each time the couple grabbed each other’s hand. Yeah, they were upholding each other, they strengthened each other but so much more was being communicated when they took each other’s hand.  That is why I render this “The Lord holds my right.” As a participle we would put this into a present tense, He is holding my hand. 

There is an old chorus we used to sing when I was a kid: “He holds my hand, Jesus holds my hand, safely to heaven He leads the way, He is my keeper from day to day…”  How many times in my 68 years as I faced a difficult situation and that little chorus came to mind. I didn’t sing He upholds my hand or strengthens my hand, at that moment it was enough to know He was holding my hand. As a writer, I have a vivid imagination, but I tell you, I truly feel Him holding my hand.