Right Hand

RIGHT HAND. Ps 21:8. The right hand is the symbol of power and strength, whence the effects of the divine omnipotence are often ascribed to the "right hand of the Most High." Ex 15:6; Ps 77:10. The right hand commonly denotes the south, as the left hand denotes the north. Gen 14:15. It is said to have been the custom among the Jews to swear by the right hand, and that this is implied in Isa 62:8. It was certainly common to swear by the hand. Gen 14:22; Deut 32:40. To give the right hand was a mark of friendship. Gal 2:9. Hence the force of the expression, Ps 144:8: "Their right hand is a right hand of falsehood." The right hand being a most useful member of the body, especially to laboring-men, to cut it off implies the greatest sacrifice. Matt 5:30. To be seated at the right hand is a token of peculiar honor, 1 Kgs 2:19; and when the expression is used respecting Christ, Acts 7:55, it implies his unequalled dignity and exaltation.

RIGHT HAND. Ps 21:8. The right hand is the symbol of power and strength, whence the effects of the divine omnipotence are often ascribed to the "right hand of the Most High." Ex 15:6; Ps 77:10. The right hand commonly denotes the south, as the left hand denotes the north. Gen 14:15. It is said to have been the custom among the Jews to swear by the right hand, and that this is implied in Isa 62:8. It was certainly common to swear by the hand. Gen 14:22; Deut 32:40. To give the right hand was a mark of friendship. Gal 2:9. Hence the force of the expression, Ps 144:8: "Their right hand is a right hand of falsehood." The right hand being a most useful member of the body, especially to laboring-men, to cut it off implies the greatest sacrifice. Matt 5:30. To be seated at the right hand is a token of peculiar honor, 1 Kgs 2:19; and when the expression is used respecting Christ, Acts 7:55, it implies his unequalled dignity and exaltation.

Part of speech: adjective (a.)

1. Situated or being on the right; nearer the right hand than the left; as, the right-hand side, room, or road.

2. Chiefly relied on; almost indispensable. Mr. Alexander Truncheon, who is their right-hand man in the troop. Addison. Right-hand rope, a rope which is laid up and twisted with the sun, that is, in the same direction as plain-laid rope. See Illust. of Cordage.