Swearing. Raising hand; placing hand under thigh. In making an oath, it was customary to raise the right hand. God speaks of himself as doing this, symbolically. (De 32:40; Isa 62:8) The angel in Daniel’s vision raised both his right hand and his left to heaven to utter an oath. (Da 12:7) Another method of confirming an oath was to place one’s hand under the other’s thigh (hip), as Abraham’s steward did in swearing that he would get a wife for Isaac from Abraham’s relatives (Ge 24:2, 9), and as Joseph did for Jacob in swearing not to bury Jacob in Egypt. (Ge 47:29-31) The word “thigh” applies to the upper part of the leg from the hip to the knee, in which the femur is located. According to the Jewish rabbi Rashbam, this method of swearing was used when a superior adjured an inferior, such as a master his servant or a father his son, who also owes him obedience. And according to another Jewish scholar, Abraham Ibn Ezra, it was the custom in those days for a servant to take an oath in this manner, placing his hand under his master’s thigh, the latter sitting upon his hand. This signified that the servant was under his master’s authority.—The Soncino Chumash, edited by A. Cohen, London, 1956, p. 122.
Posted on: Fri, 01 Nov 2013 11:18:44 +0000
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