Hand
Called by Galen "the instrument of instruments." It is the symbol of human action (Ps. 9:16; Job 9:30; Isa. 1:15; 1 Tim. 2:8). Washing the hands was a symbol of innocence (Ps. 26:6; 73:13; Matt. 27:24), also of sanctification (1 Cor. 6:11; Isa. 51:16; Ps. 24:3, 4). In Ps. 77:2 the correct rendering is, as in the Revised Version, "My hand was stretched out," etc., instead of, as in the Authorized Version, "My sore ran in the night," etc. The right hand denoted the south, and the left the north (Job 23:9; 1 Sam. 23:19). To give the right hand was a pledge of fidelity (2 Kings 10:15; Ezra 10:19); also of submission to the victors (Ezek. 17:18; Jer. 50:15). The right hand was lifted up in taking an oath (Gen. 14:22, etc.). The hand is frequently mentioned, particularly the right hand, as a symbol of power and strength (Ps. 60:5; Isa. 28:2). To kiss the hand is an act of homage (1 Kings 19:18; Job 31:27), and to pour water on one's hands is to serve him (2 Kings 3:11). The hand of God is the symbol of his power: its being upon one denotes favour (Ezra 7:6, 28; Isa. 1:25; Luke 1:66, etc.) or punishment (Ex. 9:3; Judg. 2:15; Acts 13:11, etc.). A position at the right hand was regarded as the chief place of honour and power (Ps. 45:9; 80:17; 110:1; Matt. 26:64).
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Asherah
And pl. Asherim in Revised Version, instead of "grove" and "groves" of the Authorized Version. This was the name of a sensual Canaanitish goddess Astarte, the feminine of the Assyrian Ishtar. Its symbol was the stem of a tree deprived of its boughs, and rudely shaped into an image, and planted in the ground. Such religious symbols ("groves") are frequently alluded to in Scripture (Ex. 34:13; Judg. 6:25; 2 Kings 23:6; 1 Kings 16:33, etc.). These images were also sometimes made of silver or of carved stone (2 Kings 21:7; "the graven image of Asherah," R.V.). (See [32]GROVE [1].).
Dictionary
Crane
(Isa. 38:14; Jer. 8:7). In both of these passages the Authorized Version has reversed the Hebrew order of the words. "Crane or swallow" should be "swallow or crane," as in the Revised Version. The rendering is there correct. The Hebrew for crane is 'agur, the Grus cincerea, a bird well known in Palestine. It is migratory, and is distinguished by its loud voice, its cry being hoarse and melancholy.
Dictionary
Fairs
(Heb. izabhonim), found seven times in Ezek. 27, and nowhere else. The Authorized Version renders the word thus in all these instances, except in verse 33, where "wares" is used. The Revised Version uniformly renders by "wares," which is the correct rendering of the Hebrew word. It never means "fairs" in the modern sense of the word.
Dictionary
Hay
Properly so called, was not in use among the Hebrews; straw was used instead. They cut the grass green as it was needed. The word rendered "hay" in Prov. 27:25 means the first shoots of the grass. In Isa. 15:6 the Revised Version has correctly "grass," where the Authorized Version has "hay."
Dictionary
Thunder
Often referred to in Scripture (Job 40:9; Ps. 77:18; 104:7). James and John were called by our Lord "sons of thunder" (Mark 3:17). In Job 39:19, instead of "thunder," as in the Authorized Version, the Revised Version translates (ra'amah) by "quivering main" (marg., "shaking"). Thunder accompanied the giving of the law at Sinai (Ex. 19:16). It was regarded as the voice of God (Job 37:2; Ps. 18:13; 81:7; comp. John 12:29). In answer to Samuel's prayer (1 Sam. 12:17, 18), God sent thunder, and "all the people greatly feared," for at such a season (the wheat-harvest) thunder and rain were almost unknown in Palestine.
Dictionary
Arabah
Plain, in the Revised Version of 2 Kings 14:25; Josh. 3:16; 8:14; 2 Sam. 2:29; 4:7 (in all these passages the A.V. has "plain"); Amos 6:14 (A.V. "wilderness"). This word is found in the Authorized Version only in Josh. 18:18. It denotes the hollow depression through which the Jordan flows from the Lake of Galilee to the Dead Sea. It is now called by the Arabs el-Ghor. But the Ghor is sometimes spoken of as extending 10 miles south of the Dead Sea, and thence to the Gulf of Akabah on the Red Sea is called the Wady el-Arabah.