In the Bible God is pictured in this pose when he is ready to strike those who rebel against him or to fight in defense of the helpless (Psa 10:12; 118:13-16; Isa 5:25; 10:4; 19:16).

The book of Exodus is particularly rich in this imagery, perhaps because the rulers of Egypt were associated with this posture to demonstrate their power. Thus the powerful plagues directed against Egypt were often linked to the Lord’s upraised arm, which often became the surrogate hand of either Aaron or Moses. This was the gesture that initiated many of the plagues as well as the gesture that opened the Red Sea before the fleeing Israelites (Exod 3:20; 7:5, 19; 8:6, 17; 9:15, 22; 10:12, 21: 14:16). The raised hands of Moses, at times supported by Aaron and Hur, marked the divine presence in the battle against the Amalekites as well (Exod 17:11-16).

Finally, the uplifted hand of Lord is also employed in two refrains-one speaks of the escalating judgments the Lord’s raised hand will bring down on the Israelites (Isa 9:12, 17, 21), while the other characterizes a series of oaths the Lord made to Israel (Ezek 20:5, 23,42).