“And Moses raised his hand” in Numbers 20,11 399 A brief examination of the other occurrences is in order. In Deut 37,27, Israel’s enemies may boast that the Israelites were deported and destroyed because “our hands [= enemies’ hands] that were high”, i.e., “we were strong enough to prevail” over Israel. It is the only occurrence where the dual form of “hand” is used in the combination. In Isa 26,11 the poet complains that the wicked do not know Yahweh’s exalted hand, meaning that they do not recognise or acknowledge the power or even the judgement of Yahweh. In Mic 5,8 the author urges that the hand of Yahweh be high so that He could prevail over the enemies. In Gen 14,22 the phrase seems to refer to a gesture of making an oath (by Abraham). In Gen 41,44, Pharaoh decreed that without the permission of Joseph, no one could “raise one’s hand or foot”, which means that no one could “do anything or go anywhere” except when allowed by Joseph (7). Thus, the phrase itself stresses the freedom of will of the person to do whatever he wants. Exod 17,11 is part of the story of war between the Israelites and Amalekites. Whenever Moses’ hand was raised, Israel prevailed over the enemy. It is worthy noting that although Moses is said to have hold his staff in his hand (Exod 17,9), the text does not say that Moses raised his staff, but his hand. This demonstrates again that the two phrases “to raise one’s hand” and “to raise one’s (hand with one’s) staff” are not the same. The phrase “to raise one’s staff” is used to emphasize the role of the staff in what happens right after this action (such as striking the river Nile), but not so for the phrase “to raise one’s hand”. In 1 Kgs 11,26.27, Jeroboam’s rebellion against Solomon is expressed by the phrase “he raised his hand against (b) the king”. Let us briefly summarise the findings. First, when μwr is used with dy, “hand” is mostly in the singular. Second, the combination is used only twice with God to represent God’s power over his enemies (Isa 27,11; Mic 5,8). Third, in the other nine occurrences (excluding Num 20,11) it is used of human beings. With the exception of Gen 14,22 where it probably denotes oath making, the other eight occurrences all underlines the various human subjects’ attitude, and their “readiness to fight and the will to prevail”, as claimed by Labuschagne regarding the phrase hmr dyb. We may add that it is a demonstration of their own power to prevail against a hostile and even superior force, rather than an inferior force that is in view: Israel against Egypt (Exod 14,8; Num 33,3), Israelites against God (Num 15,30), enemies against Israelites (Deut 32,27), Egyptians against Joseph (Gen 41,44), Israel against Amalek (Exod 17,11), and Jeroboam against Solomon (1 Kgs 11,26.27). Fourthly, from the above analysis, it is clear that with the exception of Exod 17,11, the phrase “to raise one’s hand” is not to be interpreted literally, but figuratively (8). (7) V.P. HAMILTON, The Book of Genesis. Chapters 18-50 (NICOT; Grand Rapids, MI 1995) 507. Cf. C. WESTERMANN, Genesis 37-50 (BKAT I/3; Neukirchen-Vluyn 1982) 99. (8) In an examination of a similar phrase dy acn, Lust argues that with persons as the subject, they raise their hands (plural) to pray or to bless, but they raise their hand (singular) to attack (2 Sam 18,28; 20,21). Thus, the phrase dy afn is also used figuratively when it denotes “to attack”. See J. LUST, “For I Lift up My Hand to Heaven and Swear: Deut 32:40”, Studies in Deuteronomy (FS C.J. Labuschagne) (ed. F. GARCÍA MARTÍNEZ et al.) (VTSup 53; Leiden 1994) 160-161.