Raised Hands in Prayer as an Inducement Motif in the Psalms
Year: 2020

Two hands raised in the air is a commonly portrayed gesture in the Hebrew Bible and broader ancient Near East. Synthesizing previous research done on the same topic, this paper will strive to examine the gesture in order to show that its purpose is to induce and elicit divine favor from a superior being typically a deity or king like figure. The conclusion will be reached by first generally surveying the raised hands motif in the Hebrew Bible and then specifically examining the gesture in Psalms. This study will be complemented by exploring relevant extrabiblical textual and iconographic evidence within the ancient Near East. Nonverbal communication entails the movement and position of someone's body, which serves to communicate emotions, intentions, and commands; these gestures and postures may either be nonverbal or have accompanying speech.1 Nonverbal communication is present in the Hebrew Bible and, as John Davies points out, "[The] fact that [nonverbal communication] is mentioned at all, particularly in a corpus of literature that is not noted for its descriptive language or unnecessary coloration, makes it a topic worthy of our careful attention."2 The Hebrew Bible often utilizes gestures and postures to convey deeper and symbolic meaning beyond the written text. One of these gestures, two hands raised in the air, is common not only in the Hebrew Bible but also throughout the ancient Near East. This gesture was often employed throughout the ancient Near East in depictions both written and visual as humans approached some kind of deity. 1. John A. Davies, Lift Up Your Heads: Nonverbal Communication and Related Body Imagery in the Bible (Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2018) 1. 2. Davies, Lift Up Your Heads, 14.  Raised Hands in the Psalms This motif of raising both hands likely served to induce divine favor from a superior being typically a deity or king like figure to "increase the likelihood of a favorable response" from the superior  In the Hebrew Bible, these inducement motifs are especially common in  Studying the raised hands motif in Psalms is particularly instructive in this context due to the large extent of research already done on the book itself. Additionally, due to numerous examples of inducement motifs (almost exclusively shown in the context of prayer) Psalms can serve as a case study for the Hebrew Bible as a whole to show the shared characteristics of the gesture between the Hebrew Bible and the ancient Near East. The purpose of this paper is to examine the two raised hands gesture, specifically used in a prayer context within the Psalms, to show that the gesture is indeed being used for inducement. This study will essentially synthesize previous scholarship done on the topic. This will be done by examining in brief the raised hands motif in the Hebrew Bible generally and then more specifically in Psalms; textual and iconographic evidence outside of the biblical text will also be displayed to show the link between this motif in the Hebrew Bible and the broader ancient Near East to strengthen its claim. Review of Scholarship Various studies have addressed the topic of gestures and nonverbal communication within the Hebrew Bible. One of the earliest contributions to the study of ritual gestures in the Hebrew Bible came through Heinrich Vorwahl's dissertation, Die Gebardensprache im Alten Testament, published in 1932.5 Vorwahl suggests that ritual gestures relay magical power. Since that time, most scholars have disagreed with his assessment due to the seemingly self contradictory nature of his work, but his study opened the door for further exploration of this particular topic.6 Since 1932, several scholars have contributed to the topic, but most of this work has been done in isolation. In 1986, P. R. Ackroyd published an entry for the Hebrew word "hand" in the Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, which 3. Stephen T. Sumner, "Hailing the Divine: Inducement Motifs in the Psalms and Levantine Inscriptions," JSOT 43 (2019) 726 42, here 728. This same definition of inducement motif will be repeated throughout the rest of this paper. 4. Sumner, "Hailing the Divine," 729. Sumner points out that of the 150 Psalms, 77 contain explicit inducement motifs and the other 73 contain similar rhetorical devices. 5. Henrich Vorwahl, "Die Gebardensprache im Alten Testament" (PhD diss. The Friedrich Wilhelm University, 1932) 6. For an example countering Vorwahl, see David M. Calabro, "Ritual Gestures of Lifting, Extending, and Clasping the Hand(s) in Northwest Semitic Literature and Iconography" (PhD diss. The University of Chicago, 2014) 105. See also Mayer I. Gruber, Aspects of Nonverbal Communication in the Ancient Near East (Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1980) 13 14. Studia Antiqua 19.1 Summer 2020 33 was one of the first studies suggesting that hand gestures as found within the Hebrew Bible can encompass a wide variety of meanings, depending on context.7 While approached separately, the works of Mayer Gruber in 1980 and Othmar Keel in 1997 complemented each other and furthered the idea of the same gesture encompassing various meanings. Gruber focused on Semitic philology dealing with the raised hands gesture while Keel focused on expressions and iconography, specifically on hand gestures related to iconographic exegesis.8 David Calabro contributed to the field with his dissertation "Ritual Gestures of Lifting, Extending, and Clasping the Hand(s) in Northwest Semitic Literature and Iconography" in 2014, where he examined Northwest Semitic textual and iconographic evidence of gestures to suggest a full range of interpretations and how these gestures functioned in ritual contexts.9 This study is one of the first to synthesize and build off earlier scholars' studies of this topic. His explicit and careful methodology sets his work apart from previous contributions to the topic.10 Calabro's study includes a geographic, linguistic, iconographic, and chronologic approach, using textual sources from the Hebrew Bible, Phoenician and Old Aramaic inscriptions, and Ugaritic texts. His study of iconography includes stelae, cylinder seals, and figurines.11 With regard to assigning meaning to the two hands raised motif, Keel asserts that the gesture came as a reaction to entering the presence of a deity as the human threw up his or her hands for protection from the deity's power.12 In 2014, Brent Strawn built on Keel's work; he suggests that certain postures such as raised hands show an attitude of adoration, but, more importantly, they display an emotional, fearful response.13 Calabro disagrees with this assessment and instead suggests that the gesture invites, rather than wards off, the deity's power; he further warns that it is "[inadvisable] to make a sharp distinction between worship and supplication in the context of biblical prayer, since these functions 7. Peter Ackroyd, "dya," TDOT 5:393 426. Three such meanings include striking hands to bargain or enter an agreement, taking an oath through raising the hand(s) and extending the hand. 8. Gruber, Aspects of Nonverbal Communication, and Othmar Keel, The Symbolism of the Biblical World: Ancient Near Eastern Iconography and the Book of Psalms (New York: Seabury, 1978) 9. Calabro, "Ritual Gestures," 15. 10. For an explanation of his methodology, see Calabro, "Ritual Gestures," 278 87. 11. Calabro, "Ritual Gestures," 16. 12. Keel, Symbolism of the Biblical World, 313. 13. Brent A. Strawn, "The Iconography of Fear: Yir'at Yhwh (hvhy tAry) in Artistic Perspective," in Image, Text, Exegesis: Iconographic Interpretation and the Hebrew Bible, ed. Izaak J. de Hulster and Joel M. LeMon ( 2014) 91 134, here 124.  Raised Hands in the Psalms are often intermingled in the same prayer."14 He goes on to suggest other possible interpretations of the gesture: it serves to expose the hands and heart to "divine view," thereby proving that the person is pure and consequently prepared to be in the deity's presence; it shows that the hands were not holding weapons, suggesting a kind of surrender; it attracts the attention of the deity; it shows the desire for the mortal to interact with the deity; it symbolizes life, which would suggest that executing the gesture in the presence of the deity is asking for God to give life; it displays the relationship between parties, suggesting subservience on the part of the one performing the gesture; the gesture is itself part of a larger, more complex ritual; and it is a "gesture of approach" performed as a mortal approaches the presence of the deity.15 In 2019, Sumner added onto Calabro's studies by documenting inducement motifs in the Psalms, positing that certain gestures were employed to gain the favor and attention of the deity.16 Despite their differences, where all these scholars do agree is in the idea that certain gestures performed by mortals attract the attention intentionally or not and potentially the favor of the deity or higher power in some way. The original motivation of these gestures may be fear or veneration of the particular superior being, as well as any number of other intentions. The purpose of this paper is, in effect, to bridge the gap between the various scholarly interpretations of the raised hands motif by showing that this gesture was principally used as an inducement motif to increase the likelihood of a favorable response and to receive divine favor and aid from a superior being. To do so, this paper will briefly examine the raised hands motif in the Hebrew Bible generally and then more specifically in the Psalms, focusing on six particular idioms. This study will then examine examples of relevant non biblical textual evidence and iconography to demonstrate the link between this motif in the Hebrew Bible and the ancient Near East. Raised Hands Phrases in Psalms While general hand gestures are common in the Hebrew Bible, the scope of this paper will i