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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadJames Hastings Dictionary of the Bible: Arm
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ARM.—Part of the insignia of royalty amongst Oriental peoples was a bracelet worn on the arm (2Sa_1:10; cf. W. R. Smith’s reading of 2Ki_11:12 where, agreeing with Wellhausen, he would substitute ‘bracelet’ for ‘testimony’ [OTJC [Note: TJC The Old Test. in the Jewish Church.] 2 311 n. [Note: . note.] ]). The importance attached to the functions discharged by this organ are incidentally referred to by Job in his solemn repudiation of conscious wrong-doing (‘Let my shoulder fall from the shoulder-blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone’ Job_31:22). The heart was said to be situated ‘between the arms,’ and, therefore, in the murder of Joram, the deadly aim of Jehu resulted in the instantaneous death of the former (2Ki_9:24). It is interesting to recall here the means by which Jeremiah escaped the vengeance of his political enemies, especially as the narrative reveals the affection inspired by the prophet amongst some of the courtiers (Jer_38:12). A note of vividness is introduced into the narratives telling of St. Paul’s method of bespeaking attention from a crowd which he was anxious to address (Act_13:16; Act_21:40; cf. Act_12:17). There is in the Gospels no more beautiful picture than the two presented by St. Mark, in which the tenderness of Jesus to little children is emphasized. In each of them is pointed out the startling method by which His teaching was often enforced objectively on His hearers’ attention (Mar_9:36; Mar_10:16, cf. Luk_2:28).
Besides this literal use, there is also an extensive employment of the word in a metaphorical or a spiritual sense. Sometimes we find it used to denote the strength of the ungodly and their power to commit acts of cruel tyranny on God’s people (cf. Psa_10:15, Job_38:15, Eze_30:21 f.; cf. ‘arm of flesh,’ 2Ch_32:8, Jer_17:6). Sometimes the word expresses the might of God’s ceaseless activity either on behalf of His chosen (Deu_33:27, Psa_44:3, Isa_33:2; Isa_63:12, Act_13:17), or in breaking the power of His enemies (Exo_6:6, Deu_5:15, Eze_21:6; Eze_32:21), or again in upholding the movements and harmony of His creation, ruling in justice with unswerving sternness (Eze_20:33 f., Job_40:9, Isa_40:16; Isa_51:5, Jer_27:5; Jer_32:17). The doom pronounced on the house of Eli contains this word to express the removal of that latent vitality which shows itself in prolonged hereditary strength and activity (1Sa_2:31, cf. Zec_11:17).
The cognate verb is also used not only literally, to furnish arms for the purposes of war (Gen_14:14, Num_31:3; Num_31:5), but also in a spiritual sense, to procure and make use of those graces and helps which are meant as weapons, offensive and defensive, of the soul against sin (1Pe_4:1, cf. Eph_6:13).
J. R. Willis.