Spread Forth Hands
Title
Spread Forth Hands
Book Title
Old Testament Cultural Insights
Publication Type
Book Chapter
Year of Publication
2022
Authors
Shannon, Avram R. (Primary)
Editors
Halverson, Taylor (Secondary)
Publisher
Book of Mormon Central
City
Springville, UT
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints usually begin prayer by folding their arms. In Old Testament times, the posture of prayer was having arms outstretched toward the sky. The idiom for this as it appears in the King James Version is “spread forth hands” (in the book of Psalms it appears as “stretch out the hands”). This prayer posture is clearly indicated by the description of Solomon during the dedicatory prayer of the Jerusalem temple: “And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven” (1 Kings 8:22). Isaiah 1:15 uses “spread forth your hands” in poetic parallelism with prayer, showing that the spreading out of hands was understood as a poetic synonym for prayer.
Related verses
Exodus 9:22–33
1 Kings 8:22
1 Kings 8:38
1 Kings 8:54
2 Chronicles 6:12–13
Ezra 9:5
Psalm 44:20
Psalm 68:31
Psalm 88:9
Psalm 143:6
Isaiah 1:15
Jeremiah 4:31
Lamentation 1:17
Lamentations 3:41
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