And Moses said unto him, As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands unto the LORD; and the thunder shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; that thou mayest know how that the earth is the LORD'S. I will spread abroad my hands - That is, I will make supplication to God that he may remove this plague. This may not be an improper place to make some observations on the ancient manner of approaching the Divine Being in prayer. Kneeling down, stretching out the hands, and lifting them up to heaven, were in frequent use among the Hebrews in their religious worship. Solomon kneeled down on his knees, and spread forth his hands to heaven; 2 Chronicles 6:13. So David, Psalms 143:6 : I stretch forth my hands unto thee. So Ezra: I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the Lord my God; Ezra 9:5. See also Job JObadiah 11:13 : If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thy hands towards him. Most nations who pretended to any kind of worship made use of the same means in approaching the objects of their adoration, viz., kneeling down and stretching out their hands; which custom it is very likely they borrowed from the people of God. Kneeling was ever considered to be the proper posture of supplication, as it expresses humility, contrition, and subjection. If the person to whom the supplication was addressed was within reach, the supplicant caught him by the knees; for as among the ancients the forehead was consecrated to genius, the ear to memory, and the right hand to faith, so the knees were consecrated to mercy. Hence those who entreated favor fell at and caught hold of the knees of the person whose kindness they supplicated. This mode of supplication is particularly referred to in the following passages in Homer: -
Των νυν μιν μνησασα παρεζεο, και λαβε γουνων.
Iliad i., ver. 407.
Now therefore, of these things reminding Jove,
Embrace his knees.
Cowper.
To which the following answer is made: -
Και τοτ' επειτα τοι ειμι Διος ποτι χαλκοβατες δω,
Και μιν γουνασομαι, και μιν πεισεσθαι οΐω.
Iliad i., ver. 426.
Then will I to Jove's brazen-floor'd abode, That I may clasp his knees; and much misdeem Of my endeavor, or my prayer shall speed. Id. See the issue of thus addressing Jove, Ibid., ver. 500-502, and ver. 511, etc.
In the same manner we find our Lord accosted, Matthew 17:14 : There came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him γονυπετων αυτον, falling down at his knees.
As to the lifting up or stretching out of the hands, (often joined to kneeling), of which we have seen already several instances, and of which we have a very remarkable one in this book, Exodus 17:11, where the lifting up or stretching out of the hands of Moses was the means of Israel's prevailing over Amalek; we find many examples of both in ancient authors. Thus Homer: -
Εσθλον γαρ Δυ χειρας ανασχεμεν, αι κ' ελεησῃ.
Iliad xxiv., ver. 301.
For right it is to spread abroad the hands To Jove for mercy.
Also Virgil: -
Corripio e stratis corpus,
Tendoque supinas ad coelum
cum voce manus, et munera libo
Aeneid iii., ver. 176.
I started from my bed, and raised on high
My hands and voice in rapture to the sky;
And pour libations.
Ptt.
Dixerat: et Genua Amplexus,
genibusque volutans Haerebat.
Ibid., ver. 607.
Then kneel'd the wretch, and suppliant clung around
My knees with tears, and grovell'd on the ground.
Id.
- media inter numina divum Multa Jovem
Manibus Supplex orasse SUPINIS.
Ibid. iv., ver. 204.
Amidst the statues of the gods he stands,
And spreading forth to Jove his lifted hands.
Id.
Et Duplices cum voce Manus ad sidera
Tendit. Ibid. x., ver. 667.
And lifted both his hands and voice to heaven.
In some cases the person petitioning came forward, and either sat in the dust or kneeled on the ground, placing his left hand on the knee of him from whom he expected the favor, while he touched the person's chin with his right. We have an instance of this also in Homer:
Και ρα παροιθ' αυτοιο καθεζετο, και λαβε γουνων
Σκαιῃ· δεξιτερῃ δ' αρ' ὑπ' ανθερεωνος ἑλουσα.
Iliad i., ver. 500.
Suppliant the goddess stood: one hand she placed
Beneath his chin, and one his knee embraced.
Pope.
When the supplicant could not approach the person to whom he prayed, as where a deity was the object of the prayer, he washed his hands, made an offering, and kneeling down, either stretched out both his hands to heaven, or laid them upon the offering or sacrifice, or upon the altar. Thus Homer represents the priest of Apollo praying: -
Χερνιψαντο δ' επειτα, και ουλοχυτας ανελοντο.
Τοισιν δε Χρυσης μεγαλ' ευχετο, χειρας ανασχων.
Iliad i., ver. 449.
With water purify their hands, and take
The sacred offering of the salted cake,
While thus, with arms devoutly raised in air,
And solemn voice, the priest directs his prayer.
Pope.
How necessary ablutions of the whole body, and of the hands particularly, accompanied with offerings and sacrifices were, under the law, every reader of the Bible knows: see especially Exodus 29:1-4, where Aaron and his sons were commanded to be washed, previously to their performing the priest's office; and Exodus 30:19-21, where it is said: "Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands - that they die not." See also Leviticus 17:15. When the high priest among the Jews blessed the people, he lifted up his hands, Leviticus 9:22. And the Israelites, when they presented a sacrifice to God, lifted up their hands and placed them on the head of the victim: "If any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord - of the cattle of the herd, and of the flock - he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt-offering, and it shall be accepted for him, to make atonement for him;" Leviticus 1:2-4. To these circumstances the apostle alludes, 1 Timothy 2:8 : "I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting." In the apostle's word επαιροντας, lifting up, there is a manifest reference to stretching out the hands to place them either on the altar or on the head of the victim. Four things were signified by this lifting up of the hands. 1. It was the posture of supplication, and expressed a strong invitation - Come to my help; 2. It expressed the earnest desire of the person to lay hold on the help he required, by bringing him who was the object of his prayer to his assistance; 3. It showed the ardor of the person to receive the blessings he expected; and 4. By this act he designated and consecrated his offering or sacrifice to his God.
From a great number of evidences and coincidences it is not unreasonable to conclude that the heathens borrowed all that was pure and rational, even in their mode of worship, from the ancient people of God; and that the preceding quotations are proofs of this.