📖 Biblical Definition
The "stretched-out hand" (or "outstretched arm") is the great Old Testament emblem of the LORD’s active power — the arm extended in deliverance to His people and in judgment to His enemies. Israel was redeemed from Egypt "with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm" (Deuteronomy 4:34; 5:15; 7:19; Psalm 136:12). The phrase becomes covenantal shorthand for the Exodus and every subsequent act of YHWH’s redemption. The early church in Jerusalem prayed for that same hand to be stretched out for healing and signs: "By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus" (Acts 4:30). The hand is still extended; the saint may still ask it to act.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
(Composite.) The arm extended in deliverance, blessing, judgment, or healing; biblical emblem of God's active power.
expand to see more
Webster: stretch — “to extend; to draw out in length.”
The Hebrew idiom yad netuyah (stretched-out hand) appears repeatedly in Deuteronomy and the Prophets, almost always paired with chazak (mighty hand) — the LORD's right arm both in mercy and in might.
📖 Key Scripture
Deuteronomy 4:34 — "By temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm."
Deuteronomy 7:19 — "The mighty hand, and the stretched out arm, whereby the LORD thy God brought thee out."
Acts 4:30 — "By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus."
Isaiah 5:25 — "But his hand is stretched out still."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern Christianity often imagines a passive God; the stretched-out hand of Scripture is anything but.
expand to see more
Deuteronomy hammers the stretched-out arm again and again as Israel's defining memory: that is how He brought us out, and that is how He will bring us in. The household that wants to know God should learn to use this language about Him.
Acts 4:30 carries the picture forward: the early church does not pray for safety; they pray that the LORD will stretch out His hand. The recovery of stretched-out-hand prayer reshapes intercession — from please be near to please reach.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Two Hebrew verbs for extending the arm or hand combine to make the standard Old Testament idiom.
expand to see more
H5186 — נָטָה (natah) — to stretch out, extend; the verb behind outstretched arm.
H7971 — שָׁלַח (shalach) — to send forth; to put forth the hand.
Usage
"By a mighty hand and outstretched arm — that is the deliverance language."
"Pray for His hand to stretch out, not just His ear to listen."
"His hand is stretched out still; that is mercy and warning at once."