Hebrew word · H7315

רוֹם

rom

highly

'To lift the hand(s)' means different things depending on context: prayer or appeal (Ps 28:2; 134:2; Lam 2:19), swearing an oath (Exod 6:8; Deut 32:40), a threat or blow (2 Sam 18:28; 20:21), or blessing (Lev 9:22).

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

on high, upwards

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Habakkuk 3:10

Range of meaning

'To lift the hand(s)' means different things depending on context: prayer or appeal (Ps 28:2; 134:2; Lam 2:19), swearing an oath (Exod 6:8; Deut 32:40), a threat or blow (2 Sam 18:28; 20:21), or blessing (Lev 9:22). Raised hands as a sign of surrender is clearly shown in ancient Near Eastern art, such as Assyrian reliefs of defeated enemies.

Against the English

Most versions keep 'lifted its hands on high'. NIV turns the hands into 'waves', which makes the picture plain but loses the personification. NLT adds an interpretation: the hands are raised 'in submission'. NRSV gives the hands to the sun in v. 11.

How it drifted

Readers who know the modern worship gesture may picture the Deep raising its hands in praise. The text does not say that, and the setting, a battle in which God rages at the waters (v. 8), points to alarm, appeal or surrender.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Vulgate reads altitudo manus suas levavit ('the height lifted up its hands'), making rôm the subject. The Septuagint's hypsos phantasias autēs ('the height of its appearance') suggests the Greek translators had trouble with this clause or read a different text.

Where it appears

Habakkuk · 1

  1. Habakkuk 3:10 ר֖וֹם height

    The mountains saw You and quaked; torrents of water swept by. The deep roared with its voice and lifted its hands on high.

    Here: 'Height', used as an adverb: 'on high'. The Deep normally lies at the very bottom of the world, so its reaching upward is a reversal. Some ancient and modern readers take rôm as a subject ('the height') or attach it to the sun in v. 11.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.