It is now clear that the Right Hand of God is not to be taken as physical hand, but as a metaphor that uses the expectations of the reader. What exactly is the expected meaning of the Right Hnad of God in the context of the Song of the Sea?
4.1.2. Meaning – power, honor, or what?
To answer this question, I went again through all 28 uses of the “right hand of God.” I tried to come up with a Pshat meaning for each one of them, expecting to get some statistical analysis. First I looked for evidence to support Nahmanides’s theory of the right hand reflecting revenge. However, I did not find any verses that convey that meaning. Then I looked for evidence for OrHachaim’s interpretation of lovingkindness (chesed). However, I didn’t find any verses that helped his case either.
I found no use on right vs left, no overall meaning of everywhere, no meaning of north and south, and no meaning of goodness vs badness either (Keep in mind, this is only the right hand of God).
All uses were connected to Power or Honor: 22 of the uses I thought were connected to Power, while 6 connected to Honor, all listed a couple of posts ago.
The Power uses refer to God strengthening Israel, or god destroying Israel’s assailants, such as, for instance:
- Psalms 18:36 “You have given me the shield of your protection; Your right hand has held me up; Your kindness has made me great.”
- Psalms 21:9 “Your hand shall find out all Your enemies; Your right hand shall overpower Your foes.”
- Isaiah 41:10 “Fear not, for I am with you. Be not frightened, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.”
The minority of uses that don’t refer to strength always refer to a position or a feeling of honor, such as:
- Psalms 16:12 “You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are delights forever.”
- Psalms 48:10 “According to your name, O Lord, so is your praise unto the ends of the earth. Your right hand is full of righteousness.”
In Beshalach, both uses of the “right hand of God” are connected in a straightforward manner to the use of power. Therefore, honor is ruled out, as are all the other meanings of right and left.
So the clear meaning of the Right hand of God in Exodus 15:6 and 15:12 is not an anthropomorphic reference, but a poetic figure of speech that represents the expression of the power of the Lord. Necessarily, it relies dirdctly upon a common understanding that must exist that the right side associates with power (as opposed tot he left side associating with weakness) and, likely, rightfulness.
Born left-handed 