1. At hand. To be at hand is to be near, whether
of time or of place. When the ref. is to an event, as ' the day of the Lord ' (Is 13«, Jl 1", Zeph 1'), there is no ambiguity ; but when a person is re- ferred to, it is sometimes a question whether place or time is spoken of. In OT ' at hand ' is the tr. of a-!5 to be near (Gn 27^', Dt 15», Ezk 12^, and [in Piel] Ezk 36* ' for they are at liand to come ' ('3 .si^S mp), or the adj. 3)1,5 'near' (Dt 32=«, Is 13', Jer 23^, Jl 1", Zepli 1'), of which the most lumin- ous passage is .ler 23** ' Am I a God at hand, saith the Loud, and not a God afar oil'?' In NT 'at hand ' is mostly the tr. of the vb. iyyl^u, to come near (Mt 3= 4" 10' •26"- «, Mk l'» 14''-, Uo 13" 1 P 4'), or of the adj. ^vs, 'near' (Mt '26"*, Jn 2" 7", Ph 4», Rev 1' 22>''), both of which are used of place and of time ; once also of ivLarripi (2 Th 2' ' Be not . . . troubled ... by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand,' lis in iv{iTTriKiv Tj ii/j.^pa Tou XpLcrrou, edd. Kvpiov for Xpi(rrou, RV ' as that the day of the Lord is now present ' ; t Elli- cott, ' to the eti'ect that the day of the Lord is now come ') ; and once of itphrafuii (2 Ti 4' ' the time of my departure is at hand,' {(piar-qKc, RV ' is come '). The only doubtful passage is Ph 4^ "Tlie Lord Is at hand,' « Ktjpiof iyyCe. Most ancient and nearly all mod. expositors understand the reference to be to the Second Advent, the words being a translation of the Aram. Mxpa* ifla of I Co ItiS"-, which some think may have been a set form of warning in the aj^os- tolic Church. But a few take the ij-yw to be local, 'The Lord is near us,' either referring to the perpetual presence of Christ (cf. Mt '2320), or (taking K-v.ot as Godi to God's helpful pro- vidence in time of need. See Vincent, ad loc, (who accepts the ref. to the>econd Coming) ; Manning, Serinons, iii. 241 ; Hardtn, Ch. of ICng. Eccle.e. Hev., Aug. 30, 1800; Moule, Thimghti an the Spiritual L\fe (who refer to Christ's consUant presence : Moule compares Ps I191&1 'Thou art near [tyyCi], 6 Lord'); and Expos. Times, ii. 2 f. The chief argument for the .Second Coming is the apostle's use of Kipitt, on which see Winer, Gram. p. 164.
2. At no hand. This phrase occurs only in Preface to AV 1611. Its meaning is ' by no means.'
' Including Davidson, Syntax, § 109. 3, p. 154.
t This does not spoil 'Trench's contrast between the mod. cus- tom of describing working men as so many ' hands ' and the biblical idiom ' souls ' (Ac 241). See Study of Words. 05 f.
; The AV tr. of this passage brings it into conflict with Ro 131* ' The night is far spent, the day ia at hand,' making the apostle deny here what he there affirms. RV removes the discrepancy
HAND
Cf. T. Fuller, nobj Warre, ii. 36 (p. 92), 'The Calipli deniurred hereat, as counting sucli a gesture a diminution to his State ; and at no liand would give him his hand bare, but gave it in his glove.' Cf. Sir John Hurington's version of Ps 137' — • Come, sing us now a bong, say they. As once you song at anie hand.'
3. At the hand o/"=from : Gn 9° 'And surely your blood of your lives will I require ; at the Iiaiid of every beast will I require it, and at the h:aid of man ; at the hand of every man's brother Mill I require the life of man' (n::, lit. 'from the hand of ; LXX (k xfipit,* Vulg. ' de manu,' Wye. ' of the hoond ') ; 33'° ' Receive my present at my hand ' ; 2 S 13» «■ >», 2 K 9" And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, at the hand of Jezebel'; Is 1" 'When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?'; Rev 19^ 'He hath judged the great whore . . . and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand' ({k rij! [edd. omit t^s] Xfipis oi-T^j, Vulg. 'de manibus ejus': the mean- ing, which is 'from her' or 'upon her,' as 'uijon Jezebel' in 2 K 9', is missed by Gen. NT, 'and hath advenged the blood of his serv-ants shed by her hand.' The phrase is frequently used b3' Sliaks., as Merri/ U'iees, II. ii. 218, ' Have you re- ceived no promise of satisfaction at her hands ': ' In Neh U'-" occurs the phrase 'at the king's hand,' — ' And Pethahiah . . . was at the king's hand in all matters concerning the people' ("^"■7"':^). The meaning of the phrase is clear, but the scope of Pethahiah's oflice is not so clear. See Rj'le [Ezra and Neh. in Camb. Bible), and art. Pethahiah.