Thigh

Thigh is the part on which the sword of a warrior is hung. See to this purpose Exo 32:27; Jdg 3:16; Jdg 3:21; Psa 45:3; Cant. iii. 8. Homer II. a, ver. 900.

Another signification of thigh is, when we take it in Holy Writ to signify, by a metonymy, the parts in man or woman which serve for procreation and the multiplication of the species. Thus it is to be understood in Gen 46:26, according to the original; and so in Jdg 8:30. See the original. In this sense the thigh is the symbol of the offspring; children, according to the Persian and Egyptian Interpreters, in ch. 98., being denoted by the parts of generation. But thighs literally taken are in ch. 113. explained by them of kinsmen.

A third symbolical signification of thigh may be fetched from the custom in the times of the Patriarchs; when a man imposed an oath upon another to secure his promise, he made him put his hand under his thigh. Abra­ham thus adjured his servant, Gen 24:2; Gen 24:9; and in the same manner Jacob adjured his son Joseph, that he should not bury him in Egypt, Gen 47:29. This is still prac­tised in the East, says Vatablus; and Tavernier gives an instance of it in his travels.^f1

In 1Ch 29:24, according to the original, " the putting of the hands under Solomon," is a ceremony of homage and obedience, whereby the person swearing gave the greatest token of his design to be faithful. And of this there are still some remains, when men take an oath of fidelity to their superiors, and do them homage.

F1 Tavernier’s Ind. Trav. L. ii. c. 3.

I pause at this word in order to notice the very remarkable custom, and of the highest antiquity, observed by the patriarchs, and which it is said is observed even now by some of the descendants of Abraham after the flesh, of swearing with the hand under the thigh. Thus we find Abraham desired his servant Eliezer to swear, concerning the taking a wife for his son. (Gen. 24. 2.) So in like manner Jacob caused his son Joseph to swear concerning burying him not in Egypt. (Gen 4:7: 29. &c.) It is remarkable however, that wedonot, after these striking instances, meet with a like ceremony among the Israelites, of swearing by putting the hand under the thigh, though there is smiting, in token of shame and sorrow. (See Jer. xxxi. 19. Zech. xxi. 12.) Various have been the opinions of writers as to the intention and design of it. Some have supposed that the oath was to remind the person taking it, that he and the person demanding it, were both circumcised: so that it was pledging himself by the covenant relationship between them. Others carry thematter farther, and while supposing, as the former, that the oath had respect to this fraternity and relationship in one common covenant, they add to it a reference to the person, and the expectation of the Messiah as the head and substance of the covenant; and in confirmation of this opinion they refer to that passage, Gen. 4:vi. 26. where it is said that all the souls which cause with Jacob into Egypt, came out of his loins, " or, as the margin renders it, his thigh. By which I humbly conceive is meant, as still with an eye to thecovenant, an interest in the Messiah. And if this should have been the allusion, what a blessed testimony doth it hold forth of the patriarch’s esteem of the salvation by Jesus Christ, and of their faith and assurance concerning it! And why may we not suppose that that early song of the royal nuptial feast of Christ with his church, which was sung by the psalmist a thousand years before Christ’s incarnation, had an eye to the same, when Jesus was called upon to gird himself with his sword upon his thigh? (Ps. lxv. 3.) We losenumberless beauties of the holy Scriptures, in our ignorance of the customs and manners of the East. But if the loins and thigh in relation to Israel’s seed were the same as we have seen, Gen. 4:vi. 26, surely the girding of Christ and the clothing of Christ may without violence he considered not unsimilar. And why may not the Lord be invocated as the most mighty, with his glory and majesty to gird himself upon the seed of his loins or thigh, as God the Father be heard claring concerning the whole seed of Christ, that heshallbe clothed with them? "As I live, saith the Lord, " speaking to his dear Son as Mediator, "thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all as with an ornament, and bind them on thee as a bride doth? (Isaiah xlix. 19.) But I add no more, the Lord pardon what I have already sold if I err.

Thigh, the part of the body from the legs to the trunk, of men, quadrupeds, etc. Putting the hand under the thigh appears to have been a very ancient custom, upon occasion of taking an oath to anyone. Abraham required this of the oldest servant of his house, when he made him swear that he would not take a wife for Isaac of the daughters of the Canaanites (Gen 24:2-9). Jacob required it of his son Joseph, when he bound him by oath not to bury him in Egypt, but with his fathers in the land of Canaan (Gen 47:29-31). The origin, form, and import of this ceremony in taking an oath, are very doubtful. Smiting on the thigh denotes penitence (Jer 31:19), grief, and mourning (Eze 21:12).

The mode of taking an oath, alluded to in Gen 24:2-9 47:29-31, was significant of the swearer’s obligation to obedience. Jacob’s thigh was disabled by the Angel, to show the patriarch that his prevalence was through his faith and prayer, not through force, Gen 32:25-31 . Smiting the thigh was a gesture of self-condemnation and grief, Jer 31:19 Eze 21:12 . Warriors wore their swords upon the left thigh, unless left-handed in readiness for use, Jdg 3:15-21 Psa 45:3 Son 3:8 ; so too they may have borne their names and titles, not only on their shields, but on their swords, or on the rove or mailed coat covering the thigh, Jer 19:16 . "Hip and thigh," Jdg 15:8, seems to mean utterly and irrecoverably.\par

THIGH (Heb. yârçk, Gr. mçros).—The hollow of Jacob’s thigh was strained as he wrestled at Peniel (Gen 32:25), and to this is attributed the Jewish custom (enjoined in the Mishna) of not eating ‘the sinew of the hip’ (Gen 32:32). On the thigh the sword was girded (Exo 32:27, Psa 45:3, Son 3:8); Ehud’s on the right thigh because he was left-handed (Jdg 3:16; Jdg 3:21). Under the jealousy ordeal the woman’s thigh falls away if she has been guilty of adultery (Num 5:21 ff.). To smite ‘hip and thigh’ (lit. ‘leg upon thigh’) is a phrase denoting utter discomfiture accompanied by great slaughter (Jdg 15:8). Its origin is unknown, and its meaning much disputed. Is Jer 31:19 and Eze 21:12 smiting upon one’s thigh is a gesture of sorrow or terror. In Heb. (cf. AVm [Note: Authorized Version margin.] ) of Gen 46:25, Exo 1:5, Jdg 8:30 a man’s children are described as coming out of his thigh. This explains the oath taken by placing the hand under the thigh (Gen 24:2; Gen 24:9; Gen 47:29), a special sacredness being ascribed to the organs of generation. In NT ‘thigh’ occurs only in Rev 19:16, where perhaps the meaning is that the name was written on that part of the garment which covered the thigh.

J. C. Lambert.

thı̄ (ירך, yārēkh; Aramaic ירכה, yar^ekhāh (Dan 2:32); μηρός, meros (Judith 9:2; Sirach 19:12; Rev 19:16); as part of a sacrificial animal (Exo 29:22, etc.) שׁיק, shōḳ, the King James Version, the Revised Version margin “shoulder”; in addition the King James Version has “thigh” for shōḳ in Isa 47:2 (the Revised Version (British and American) “leg”)): The portion of the leg from the knee to the hip, against which a weapon hangs when suspended from the waist (Exo 32:27; Jdg 3:16, Jdg 3:21; Psa 45:3, etc.). So the thigh of a rider on horseback would be covered by a loose girdle, on which his name might be embroidered (Rev 19:16). The “hollow of the thigh” (Gen 32:25 ff) is the hip-socket or the groin. See also HIP.

The thighs were thought to play a part in procreation (Gen 46:26; Exo 1:5, English Versions of the Bible “loins”; Jdg 8:30, English Versions of the Bible “body”; compare Num 5:21 ff), so that an oath taken with the hand under the thigh (Gen 24:2, Gen 24:9; Gen 47:29) was taken by the life-power (the rabbis interpreted “by the seal of circumcision”). It is perhaps significant that this oath in both Gen 24 and 47 is said to have been exacted by persons in danger of death. Doubtless this association of the thigh with life (aided perhaps by its excellence as food (1Sa 9:24; Eze 24:4)) determined its choice as a sacrificial potion (Exo 29:22, etc.; on the “heave thigh” see SACRIFICE). Consequently, it is natural to find the thigh classed as forbidden (“sacred”) food among certain peoples, and, probably, this sacred character of the part is the real basis of Gen 32:32: “The children of Israel eat not the sinew of the hip which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day.” The origin of the prohibition, however, was unknown to the writer of the verse, and he sought an explanation from a story in which special attention was called to the thigh. Nothing else is heard about this precept in the Old Testament, but it receives elaborate attention in the Mishna (Ḥullı̄n vii), where, for instance, all food cooked with meat containing the sinew (nervus ischiadicus) is rendered unclean if the sinew imparts a flavor to it, but not otherwise. (For further details see the comms., especially Skinner. (ICC) and RS², 380.) One of the proofs of guilt in the jealousy trial (Num 5:27) was the falling-away of the “thigh” (a euphemism; see JEALOUSY). To smite upon the thigh was a token of contrition (Jer 31:19) or of terror (Ezr Gen 21:12).

‘Thigh’ (ìçñüò) found in the NT only in Rev_19:16, ‘on his garment and on his thigh a name written.’ There is considerable doubt as to the interpretation (see Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) , s.v. ‘Thigh’), but the general view is that the second phrase limits the first, i.e. the name was written upon the outer garment where it falls over the thigh; or it may have been that the inscription was partly on the garment and partly on the thigh (or what covered it). It was customary to attach a legend of some sort to statues, equestrian and other, and to place this in a prominent position. See references in H. Alford, Greek Testament, iv.5 [London, 1875] 728, and in H. B. Swete, The Apocalypse of St. John 2, London, 1907, p. 255. In contrast to v. 12 this name is not cryptic.

W. Cruickshank.

Psa 45:3 (b) This expression is used to represent the almighty and active power of GOD in preparing for the judgment of His enemies. As the soldier girds on his sword and is ready for the battle, so the Psalmist asks GOD to prepare for the great day of the revelation of His majestic power.

Eze 21:12 (c) We may use this type to illustrate the rather common practice of striking one’s self upon the thigh, or the hip, or the leg, when in anger, or when insisting on some course of action.

Dan 2:32 (b) Probably this represents the chronology of the kingdoms. The nation of Greece was to be the third after Nebuchadnezzar, even as the head is first, the breast is second, and the thigh is the third in the body.

Rev 19:16 (b) This is indicative and symbolical of the mighty power and strength of the exalted CHRIST as He comes forth to rule and reign. The thigh, the place of strength and power in the body, is used to describe the strength and power of CHRIST when He comes to reign on the earth.