Right hand of God

The right hand of God is a phrase used in the Bible and common speech as a metaphor for the omnipotence of God and as a motif in art. In the Bible, to be at the right side "is to be identified as being in the special place of honor".^[1] In "The Sheep and the Goats", one of the parables of Jesus, the sheep and goats are separated with the sheep on the right hand of God and the goats on the left hand.

It is also a placement next to God in Heaven, in the traditional place of honor, mentioned in the New Testament as the place of Christ at Mark 16:19,^[2] Luke 22:69,^[3] Matthew 22:44^[4] and 26:64, Acts 2:34 and 7:55, 1 Peter 3:22 and elsewhere. These uses reflect use of the phrase in the Old Testament, for example in Psalms 63:8 and 110:1.^[5] The implications of this anthropomorphic phrasing have been discussed at length by theologians, including Saint Thomas Aquinas.^[6]

In Jewish and Christian iconography, especially of the Late Antique and Early Medieval periods, the "Hand of God" or the "Right Hand of God" is a motif used to indicate the intervention in or approval of affairs on Earth by God. It was used when artistic depictions of the God of Israel or God the Father as a full human figure were considered unacceptable.