Lexical Summary
yad: hand, hands, power
Original Word:יַד
Part of Speech:Noun Feminine
Transliteration:yad
Pronunciation:yahd
Phonetic Spelling:(yad)
NASB:hand, hands, power
Word Origin:[(Aramaic) corresponding toH3027 (יָד - hand)]
1. hand, power
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
hand, power
(Aramaic) corresponding toyad -- hand, power.
see HEBREWyad
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin(Aramaic) corresponding to
yadDefinitionhand
NASB Translationattempts* (1), hand (12), hands (4), power (1).
Topical Lexicon
Overview of UsageThe Aramaic noun יַד (Strong 3028) appears seventeen times, all in Ezra and Daniel. In every instance it functions metaphorically as well as literally, denoting power, authority, capability, possession, protection or judgment. The recurring theme is that every earthly “hand” ultimately operates under the overruling “hand of God,” thus reinforcing the biblical witness to divine sovereignty.
Distribution in Ezra and Daniel
Ezra (5 occurrences) presents the word in the post-exilic rebuilding era, showing how the “hand” of earthly rulers or of the returned exiles is subordinate to the providential “hand” of the God of heaven (Ezra 5:12; 6:12; 7:14, 25). Daniel (12 occurrences) places the term in royal courts and prophetic visions, contrasting tyrannical human hands with the invincible hand of God that writes on walls (Daniel 5:5), shatters kingdoms (2:34, 45), delivers His saints (3:17; 6:27), and holds every monarch’s very breath (5:23).
The Sovereign Hand of God
1. Authority over Nations
• “He does as He pleases with the army of heaven and the people of the earth. No one can restrain His hand” (Daniel 4:35).
• The stone “struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them” (Daniel 2:34). Though human empires rise by their own hands, they fall by the unseen hand of God.
2. Judgment and Warning
• The fingers that wrote on Belshazzar’s plaster wall (Daniel 5:5) signal immediate judgment: “the hand was sent from Him” (Daniel 5:24).
• Ezra’s prayer recalls earlier judgment: “He gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar” (Ezra 5:12). God’s hand disciplines covenant breakers but it also restores the repentant.
3. Preservation and Deliverance
• “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the blazing furnace, and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king” (Daniel 3:17).
• “He delivers and rescues; He works signs and wonders… He has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions” (Daniel 6:27). The hand that judges also saves.
Human Hands: Instruments or Opponents
Ezra depicts diligent building work “prospering in their hands” (Ezra 5:8), yet the builders confess that success depends on divine favor, not merely on human skill. Daniel shows human hands boasting (3:15) and even persecuting the saints (7:25), but every oppressive hand is temporary. Whether constructing temples or erecting idols, human hands are accountable to the One who formed them.
Christological Foreshadowing
The stone “cut out without hands” (Daniel 2:34, 45) prefigures the Messiah’s kingdom: not human in origin, invincible in scope. The finger that wrote Belshazzar’s doom anticipates Jesus writing in the dust (John 8:6) and performing signs “by the finger of God” (Luke 11:20), identifying Him with the same divine hand active in Daniel.
Ministerial Applications
• Confidence in Mission: Builders, pastors, and missionaries labor with diligence, yet results “prosper in their hands” only when the work is under God’s hand (Ezra 5:8).
• Humility before Power: Political or ecclesiastical authority is always derivative. Leaders must remember that “the Most High rules the kingdom of men” (Daniel 4:32).
• Courage in Persecution: Believers facing hostile “hands” can rest in the God whose hand no one can restrain (Daniel 4:35) and who is able to deliver (3:17; 6:27).
• Urgency of Repentance: The handwriting on the wall warns every generation that unchecked pride will meet the decisive hand of judgment (Daniel 5:23-28).
Eschatological Outlook
Daniel 7:25 anticipates a final oppressor whose hand will “wear out the saints.” Yet even this climactic persecution is limited: “time, times, and half a time.” The saints’ ultimate vindication underscores that history ends, not in the hands of tyrants, but in the secure hand of God who grants “the kingdom and dominion and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven… to the saints of the Most High” (Daniel 7:27).
Summary
Strong 3028 יַד threads through Ezra and Daniel as a vivid reminder that all human activity—whether construction, governance, persecution, or idolatry—operates beneath the overarching, irresistible hand of God. That hand disciplines and delivers, topples empires and establishes everlasting rule. For believers, the word summons awe, repentance, diligence, and fearless confidence, knowing that “It is better to fall into the hand of the LORD” than to trust any merely human hand.
Forms and Transliterations
בְּיֶדְהֹֽם׃ בְּיַ֛ד בִּידֵ֔הּ בִּידֵ֛הּ בִּידָ֔ךְ בִידֵ֔הּ בִידַ֔יִן בִידַ֗יִן בִידָֽךְ׃ בִידָךְ֙ ביד בידה בידהם׃ בידין בידך בידך׃ יְדֵ֗הּ יְדָ֑א יְדָ֖ה יְדָ֥ךְ יְדָֽי׃ יַ֖ד יַד־ יד יד־ ידא ידה ידי׃ ידך bə·yaḏ bə·yeḏ·hōm beYad bəyaḏ beyedHom bəyeḏhōm ḇî·ḏa·yin bî·ḏāḵ ḇî·ḏāḵ bî·ḏêh ḇî·ḏêh biDach bîḏāḵ ḇîḏāḵ ḇîḏayin biDeh bîḏêh ḇîḏêh viDach viDayin viDeh vidoCh yad yaḏ yaḏ- yə·ḏā yə·ḏāh yə·ḏāḵ yə·ḏāy yə·ḏêh yeDa yəḏā yeDach yeDah yəḏāh yeDai yəḏāḵ yəḏāy yeDeh yəḏêh
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