The expression “with a high hand” means: Overbearing in manner; arrogantly.
In the Bible, Numbers xxxiii, 3, the chronicler used the expression in the sense of “triumphantly,” in the description of the departure of the Israelites from Egyptian bondage:
“And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians.”
In fact, it was through Wyclif’s translation of the Bible in 1382 that we have the metaphor, “Therfor thei goon forth in an hig hoond.”
Related Posts
-
Where does the expression “hand-in-glove” come from and What does hand in glove mean?
Originally, about three hundred years ago, those using the metaphor hand-in-glove worded it hand and glove, that is, being on terms of intimate relationship comparable to that of one's hand and the glove…
-
Where does the term four-in-hand come from and What does four in hand mean?
Today most of us think of the term four-in-hand only as a necktie, to be tied in its own special loop. But the horsemen among us may have another notion. To them it…
-
Where do the terms highroad, highway, high seas, high tea come from?
It was not that the road, sea, way, or the like was elevated above others of its kind that it was labeled high, tracing back to Old English times, but that it possessed…
-
What Does the Expression “The Upper Hand” Mean and Where Did the Idiom Come From?
Someone with the "upper hand" has the final say over a situation. When a group of youngsters gather to pick sides at a game of sandlot baseball, the two captains decide who chooses…
-
Where Did the Expression “Fork it Over” Come From and What Does the Phrase “Hand it Over” Mean?
The expression "fork it over" has a connotation of urgency to it and is often used dramatically during a criminal holdup. In fact, the expression does have origins in a long-forgotten underworld. Of…
-
Where does the phrase “hand over fist” come from and What does it mean?
At first, the phrase "hand over fist" was a nautical expression with a very lateral meaning , advancing the hands alternately, as in climbing a rope, hoisting a sail, or the like. Then,…
