Clapping hands in the Bible

Koot van wyk (DLitt et Phil; ThD)

Visiting Professor

Kyungpook National University

Sangju Campus

South Korea

Conjoint lecturer of Avondale College

Australia

If it was your wish to clap hands in church, the news is that there are only a handful of verses about clapping hands in the Bible. They are Job 27:23; Psalm 47:1; Psalm 98:8; Isaiah 55:12; Lamentations 2:15; Nahum 3:19. Two verses dealt with clapped of hands and they are 2 Kings 11:12 and Ezechiel 25:6.

One further verse dealt with clapping of hands and that is Job 34:37. There are no New Testament examples for clapping hands.

Job 27:23

Actually, the section from Job 27:13-23 deals with the fate of the wicked. The clapping of hands will be in the eschaton when God is dealing with the wicked and the surprise action is clapping the hands over the defeat of the wicked. That is the context of the clapping in verse 23.

Psalm 47:1

The context of the Psalm is the same as the previous citation from Job 27. Hands are to be clapped after the defeat of the wicked since the Lord is to be feared. At that time, when the Warrior Messiah subdued all nations under His feet, with the saints safely in the New Jerusalem or Zion (see Psalm 46), at that event the saints will clap the hands.

Psalm 98:8

The verse is asking the rivers to clap hands for the destruction is coming in the eschaton event of the executive judgment “for He is coming to judge the earth” (Psalm 98:9).

Isaiah 55:12

Isaiah is describing the new heavens that God will create and at that day, it is not humans that will be clapping hands full of joy, but all the trees of the field.

Lamentations 2:15

The clapping of hands is by the enemies of Jerusalem, the city who is punished for her evil. Evil people clap hands over the punishment of the evil deeds of Jerusalem.

Nahum 3:19

The clapping of hands in this prophet is by the enemies of Assyria, who is punished for her evil deeds.

2 Kings 11:12

When the boy-king Jehoiada was crowned, the soldiers and those who gathered at the ceremony clapped their hands and said: “Long live the king”. The context is a secular government change event.

Ezechiel 25:6

The context is the enemies against Israel who have clapped their hands against Israel’s defeat and now the Lord is angry about that. The Lord will destroy them.

Job 34:37

“For he [Job] adds rebellion to his [Job’s] sin, he [Job] claps his hands among us [the men of understanding of verse 34] and multiply his [Job’s] words against God.