HANDS, IMPOSITION OF (LAYING ON OF). A ceremony of ancient origin with different meanings, depending upon its occurrence in various Scriptural contexts.

1. In relation to sacrificial procedures. The prescriptions of the Mosaic law required worshipers who brought burnt and sin offerings for sacrifice to God to lay their hands upon the animal victims before the latter were killed (Exod 29:10; Lev 1:4; 4:4, 24, 29, 33; 8:14; Num 8:10, 12). It should not be assumed that this symbolic act implied a general transference of guilt from the worshiper to the victims, since this only occurred with the imposition of hands on the scapegoat on the day of Atonement (Lev 16:21). Instead, it seems probable that the act of imposition consecrated the victim for its special task.

2. In relation to punishment. A blasphemer had the hands of witnesses laid on him before being taken away to be stoned (Lev 24:14).

3. In association with blessing. Jacob blessed the children of Joseph in this way (Gen 48:14), as Christ also blessed the children (Matt 19:15; Mark 10:13, 16). The invoking of a benediction upon a group involved outstretched arms, such as the priestly benedictions (Lev 9:22) or the occasion of Christ’s ascension (Luke 24:50).

4. In relation to healing. In the NT, the concept behind the practice seems to have been that of transferring spiritual vitality to produce a wholeness of personality in the recipient that manifested itself in physical or mental healing. Such instances included the healing of Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:23), where Christ finally “took her by the hand” (5:41); the commission to the disciples that included healing (16:18); the healings occurring at Capernaum (Luke 4:40), and the restoration of the hopelessly crippled woman (13:13). In the same way, Ananias laid hands on Paul to enable him to recover his sight (Acts 9:12, 17), and Paul in turn healed the father of Publius in Malta (28:8), who seems to have been suffering from dysentery and perhaps an accompanying malaria. Healings of a general nature are described (5:12) as occurring through the “hands” of the apostles, i.e., through apostolic agency.

5. Gift of the Spirit. The imposition of hands also conveyed the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:18, 19; 19:6). The resultant manifestations of spiritual vitality were often of the external variety such as glossalalia. The denominations that justify their postbaptismal confirmation rites by reference to such passages (Heb 6:2), clearly misunderstand the significance of the practice in the early Apostolic age.

6. Ordination rites. A special blessing was envisaged, as with the ordination of Joshua by Moses as his successor (Num 27:18, 23; Deut 34:9). At the ceremony, Joshua was commissioned to his new task, and was not given the gifts of leadership or wisdom, which he already possessed. In effect, his ordination attested to his special qualities of spirit, giving him formal authority to exercise the functions of leadership among the Israelites. The same principle applied to the Seven (Acts 6:6) and the commissioning of Paul and Barnabas (13:3). The imparting of a spiritual gift is implied by Paul (1 Tim 4:14; 2 Tim 1:6). Paul’s advice to Timothy involved the restoration of penitents to leadership (1 Tim 5:22).

Bibliography F. J. Foakes-Jackson and K. Lake, The Beginnings of Christianity V (1933), 121-140; A. Ehrhardt, Journal of Ecclesiastical History, V (1954).