Genesis 24:2-9 & 47:29 Abraham and Israel respectively asked a servant and Joseph to swear by ‘placing the hand under the tight’.
It is being suggested that this means placing the hand on the testicles, since it is thought that this was an Hebrew euphemism for the latter…
A little internet search revealed people acknowledging the fact that this was an ancient Indo-European custom but shuffling about the latter meanings in Latin of the word Testis, testify, testicles…
Does the bible implies this was the case in these passages? Was this a custom on the ancient times?
Here are some interesting info gathered from around:
Speaking of Protestants, both protest and detest are from the Latin testare, to bear witness, i.e., to testify. Protest is to "speak forward" in public, while detest is to "speak out downward", that is, to curse or condemn. It is somewhat surprising to learn that testicle is another member of the family. A testicle is a "little witness", presumably a proof of virility whereby a person proved he was not (God forbid) a female or eunuch. (Medieval Canon Law had to be changed to establish that the rule saying "All priests must possess two testicles" did not
mean the priest could keep the articles in question in his pocket.) Other "bear witness" words are attest, testament, and contest. The last originated as a legal term, basically the same thing as a trial. It's "bear witness together", which is what happens from the judge's point of view when both sides finally get assembled in one place. Incidentally, the division of the Christian Bible into Old Testament and New Testament is due to a mis-translation. The Greek word diatheke meant both "will" and "covenant", and the Latin translators picked the wrong meaning when they substituted Latin testimentum instead of some form of convenire (come together, or agree) to describe the old and new agreements between Man and God. As a side note, for a couple thousand years, a man swearing an oath (testifying) placed his hand on his genitals instead of a Bible. Presumably the gesture meant, "May I be less than a man if I fail to tell the truth." In those days, of course, women couldn't testify in court for two reasons. (The English Bible delicately says that so-and-so "placed his hand upon his thigh" when testifying.)
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I wonder whether the significance of this act (touching the inner thigh in connection with the giving of an oath or a blessing) is related to a similar ancient Indo-European practice, with which the Hurrians of Haran may well have been familiar, used in connection with giving of an oath or testimony. In fact, the Indo-European root word for testify is the same as for testicle. The connection is not easy to make without knowledge of the practice. Observers of the interactions of chimpanzees have observed them making the same gesture, as an act that confirms social status and trust. As in the story of Abraham, it is the personage of lesser authority —the one doing the "testifying" or swearing— that is allowed to place his hand in such a sensitive place, and the fact that it is permitted is a sign that the oath or obeisance is accepted by the superior party.
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The Hebrew word in some passages is 'yarek,' meaning 'thigh' in the Old
Testament. That ritual might derive from the belief that the thigh is a
center of power, probably because it's near the genitals. Some interpreters
argue that it is a swearing upon the genitals, with "under the thigh" being
a euphemism in Hebrew.
Dr. Lee Stone, in his book "The Power of a Symbol," said that the "most
ancient way of administering the oath was by placing the hand between the
thighs, on the genitals. These were regarded as the Christian and the Jew
regard the Bible, as being the most sacred of tangible things" (10, pg. 45).
Dr. P. C. Remondino, in his book "History of Circumcision from the
Earliest Times to the Present" said that "It was partly this custom of
swearing, or of affirming, with the hand under the thigh, by the early
Israelites," which led many to believe that their hand was being placed on
the testicles (11, pg. 35).
It is likely that the passages above inspired the popular claim that
'testify' derived from 'testicle," but the claim is disputed with
alternative derivations and interpretations. A popular claim also alleges
that Greeks and Romans would touch their own testicles while swearing,
however there is no evidence in support. The "testicle" theory argues that
the testicles were used for oaths because they represented virility, power,
and represented the man's future generations, and the source of life.
The new theory asks whether the "inner thigh" posture (the "yarek oath"
or "yarek prayer") acknowledged the man's circumcision. In Judaism the
circumcision is the male's covenant with God and is also called the
"Covenant of Abraham," because it began with the Patriarch Abraham. Two
references to the "inner thigh" oath (above) refer to Abraham, whose
circumcision would have been new and revered. Abraham would have
circumcised his slaves, who later performed "inner thigh" oaths to Abraham.