537. Hands on the Head

From: Manners and Customs of the Bible By: James M. Freeman

• 1 min. read • grade level: 9

Jeremiah 2:37³⁷Yea, thou shalt go forth from him, and thine hands upon thine head: for the Lord hath rejected thy confidences, and thou shalt not prosper in them. (Jeremiah 2:37). Thou shalt go forth from him, and thine hands upon thine head.

This is an Oriental mode of expressing great grief, and is thought by some to signify that the heavy hand of God’s affliction is resting on the mourner. This was one of the tokens of mourning adopted by Tamar after the cruel maltreatment she received from Amnon. See 2 Samuel 13:19¹⁹And Tamar put ashes on her head, and rent her garment of divers colors that was on her, and laid her hand on her head, and went on crying. (2 Samuel 13:19). There is in the British Museum a sculptured slab representing Egyptian mourners at a funeral, with their hands on their heads. According to Roberts, this is a common mode of expressing grief in India. “When people are in great distress they put their hands on their head, the fingers being clasped on the top of the crown. Should a man who is plunged into wretchedness meet a friend, he immediately puts his hands on his head to illustrate his circumstances. When a person hears of the death of a relation or friend he forthwith clasps his hands and places them on his head. When boys have been punished at school, they run home with their hands on the same place” (Oriental Illustrations, p. 461).

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