In whose hands is mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes.
Psalm 26 belongs chiefly to the sorrows and afflictions of the Hebrew captives during the Babylonian captivity, especially the latter part under Belshazzar when persecution was greatest. It at the same time offers encouragement and assurance of divine help and final deliverance from persecutors. Within that setting the verse is part of a prayer asking God not to count or gather the speaker with sinners and violent or bloody men. Those people are described as having hands occupied with evil and wrongdoing and right hands filled with bribes.
The right hand is used figuratively for a person's principal or chief acts and deeds. A right hand full of bribes therefore means conduct marked by bribery, corruption and unrighteousness. The hand here stands for what a person puts into practice and not only for a literal body part. The corrupt and bribe-taking people so described stand in contrast to those who reject dishonest gain. The description foretells conditions in the last days, and is fulfilled in the prevalence of bribery and graft among corrupt people at the time when Christians look for the Lord's return.
Psalm 26 belongs chiefly to the sorrows and afflictions of the Hebrew captives during the Babylonian captivity, especially the latter part under Belshazzar when persecution was greatest. It at the same time offers encouragement and assurance of divine help and final deliverance from persecutors. Within that setting the verse is part of a prayer asking God not to count or gather the speaker with sinners and violent or bloody men. Those people are described as having hands occupied with evil and wrongdoing and right hands filled with bribes.
The right hand is used figuratively for a person's principal or chief acts and deeds. A right hand full of bribes therefore means conduct marked by bribery, corruption and unrighteousness. The hand here stands for what a person puts into practice and not only for a literal body part. The corrupt and bribe-taking people so described stand in contrast to those who reject dishonest gain. The description foretells conditions in the last days, and is fulfilled in the prevalence of bribery and graft among corrupt people at the time when Christians look for the Lord's return.