ARM, Brachium. The Arm is the symbol of strength. God delivered his people from bondage in Egypt with a Deut. v. 5.stretched out Arm, in brachio extenso; by the force of his Arm, in magnitudine brachii sui; with an Arm lifted up, in brachio excelso. To express the reducing one to a state of humiliation, to want, and impotency, it is said that his Arm shall be 1 Sam. ii. 31.cut off; Præcidam brachium tuum, & brachium domus patrui tui, I will cut off thine Arm, and the Arm of thy Father’s house, says the Lord to the High Priest Eli. He teacheth my hands to fight, and mine Arm shall break even a bow of Psal. xviii. 34.steel, says David. Woe to him who putteth his confidence in the Arm of flesh, Quia ponit carnem brachium suum. The Arm of the wicked shall be dried up, and Zach. xi. 17. Jer. xvii. 5. Isai. ix. 20. Dan. xi. 31. Eccluf. vii. 31. Lev. vii. 32. Ex. xxix. 22.he shall not be able to make use of it, Brachium ejus ariditate siccabitur.
Isaiah, to express an extreme famine, says, that every one shall eat the flesh of his own Arm; so great will be the famine, and their despair. In Daniel, Arms, absolutely taken, denote strong and powerful men. And Arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the Sanctuary of strength. And in Ecclesiasticus, Brachia signifies the shoulder of the Peace-offering, which was given to the Priest as his fee, Propurga te cum brachiis. And a little after, Datum brachiorum tuorum, & sacrificium sanctificationis offeres Domino, Offer to the Lord the shoulders of thy victims.