Episcopal ordination of bishop Maurizio Malvestiti

The laying on of hands is a religious practice. In

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in t ...

semikhah Semikhah ( he, סמיכה) is the traditional Jewish name for rabbinic ordination. The original ''semikhah'' was the formal "transmission of authority" from Moses through the generations. This form of ''semikhah'' ceased between 360 and 425 ...

'' ( he, סמיכה, "leaning f the hands) accompanies the conferring of a blessing or authority. In

Christian churches In ecclesiology, the Christian Church is what different Christian denominations conceive of as being the true body of Christians or the original institution established by Jesus. "Christian Church" has also been used in academia as a synonym for ...

, this practice is used as both a symbolic and formal method of invoking the Holy Spirit primarily during

baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

s and confirmations, healing services, blessings, and ordination of

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

s, ministers, elders, deacons, and other church officers, along with a variety of other church sacraments and holy ceremonies. A similar practice of laying on of hands is also used in Navajo religious ceremonies.

Jewish tradition

The laying on of hands was an action referred to on numerous occasions in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Moses ordained

Joshua Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...

through ''

''—i.e. by the laying on of hands: , . The Bible adds that Joshua was thereby "filled with the spirit of wisdom". Moses also ordained the 70 elders (). The elders later ordained their successors in this way. Their successors in turn ordained others. This chain of hands-on ''semikhah'' continued through the time of the Second Temple, to an undetermined time. The exact date that the original ''semikhah'' succession ended is not certain. Many medieval authorities believed that this occurred during the reign of Hillel II, circa 360 CE. However, it seems to have continued at least until 425 CE when

Theodosius II Theodosius II ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος, Theodosios; 10 April 401 – 28 July 450) was Roman emperor for most of his life, proclaimed ''augustus'' as an infant in 402 and ruling as the eastern Empire's sole emperor after the death of his ...

executed

Gamaliel VI Gamaliel VI (c. 370–425) was the last '' nasi'' of the ancient Sanhedrin. Gamaliel came into office around the year 400. On October 20, 415, an edict issued by the Emperors Honorius and Theodosius II stripped Gamaliel of his rank of honorary ...

and suppressed the

Patriarchate Patriarchate ( grc, πατριαρχεῖον, ''patriarcheîon'') is an ecclesiological term in Christianity, designating the office and jurisdiction of an ecclesiastical patriarch. According to Christian tradition three patriarchates were est ...

and Sanhedrin. Laying on of hands can also refer to the practice of laying hands over one's sacrificial animal ( sin-offering), before it was slaughtered, based on a teaching in Leviticus 4:24: "And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the goat." In Pseudo Jonathan's Aramaic translation of the Pentateuch, the translator of the verse explains its sense: "And he shall lay his right hand with force on the head of the goat." According to

Philo of Alexandria Philo of Alexandria (; grc, Φίλων, Phílōn; he, יְדִידְיָה, Yəḏīḏyāh (Jedediah); ), also called Philo Judaeus, was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt. Philo's de ...

, the custom of laying on of hands was done in conjunction with a declaration, where the owner of the animal would say: "These hands have not taken a bribe to distort justice, neither have they divided the spoil, etc." According to

Jewish tradition Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites"" ...

, the first dispute in Israel concerned whether or not it was permissible to lay hands upon one's sacrificial animal by applying one's full body weight on a Festival Day.

Christian traditions

Laying on of hands Finnish Lutheran ordination in Oulu

In the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...

the laying on of hands was associated with the receiving of the Holy Spirit (see

Acts The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its message ...

). Initially the Apostles laid hands on new believers as well as believers (see ). The

also associates the laying on of hands with the conferral of authority or designation of a person to a position of responsibility. (See

; and . Also possibly

, where "ordained"—Greek: —may be translated "extended the hand".) The use of the laying on of hands for the ordination of church officers has continued in many branches of Christianity.

Anglicanism

Laying on of hands is part of Anglican confirmation, anointing of the sick, and other parts of liturgy and pastoral offices. The rubric in the confirmation service requires the bishop to lay only one hand, symbolising that he has less spiritual authority than an apostle who laid both hands.

Catholicism

In the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, the practice continued and is still used in a wide variety of church ceremonies, such as during confirmation.

Eastern Christianity

In Eastern Christianity, laying on of hands is used for the ordination (called ) of the higher clergy (bishops, priests and deacons), and is also performed at the end of the sacrament of

unction Anointing is the ritual act of pouring aromatic oil over a person's head or entire body. By extension, the term is also applied to related acts of sprinkling, dousing, or smearing a person or object with any perfumed oil, milk, butter, or ot ...

Evangelicalism

In Evangelical Christianity, the laying on of hands takes place for pastoral ordination.

Baptists

In few Baptist churches, the laying on of hands rarely takes place after a believer's baptism although this is traditional to some sects and not practiced as a Biblical command nor example. This is one of the two points which was added in the

1689 Baptist Confession of Faith The Confession of Faith, also called the Second London Baptist Confession, was written by Particular Baptists, who held to a Calvinistic soteriology in England to give a formal expression of their Christian faith from a Baptist perspective. Be ...

in 1742. Southern Baptist Christians employ the laying on of hands during the ordination of clergymen (such as deacons, assistant, and senior pastors) as well as situations of calling for divine healing.

Pentecostalism

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

Christians practice the laying on of hands as part of prayer for divine healing ( faith healing) and the anointing of the sick. Former Australia Prime Minister

Scott Morrison Scott John Morrison (; born 13 May 1968) is an Australian politician. He served as the 30th prime minister of Australia and as Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia from 2018 to 2022, and is currently the member of parliament (MP) for th ...

practises the laying on of hands.

Latter-day Saints

Latter Day Saint confirmation (Mayhew 1852)

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe the restoration of Christ's priesthood came about by the laying on of hands by the resurrected

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, ...

and Oliver Cowdery in 1829, and laying on of hands is seen as a necessary part of Confirmation. Latter-day Saints lay on hands when ordaining members to to the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods and when setting members apart to serve in other positions in the church. When asked by a member who is ill, two elders of the Church anoint the sick member's head with consecrated olive oil and then lay hands upon their head and as guided by the Holy Spirit, bless them.

African traditional medicine

The San peoples of Southern Africa use the laying on of hands as a healing practice. As described by professor Richard Katz, the healers of the !Kung people lay their hands on a sick person to draw the sickness out of them and into the healer in a "difficult, painful" process.

State use

The laying on of hands, known as the royal touch, was performed by

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

s in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, and was believed to cure scrofula (also called "King's Evil" at the time), a name given to a number of skin diseases. The rite of the king's touch began in France with Robert II the Pious, but legend later attributed the practice to Clovis as Merovingian founder of the Holy Roman kingdom, and Edward the Confessor in England. The belief continued to be common throughout the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

but began to die out with

the Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...

. Queen Anne was the last British monarch to claim to possess this divine ability, though the Jacobite

pretender A pretender is someone who claims to be the rightful ruler of a country although not recognized as such by the current government. The term is often used to suggest that a claim is not legitimate.Curley Jr., Walter J. P. ''Monarchs-in-Waiting'' ...

s also claimed to do so. The French monarchy maintained the practice up until the 19th century. The act was usually performed at large ceremonies, often at

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

or other holy days.

Notes

References

* ''New Bible Dictionary'' () * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Laying On Of Hands Religious rituals