[Greek] δάκτυλος (daktylos), [Latin] digitus: finger, digit, hand, toes; Mt.23:4, Mk.7:33, Lk.11:20,46, Lk.16:24, Jn.8:6, Jn.20:25,27
Nicknamed the “Hand of God’, this pulsar wind nebula was captured by NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Array, or NuSTar.
Background information:
Greek Hellenism: This term means finger, thumb, toes, measure of length, and poetic syllable. The daktylos is the smallest unit of measure, a unit representing the thickness of a finger. The daktylos is equivalent to .76 inches. This term also refers to a long accented syllable followed by two short syllables. The word “poetry” is such an example. Herodotus’ The Histories 1.60 states “There was a woman called Phya, three inches short of six feet, four inches in height, and otherwise, too, well formed.” Xenophon’s Anabasis 4.5.12 states “Some of the soldiers were falling behind—those whose eyes had been blinded by the snow, or whose toes had rotten off by reason of the cold.”
Old Testament: This term means hand, finger, toe, power, and authority. God is often sometimes given human qualities. The “hand” and “finger” of God reference His power and creation. The finger of God denotes His direct intervention into man’s affairs. This activity involves moving over the upper waters, inscribing the commandments (on stone tablets), working miracles, and enacting plagues. When I see your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and starts You set in place (Psa.8:3). He gave Moses the two tablets of the commandments, the stone tablets inscribed by God’s own finger (Ex.31:18). The priest dipping his finger in the blood, shall sprinkle some of it seven times before the Lord (Lev.4:5). And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your foes into your hands (Gen.14:20). The magicians said to Pharaoh, ‘This is the finger of God’ (Exo.8:
New Testament: This term means finger and power (authority). References to the use of the fingers occur in various situations. The Pharisees and scribes, acting like hypocrites, fail to lift their fingers in helping others’ burdens. Jesus heals the deaf man by putting His fingers into the deaf man’s ears. Thomas, lacking in belief, sought to place his fingers in Jesus’ nail marks. The rich man, suffering in the netherworld, sought out Lazarus to dip his finger in water to cool his tongue. Jesus begins to write on the ground with His finger in His efforts to shame others from throwing stones at the adulterous woman. It is by the finger of God that Jesus has the authority to drive out demons.
Scripture:
“They tie up heavy burdens (hard to carry) and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them.” Mt.23:4
The Pharisees and scribes act like hypocrites in not helping others.
“But Thomas said to them, ‘Unless I see the marks of the nails in His hands and put my finger into the nail-marks and put my hand into His side, I will not believe’”. Jn.20:25
“But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” Lk.11:20
The finger of God represents His authority.
Conclusion:
Digit, digital, pterodactyl, tactile (from the Latin tactillus [that may be touched])
In the Greek Hellenistic era, it was interesting to discover that this term was used for a standard of measurement. I was also never aware of the use of dactyls in po’-e-try. This is dif’-i-cult for me to wrap my “fingers” around.
In the Old Testament, this term takes on greater significance illustrating God’s authority and power.
In the New Testament, this term continues to convey the idea that Jesus gets His authority from God to drive out demons. Jesus also uses his hands (fingers) in His ministry.
In fact, there are about 22 words that end in –dactyl. So my candidates for useless words are:
WARNING—USELESS WORDS ALERT–
Syndactyl: a condition where 2 or more digits (fingers or toes) are fused together
Hemidactyl: an ancient gecko having dilated toes
Paradactyl: the side of a bird’s toes
Hermodactyl: a type of root used in Western medicine (“Hermes finger”)
You have to ‘hand’ it to NASA for their amazing telescopic photography!