What is the meaning of the word finger? This question arises due to the fact that it is rarely used in everyday life. Today is outdated and more inherent in poetic speech. In addition, he has another shade - figurative meaning. More detailed information on the meaning of the word “finger” will be presented in the article.
First interpretation
In this case, the meaning of the outdated word “finger” can be stated quite succinctly - it is a finger on the hand. As mentioned above, today you hear this very rarely, basically this concept is found in books that tell about past times.
For example, when it comes to prayer activities:
- Every evening, Benjamin Samoilovich prayed in front of the icons, he bowed to the earth, in extreme cases, touched the earth with a finger.
- They perfectly served, were obedient to the authorities, but they refused to be baptized with three fingers.
Brutal repression
The last example is connected with the time of the church reforms of Patriarch Nikon, which he began in the middle of the 17th century. For a better understanding of the lexical meaning of the word “finger”, it would be appropriate to recall this page in Russian history. Nikon's reforms were associated with the unification of Russian ranks and services in accordance with the Greek patterns that were then modern.
This met fierce resistance among the followers of the old rites. At the local cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Church, held in 1656, all who were baptized with two fingers were declared heretics, excommunicated, and betrayed to curse.
In 1667, at the Big Moscow Cathedral, which approved the books of the new press and approved the new services, the Old Believers were again declared heretics. After that, the state stood on the brink of a religious war.
After the cathedral, which took place in 1681, massacres and executions of Old Believers began. At the request of the clergy, the ruler Sophia issued "12 articles" - laws that later formed the basis of various punishments. These were exiles, prisons, torture, burning alive in the log cabins of thousands of people committed to the Old Believers.
Some concessions
The "12 articles" were canceled only in 1716, under Peter I. The Old Believers were given the opportunity to exist in a semi-legal position, provided that they would pay the tax for the split "twice." At the same time, evaders should have been fined and even sent to hard labor. The death penalty relied on involvement in the Old Believers.
For a correct understanding of the meaning of the word “finger”, one should consider the second version of its interpretation.
Figuratively
In this case, the “finger” is interpreted as a mysterious indication, something mystical, which determines the actions of people, their behavior and fate, or the fulfillment of something.
Here are examples of the use of the studied word in a figurative sense:
- Are you really sure that this event is not a coincidence, but a sign, a stigma, a finger of fate?
- Unfortunately, many people, overshadowed by the finger of God, eke out their existence in oblivion and obscurity, in the margins of history.
At the end of the study of the question of the meaning of the word “finger”, it would be advisable to turn to the history of the occurrence of the mentioned expression “finger of God”. It is taken from the Old Testament, from the book of Exodus. It describes the ten executions of the Egyptians that the Egyptians suffered for tormenting the Jewish people without releasing them from captivity. The third of the executions was the invasion of clouds of midges that covered Egyptian lands. With regard to her, the Bible says that the magi told Pharaoh: "This is the finger of God."
Thus, behind the short word “finger” upon closer examination, one can discern some historical and biblical events.