The right hand of God (Dextera Domini 'right hand of the Lord' in Latin) or God's right hand may be used in the Bible and common speech as a metaphor for the omnipotence of God and as a motif in art.
In the Bible, to be at the right side "is to be identified as being in the special place of honor". [1] In Jesus' parable " The Sheep and the Goats", the sheep and goats are separated with the sheep on the right hand of God and the goats on the left hand.
It is also a placement next to God in Heaven, in the traditional place of honor, mentioned in the New Testament as the place of Christ at Mark 16:19, [2] Luke 22:69, [3] Matthew 22:44 [4] and 26:64, Acts 2:34 and 7:55, 1 Peter 3:22 and elsewhere. These uses reflect use of the phrase in the Old Testament, for example in Psalms 63:8 and 110:1. [5] The implications of this anthropomorphic phrasing have been discussed at length by theologians, including Saint Thomas Aquinas. [6]
In Jewish and Christian art, especially of the Late Antique and Early Medieval periods, the Hand of God, or the "right hand of God", is a motif used to indicate the intervention in or approval of affairs on Earth by God. It was used when depiction of Yahweh or God the Father as a full human figure was considered unacceptable.