Thigh
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(Gen. 24:2)—Abraham required his servant to place a hand under his thigh while swearing an oath; Jacob used the same solemn form with Joseph (Gen. 47:29). The gesture’s precise symbolism is uncertain. It may invoke kinship, posterity, or the covenant embodied in Abraham’s line; connecting it specifically with circumcision is possible but not demonstrable. Jacob’s thigh or hip was struck in his wrestling at the Jabbok, leaving him with a limp (Gen. 32:25, 31). The inscription on Christ’s robe and thigh in Revelation 19:16 belongs to victorious royal imagery and need not imply writing directly on the body.