Arm (usually ַ‫זְרֹוע‬, zero′ā, βραχίων) is frequently used in Scripture in a metaphorical sense to

denote power. Hence, to “break the arm” is to diminish or to destroy the power (Psa. 10:15;
Ezek. 30:21; Jer. 48:25). It is also employed to denote the infinite power of God (Psa. 89:13;
48:2; Isa. 53:1; John 12:38). In a few places the metaphor is, with great force, extended to the
action of the arm, as, “I will redeem you with a stretched-out arm” (Exod. 6:5), that is, with a
power fully exerted. The figure is here taken from the attitude of ancient warriors baring and
outstretching the arm for fight. Thus, in Isa. 52:10, “Jehovah hath made bare his holy arm in the
sight of all the nations.” Lowth has shown, from the Sept. and other versions, that in Isa. 9:20,
“they shall eat every one the flesh of his own arm” should be “the flesh of his neighbor,” similar
to Jer. 19:9, meaning that they should harass and destroy one another. (See Wemyss’s Clavis
Symbolica, p. 23, 24.)1

1
M’Clintock, J., & Strong, J. (1880). Arm. In Cyclopædia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical
Literature (Vol. 1, p. 405). New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers.