Biden sworn-in to office with 5-inch thick family Bible

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

ANKARA (AA) - US President Joe Biden was sworn in on a 19th-century family Bible on Wednesday, continuing the tradition during his long political career.

Biden, the second Catholic US president after John F. Kennedy, put his hand on the five-inch thick Bible that was held by First Lady Jill Biden and took the 35-word oath administered by Chief Justice John Roberts.

The Bible featuring a Celtic cross on the cover has been part of the Biden family for nearly 130 years and Biden first used it during his first Senate swearing-in in 1973. Since then, he has used it every time he has taken an oath of office, including his swearing-in as vice president in 2009 and 2013.

The heirloom was also used by Biden's son Beau when he was sworn in as Delaware attorney general in 2007.

By convention, incoming presidents in the US raise their right hand and place the left on a Bible while taking the oath of office.

During a pre-inaugural blessing before the now-president left his home state for Washington, D.C., Delaware Rabbi Michael Beals called Biden "our Moses."

"It is indeed bashert that you, our dear president-elect, are being inaugurated on the very week when Jews all around the world are reading from the book of Exodus about Moses freeing us from 400 years of backbreaking, Egyptian slavery at the hands of an autocratic, cruel Pharaoh," according to Beals, who referenced the inauguration at an event Tuesday as "bashert" -- a Yiddish word which means "destiny" or "meant to be."

"In many ways, dear Joe, you are our Moses and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is our Aaron," he added.

The comparison is similar to how a majority of evangelical Christians saw former President Donald Trump as God's appointee who will "bring change into this nation."