Articles

The role of the shoe in the Bible

The role of the shoe in the Bible

By Jacob Chinitz

Jewish Bible Quarterly, Vol.35 (2007)

Introduction: What was normal dress for Jews in ancient days with regard to shoes? If the removal of the shoe denotes a loss of dignity, if the shoe serves as a symbol of transfer of property, if the shoe is not to be worn in certain places – then it seems that the shoe was both a symbol of dignified dress and at the same time was associated with dust and thus unfit for holy places and holy activity.

The dress of biblical man has been described:

We may say that there were two main garments, an outer garment, the mantle, simlah in Hebrew, and an inner garment, the tunic, kuttonet . . . . If to these two we add the ezor, a broad girdle worn beneath the tunic, and the hagor, a belt worn outside of it, and if we picture sandals of wood or leather tied to the feet with thongs, we have the complete ordinary dress of ordinary men.



On shoes in particular:

Sandals apparently were worn in Palestine from the earliest times . . . though ordinary persons are generally represented as barefoot . . . . Shoes were also of symbolic significance, as may be seen from the legal practice of presenting the shoe to confirm publicly the renunciation of levirate marriage rights or obligations . . . (Deut. 25:9; Ruth 4:7). To be unsandaled was to be dispossessed ….

There is no word in Hebrew that connotes wearing shoes, but there is one for being barefoot. “Yahef” is defined in Gesenius’ Hebrew Lexicon as follows: “to be without shoes. The ultimate root lies in the syllable chaf, chet, peh, and the primary notion is that of peeling, removing the bark of shell.” This implies that being barefoot was being deprived of normal dress.

Click here to read this article from the Jewish Bible Quarterly

Sponsored Content