SHOE REMOVALS IN THE BIBLE: PART 2

In the first part of my post on this subject, I discussed the necessity of those in contact with holy ground to remove their shoes. But this is only one case of such an action occurring in the Bible. Some additional instances are given below.

Legal Repudiations – Deuteronomy 25:9-10; Ruth 4:7-8

It is sometimes difficult to make sense of OT laws, but in this case in Deuteronomy it seems reasonably clear what is required. When a man's brother dies without leaving an heir, the man is to marry the widow and raise any subsequent children in his brother's name. But if the man refuses his duty, then the widow is to spit in his face and take off his sandal in the presence of the elders.

In the last chapter of Ruth we encounter a slightly different, but clearly related, situation. In this case, Boaz, a distant relation of Naomi, wishes to marry her widowed daughter-in-law Ruth. However, there is a closer relative in town who needs to be given the right of first refusal. At first, this other relative is all for the arrangement since it has been proposed to him as a simple purchase of land belonging to Naomi. But when the nearest kin of Naomi learns that he must marry Ruth if he wishes to acquire Naomi's property, he backs out of the arrangement. And he announces his refusal by taking off his sandal, perhaps before Ruth had a chance to take it off of him forcibly herself and spit in his face. The happy result of the union of Ruth and Boaz would, of course, eventually lead to the birth of the Messiah Himself.

Conquest of Foreign Nations – Psalm 60:8; 108:9

In 60:8, God announces his victory over his enemies by saying, “Moab is my washbasin; on Edom I hurl my shoe; over Philistia I shout in triumph.” These words are repeated verbatim in Psalm 108.

Kselman states that “the precise meaning of the metaphors is unclear.” However, the principle of poetic parallelism would indicate that the first two statements mean basically the same as the third one – God is in charge of these nations.

Anderson says that casting the shoe “is, most likely, a symbolic action denoting ownership.” If that is true, then in a remote way the meaning may be akin to the case of levirate marriages where the shoe removal indicates a renouncing of ownership.

Tanner admits that verse 8 “is very difficult, and any translation is questionable. However, what is clear is the names of the three countries that surround Israel...and that the territory they claim also belongs to God. This may reflect a historical reality at some time during Israel's past, but more likely it reflects the idea that God is always in control of other nations, whether they acknowledge God or not.”

“These verses are an oracle of assurance by God in answer to the petition of the psalmist in vv. 5-6. God is God over all peoples and all nations...” (N. deClaisse-Walford on Ps. 108:9)

In an Acted-Out Prophecy – Isaiah 20:2

This is, in Blenkinsopp's words, “a rare instance of narrative describing an acted-out prophecy.” It is rare in another way in that it is the only time Isaiah is told by God to portray His message in visual terms. By contrast, we see this sort of thing happening all the time to Ezekiel and Jeremiah. God told the prophet Isaiah to not only take off his sandals, but also strip down in order to visually portray what would happen to Egypt and her allies when Sargon had victory over them and led her captives away utterly destitute and in disgrace.

As a Servant's Duty – Mark 1:7 // Luke 3:16 // John 1:27 // Acts 13:25

No less that four times in the New Testament we are told that John the Baptist did not consider himself worth to stoop down and untie Jesus' shoes. For this much repetition, the NT authors must have considered this fact important. And it probably was worth repeating, especially in those early days of the church, since John was held in such high regard by many as a prophet.. Thus, there would definitely have been the temptation for some to have confused John with the Messiah himself unless the record were firmly set straight.

Since it was the job of a servant to untie and remove his master's sandals when he came in from outside and to clean his feet, John was expressing in no uncertain terms that he did not even consider himself worthy enough to render that humble service to Jesus. It is interesting to compare that noble sentiment with the action of Jesus the Master himself later when he took up the role of a servant and washed the feet of his own disciples.

Conclusion

The way in which the same basic action takes on diverse interpretations in different parts of the Bible should be a warning to us in our reading of Scripture not to assume that we know in advance what meaning to attach to a particular symbolic gesture just because we happen to understand it in a completely different context.