Taking Off The Sandals! The countries of the Bible are warm and dry much of the year. Although shoes, covering the entire foot, are sometimes depicted in ancient ancient pictures,sandals were the natural and more common foot covering for that climate. The simple act of removing a sandal carried symbolic meaning for ancient people. Sandals were such personal items that they symbolically represented their owner in some legal transactions. In one type of business transaction, removal of the sandal confirmed an exchange of buying and selling. Such an exchange could even include the acquisition of a wife (Ruth 4:7-10). Yet a different legal transaction involved the breakdown of family and social obligations. A woman had a right to bear children to her deceased husband. If her brother-in-law refused her that right, she could publicly humiliate him, indicating such by removing his sandal (Deut. 25:7-10). Sandals were also removed to symbolize the presence of holy ground. In the Old Testament, both Moses before the burning bush (Ex. 3:5) and Joshua before the Commander of Yahwehs army (Josh. 5:15) were instructed to remove their sandals, for they stood on holy ground.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 01:18:58 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015