at first, were only soles tied to the feet with strings or
thongs; afterward they were covered; and at last they called even shoes
sandals. When Judith went to the camp of Holofernes, she put sandals on
her feet; and her sandals ravished his eyes, Judith x, 4; xvi, 9. They
were a magnificent kind of buskins proper only to ladies of condition,
and such as dressed themselves for admiration. But there were sandals
also belonging to men, and of mean value. We read, “If the man like not
to take his brother’s wife, then let his brother’s wife go up to the
gate unto the elders, and say, My husband’s brother will not perform the
duty of a husband’s brother; then shall his brother’s wife come unto
him, in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his
foot, and spit in his face; and shall say, So shall it be done unto that
man that will not build up his brother’s house. And his name shall be
called in Israel, The house of him who hath had his shoe loosed,”
Deuteronomy xxv, 7. A late writer observes that the word rendered
“shoe,” usually means “sandal,” that is, a mere sole fastened on the
foot in a very simple manner; and that the primary and radical meaning
of the word rendered _face_, is surface, the superficies of any thing.
Hence he would submit, that the passage may be to the following purpose:
The brother’s wife shall loose the sandal from off the foot of her
husband’s brother; and shall spit upon its face or surface, (that is, of
the shoe,) and shall say, &c. This ceremony is coincident with certain
customs among the Turks. We are told that in a complaint against her own
husband, for withholding himself from her intimacy, the wife when before
the judge takes off her own shoe, and spits upon it; but in case of
complaint against her husband’s brother, she takes off his shoe and
spits upon it.
The business of untying and carrying the sandals being that of a
servant, the expressions of the Baptist, “whose shoes I am not worthy to
bear,” “whose shoe latchet I am not worthy to unloose,” was an
acknowledgment of his great inferiority to Christ, and that Christ was
his Lord. To pull off the sandals on entering a sacred place, or the
house of a person of distinction, was the usual mark of respect. They
were taken care of by the attendant servant. At the doors of an Indian
pagoda, there are as many sandals and slippers hung up, as there are
hats in our places of worship.
thongs; afterward they were covered; and at last they called even shoes
sandals. When Judith went to the camp of Holofernes, she put sandals on
her feet; and her sandals ravished his eyes, Judith x, 4; xvi, 9. They
were a magnificent kind of buskins proper only to ladies of condition,
and such as dressed themselves for admiration. But there were sandals
also belonging to men, and of mean value. We read, “If the man like not
to take his brother’s wife, then let his brother’s wife go up to the
gate unto the elders, and say, My husband’s brother will not perform the
duty of a husband’s brother; then shall his brother’s wife come unto
him, in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his
foot, and spit in his face; and shall say, So shall it be done unto that
man that will not build up his brother’s house. And his name shall be
called in Israel, The house of him who hath had his shoe loosed,”
Deuteronomy xxv, 7. A late writer observes that the word rendered
“shoe,” usually means “sandal,” that is, a mere sole fastened on the
foot in a very simple manner; and that the primary and radical meaning
of the word rendered _face_, is surface, the superficies of any thing.
Hence he would submit, that the passage may be to the following purpose:
The brother’s wife shall loose the sandal from off the foot of her
husband’s brother; and shall spit upon its face or surface, (that is, of
the shoe,) and shall say, &c. This ceremony is coincident with certain
customs among the Turks. We are told that in a complaint against her own
husband, for withholding himself from her intimacy, the wife when before
the judge takes off her own shoe, and spits upon it; but in case of
complaint against her husband’s brother, she takes off his shoe and
spits upon it.
The business of untying and carrying the sandals being that of a
servant, the expressions of the Baptist, “whose shoes I am not worthy to
bear,” “whose shoe latchet I am not worthy to unloose,” was an
acknowledgment of his great inferiority to Christ, and that Christ was
his Lord. To pull off the sandals on entering a sacred place, or the
house of a person of distinction, was the usual mark of respect. They
were taken care of by the attendant servant. At the doors of an Indian
pagoda, there are as many sandals and slippers hung up, as there are
hats in our places of worship.