Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 7:33
Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground.
Then said the Lord … – In Exo. 3 this is introduced in a different order, as being spoken before God said I am the God, etc.
Put off thy shoes … – Exo 3:5. To put off the shoes; or sandals, was an act of reverence. The ancients were especially not permitted to enter a temple or holy place with their shoes on. Indeed, it was customary for the Jews to remove their shoes whenever they entered any house as a mere matter of civility. Compare the notes on Joh 13:5. See Jos 5:15. The same custom, growing out of the same feeling, says Prof. Hackett (Illustrations of Scripture, pp. 74, 75), is observed among the Eastern nations at the present day. The Arabs and Turks never enter the mosques without putting off their shoes. They exact a compliance with this rule from those of a different faith who visit these sacred places. Though, until a recent period, the Muslims excluded Christians entirely from the mosques, they now permit foreigners to enter some of them, provided they leave their shoes at the door, or exchange them for others which have not been defiled by common use.
A Samaritan from Nablus, who conducted Mr. Robinson and Mr. Smith to the summit of Gerizim, when he came within a certain distance of the spot, took off his shoes, saying it was unlawful for his people to tread with shoes upon this ground, it being holy.
Is holy ground – Is rendered sacred by the symbol of the divine presence. We should enter the sanctuary, the place set apart for divine worship, not only with reverence in our hearts, but with every external indication of veneration. Solemn awe and deep seriousness become the place set apart to the service of God. Compare Ecc 5:1.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Put off thy shoes; either out of reverence to the Divine presence, as Jos 5:15, or that thereby he might show that he resigned himself wholly to Gods will and disposal; as in Rth 4:7, the kinsman, by pulling off his shoe and giving it to Boaz, did resign all his right he might have had to Ruth and the inheritance.
Holy ground, whilst God manifested his presence there.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Then said the Lord to him,…. To Moses, who through curiosity had made too near an approach:
put off thy shoes from thy feet; in token of humility, obedience, and reverence:
for the place where thou standest is holy ground; not really, but relatively, on account of the divine presence in it, and only so long as that continued.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Holy ground ( ). The priests were barefooted when they ministered in the temple. Moslems enter their mosques barefooted today. Cf. Jos 5:15.
Sandal (, bound under) is here “a distributive singular” (Hackett). Even the ground near the bush was “holy,” a fine example for Stephen’s argument.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “Then said the Lord to him,” (eipen de auto ho kurios) “Then the Lord said to him,” to Moses directly and alone in the desert of Sinai; God takes the initiative thru His Word, His Spirit, His church, nature, and His children to call the lost to salvation and the saved to service, Isa 55:6-7; Mat 11:28-29; Joh 6:37.
2) ” Put off thy shoes from thy feet:” (Iuson to hupodema ton podon soul “Loosen, or release, or (take off) the sandals of your feet,” that are strapped on your feet, as an expression of holy respect, Mar 6:9; Act 12:8. Similar instructions were later given to Joshua, Jos 5:14-15. Priests went barefoot in the temple and tabernacle in respect of the holy place.
3) “For the place where thou standest,” (ho gar topos eph’ ho estekas) “Because the place (location) upon which you stand at this moment,” Exo 3:5; Gen 17:25.
5) “Is holy ground,” (ge hagia estin) “Exists as holy or sacred ground,” by virtue of the Divine presence of the Lord, himself, as surely as the Holy of Holies was an holy place where the Lord met to commune His will to His people before the mercy seat; Even today one may not enter an Islamic mosque without removing his shoes of covering street shoes with large soft coverings, Exo 26:33-34; Num 18:9-10; Jud 1:20.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
33. Because the place wherein. The Lord meant by this commendation which he giveth to the place, to lift up the mind of Moses into heaven, that he might not think upon any earthly thing. And if so be that Moses was to be pricked forward with so many pricks, that having forgotten the earth, he might hearken to God, must not we have our sides even, as it were, digged through, (433) seeing we are an hundred times more slow than he? Notwithstanding, here may a question be asked, how this place became so holy? for it was no more holy than other places before that day. I answer, that this honor is given to the presence of God, and not to the place, and that the holiness of the place is spoken of for man’s sake. For if the presence of God do make the earth holy, how much more force thereof ought men to have? (434) Notwithstanding, we must also note, that the place was thus beautified only for a time, so that God did not fix his glory there, as Jacob erected an altar to God in Bethel, after that God had showed some token of his presence there, (Gen 35:7.) When as his posterity did imitate the same afterward, it was such worship as was reproved. (435) Finally, the place is called holy for Moses’ sake only, that he may the better address himself to fear God and to obey him. Forasmuch as God doth now show himself unto us everywhere in Christ, and that in no obscure figures, but in the full light and perfect truth, we must not only put off our shoes from our feet, but strip ourselves stark-naked of ourselves. (436)
(433) “ Annon quasi fodiendi sumus,” must not we be, as it were, stabbed.
(434) “ Quanto majorem vim ab hominibus percipi aequium est,” how much more forcibly ought man to feel it?
(435) “ Perversus cultus fuit,” it was perverted worship.
(436) “ Sed nos totos exuere,” but divest ourselves entirely.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(33, 34) Then said the Lord to him . . . .The words are almost a verbal reproduction of Exo. 3:5; Exo. 3:7-8. The citation was in part an implied answer to the charge of disregarding the sanctity of places in which man stands as in the presence of God, partly an implied protest against the narrowing thoughts which limited that sanctity to the Temple of Jerusalem.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
33. Put off thy shoes The rabbies say that the priests perform their service with bare feet, in token of purity and reverence.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
33. Judgment was taken away Not his own mental faculty of judgment, but a fair judicial trial, which was taken away by violence and fraud.
His generation Who shall describe the generation, that is, the men of that cruel age?
Life is taken For they unjustly deprived him of earthly life.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And the Lord said to him, “Loose the shoes from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground. I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you into Egypt.’
God had declared that the time for deliverance had come, the time when He would save His people from affliction. Moses was to acknowledge His holiness and recognise that he was in the presence of God, and then God would send him from His presence to deliver His people.
(In the same way God’s present Deliverer was in the presence of God and waited to deliver all who would call on Him – Act 2:36; Act 2:39).
The continued emphasis on Egypt goes on (thirteen times) and in Act 7:39 their hearts were still in Egypt. Where was their belief in the land then?
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
33 Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground.
Ver. 33. Put off thy shoes ] Thy fleshly affections, and be wholly at my disposal, in the business whereabout I shall send thee.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
33. ] See Jos 5:15 . Putting off the sandals was a mark of reverence . The priests performed all their ministrations barefooted . The Arabs to this day continue the practice: they always enter their mosques barefooted. Among the Pythagoreans it was a maxim, . , Iamblich. vita Pythag 105 (Mey.). So Juvenal, Sat. vi. 158, ‘Observant ubi festa mero pede sabbata reges.’
On the sanctity of the place, Chrys. remarks, , . . .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Act 7:33 . , cf. Jos 5:15 , A., cf. Exo 3:5 ; in classical Greek, , omitting . On the custom of worshipping bare-footed, as the priests when actually engaged in the Temple, or as the Arabs enter their mosques with bare feet, or the Samaritan the holiest place on Gerizim, see instances, both classical, Juvenal, Sat. , vi., 158, and from Josephus and others, Wetstein and Wendt, in loco . The latter refers to an Egyptian custom the order of Pythagoras , Jamblich., Vit. Pyth. , 23, and cf. 18 in Wetstein. , cf. Act 13:25 , and Joh 1:27 , where in each passage the singular is used. Both Weiss and Wendt note the significance of the verse a strange land is consecrated ( cf. Act 6:13 , ) by the presence of God the Jews thought that the Temple was the only holy place, cf. add. note for significance in connection with the aim of St. Stephen’s speech, and St. Chrysostom’s comment in loco .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
thy shoes, &c. = the sandal of thy feet.
where = in (Greek. en) which, but the texts read epi.
ground. Greek. ge. App-129.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
33.] See Jos 5:15. Putting off the sandals was a mark of reverence. The priests performed all their ministrations barefooted. The Arabs to this day continue the practice: they always enter their mosques barefooted. Among the Pythagoreans it was a maxim, . , Iamblich. vita Pythag 105 (Mey.). So Juvenal, Sat. vi. 158, Observant ubi festa mero pede sabbata reges.
On the sanctity of the place, Chrys. remarks,- , . . .
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Act 7:33. , from thy feet) He who puts his shoes off his feet is regarded as having himself aright in respect to the whole body. Comp. Joh 13:10- , for the place) The sanctity of places depends on the unrestricted will and presence of GOD, and is therefore moveable (not stationary).
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Put: Exo 3:5, Jos 5:15, Ecc 5:1, 2Pe 1:18
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
3
Act 7:33. Put off thy shoes. It was customary in that country to remove one’s shoes in the presence of a dignitary as an act of courtesy, very much as a man will lift his hat under like circumstances. Holy ground did not refer to the essential quality of the earth, for it was the same place where Moses had been taking the sheep for pasture. But in the present instance it was holy because of the person who was present, and the purpose for the appearance of the angel. A place is holy where and when holy proceeding takes place.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Act 7:33. Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground. It was, and is still, in the East a mark of reverence to take off the shoes or sandals in the presence of a superior. The manifestation of the Deity made the space round the bush holy ground. In our own time, the Mohammedans always enter their mosques barefoot. It was a maxim among the Pythagoreans, that those conducting sacrifice and worship should be without shoes or sandals on their feet. In the holy places on Mount Gerizim at the present time, the Samaritans minister and worship with bare feet. This spot was expressly called by the Angel holy ground; thus, other places besides the Temple on Mount Zion were holy to the Lord. Stephen indirectly argues from this, that although God had revealed Himself in a particular spot, it did not follow that that place remained as an everlasting sanctuary. Holiness, in fact, belonged to no exclusive earthly sanctuary. Where is the house that ye build unto Me, and where is the place of My rest? (Isa 66:1).
There was no Temple there, said St. Chrysostom; yet the place was holy, owing to the appearance and work of Christ.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
See notes on verse 30
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Verse 33
Put off thy shoes. To remove the shoes or sandals from the feet, was a token of respect or of reverence.