Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 3:5
And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest [is] holy ground.
5. shoes ] properly (as always) sandals. Cf. Jos 5:15 (J). The removal of the sandals is still the usual mark of reverence, upon entering a mosque, or other holy place, in the East.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Put off thy shoes – The reverence due to holy places thus rests upon Gods own command. The custom itself is well known from the observances of the temple, it was almost universally adopted by the ancients, and is retained in the East.
Holy ground – This passage is almost conclusive against the assumption that the place was previously a sanctuary. Moses knew nothing of its holiness after some 40 years spent on the Peninsula. It became holy by the presence of God.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 5. Put off thy shoes] It is likely that from this circumstance all the eastern nations have agreed to perform all the acts of their religious worship barefooted. All the Mohammedans, Brahmins, and Parsees do so still. The Jews were remarked for this in the time of Juvenal; hence he speaks of their performing their sacred rites barefooted; Sat. vi., ver. 158:
Observant ubi festa mero pede sabbata reges.
The ancient Greeks did the same. Jamblichus, in the life of Pythagoras, tells us that this was one of his maxims, , Offer sacrifice and worship with your shoes off. And Solinus asserts that no person was permitted to enter into the temple of Diana, in Crete, till he had taken off his shoes. “AEdem Numinis (Dianae) praeterquam nudus vestigio nulles licito ingreditur.” Tertullian observes, de jejunio, that in a time of drought the worshippers of Jupiter deprecated his wrath, and prayed for rain, walking barefooted. “Cum stupet caelum, et aret annus, nudipedalia, denunciantur.” It is probable that nealim, in the text, signifies sandals, translated by the Chaldee sandal, and sandala, (see Ge 14:23), which was the same as the Roman solea, a sole alone, strapped about the foot As this sole must let in dust, gravel, and sand about the foot in travelling, and render it very uneasy, hence the custom of frequently washing the feet in those countries where these sandals were worn. Pulling off the shoes was, therefore, an emblem of laying aside the pollutions contracted by walking in the way of sin. Let those who name the Lord Jesus Christ depart from iniquity. In our western countries reverence is expressed by pulling off the hat; but how much more significant is the eastern custom! “The natives of Bengal never go into their own houses with their shoes on, nor into the houses of others, but always leave their shoes at the door. It would be a great affront not to attend to this mark of respect when visiting; and to enter a temple without pulling off the shoes would be an unpardonable offence.”-Ward.
The place whereon thou standest is holy ground.] It was not particularly sanctified by the Divine presence; but if we may credit Josephus, a general opinion had prevailed that God dwelt on that mountain; and hence the shepherds, considering it as sacred ground, did not dare to feed their flocks there. Moses, however, finding the soil to be rich and the pasturage good, boldly drove his flock thither to feed on it. – Antiq., b. ii., c. xii., s. 1.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Draw not nigh hither; keep thy distance; whereby he checks his curiosity and forwardness, and works him to the greater reverence and humility. Compare Exo 19:12,21; Jos 5:15.
Put off thy shoes: this he requires as an act and token,
1. Of his reverence to the Divine Majesty, then and there eminently present.
2. Of his humiliation for his sins, whereby he was unfit and unworthy to appear before God; for this was a posture of humiliation, 2Sa 15:30; Isa 20:2,4; Eze 24:17,23.
3. Of purification from the filth of his feet, or ways, or conversation, that he might be more fit to approach to God. See Joh 13:10; Heb 10:22.
4. Of this submission and readiness to obey Gods will, for which reason slaves used to be bare-footed.
Holy ground; with a relative holiness at this time, because of my special presence in it.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5. put off thy shoesThedirection was in conformity with a usage which was well known toMoses, for the Egyptian priests observed it in their temples, and itis observed in all Eastern countries where the people take off theirshoes or sandals, as we do our hats. But the Eastern idea is notprecisely the same as the Western. With us, the removal of the hat isan expression of reverence for the place we enter, or rather of Himwho is worshipped there. With them the removal of the shoes is aconfession of personal defilement and conscious unworthiness to standin the presence of unspotted holiness.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And he said, draw not nigh hither,…. Keep a proper distance:
put off thy shoes from off thy feet; dust and dirt cleaving to shoes, and these being ordered to be put off from the feet, the instrument of walking, show that those that draw nigh to God, and are worshippers of him, ought to be of pure and holy lives and conversations:
for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground; not that there was any inherent holiness in this spot of ground more than in any other, which ground is not capable of; but a relative holiness on account of the presence of God here at this time, and was not permanent, only while a pure and holy God was there: hence, in after times, the temple being the place of the divine residence, the priests there performed their services barefooted, nor might a common person enter into the temple with his shoes on k; and to this day the Jews go to their synagogues barefooted on the day of atonement l, to which Juvenal m seems to have respect; and from hence came the Nudipedalia among the Heathens, and that known symbol of Pythagoras n, “sacrifice and worship with naked feet”: in this manner the priests of Diana sacrificed to her among the Cretians and other people o; and so the priests of Hercules did the same p; the Brahmans among the Indians never go into their temples without plucking off their shoes q; so the Ethiopian Christians, imitating Jews and Gentiles, never go into their places of public worship but with naked feet r, and the same superstition the Turks and Mahometans observe s.
k Misn. Beracot, c. 9. sect. 5. l Buxtorf. Jud Synagog. c. 30. p. 571. m “Observant ub. festa mero pede Sabbata reges.” Satyr. 6. n Jamblichus de Vita Pythagor. Symbol. 3. o Solin. Polyhistor. c. 16. Strabo, l. 12. p. 370. p Silius de Bello Punic, l. 3. q Rogerius de Relig. Brachman. l. 2. c. 10. apud Braunium de vest. sacerdot. l. 1. c. 3. p. 66. r Damianus a Goes apud Rivet. in loc. s Pitts’s Account of the Relig. and Manners of the Mahometans, c. 6. p. 38. 81. Georgieviz. de Turc. Moribus, c. 1. p. 11. Sionita de Urb. Oriental. & Relig. c. 7. p. 18. c. 10. p. 34.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(5) Put off thy shoes.Rather, thy sandals. It is doubtful whether shoes were known at this early date. They would certainly not have been worn in Midian. Egyptians before the time of Moses, and Orientals generally, in ancient (as in modern) times, removed their sandals (or their shoes) from their feet on entering any place to which respect was due, as a temple, a palace, and even the private house of a great man. It is worthy of notice that God Himself orders this mark of respect to be shown to the place which His Presence has hallowed. On the reverence due to holy places, see the Note on Gen. 28:16-17.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5. Put off thy shoes The Orientals drop their shoes or sandals at the door, lest they defile the department by bringing in the dirt of the street; and by this expressive symbolism was Moses taught that he was drawing nigh to Him in whose sight “the heavens are not clean . ” The awful holiness of God is the first thought that the praying soul needs, and hence at the threshold of prayer the soul is taught to drop its sandals with “Hallowed be thy name . ”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Exo 3:5. And he said, Draw not nigh Soon as Moses discerned this astonishing sight, his curiosity was raised, and he turned aside to contemplate it; doing which, as some suppose, with too much boldness, he was immediately given to understand, that this was a Divine manifestation, and was admonished to approach with due reverence; particularly by putting off his shoes: put off thy shoes: the reason for which is immediately subjoined, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. This custom of treading barefoot in holy places, seems to have been general in the East: the Egyptians used it; and Pythagoras is thought to have learned the rite from them, for he recommends to his disciples, ( , ) offer sacrifice, and worship, putting off your shoes. The Mahomedans observe this ceremony to the present day, as do the Christians of Abyssinia. Whence it is originally derived, it is not easy to determine. God speaks here to Moses in such terms, as would lead one to believe the custom then familiar; and, consequently, of very high antiquity. The same direction, urged by the same reason, is given to Joshua, Jos 5:15 and in the service of the tabernacle and temple the priests officiated bare-foot. Juvenal remarks, that this was the practice of the Jews in his time:
Observant ubi festa mero pede sabbata reges. “Judah’s tribe:
Where, bare-foot, they approach the sacred shrine.” DRYDEN, Sat. III.
Some have supposed the rite to have been originally derived from slaves, who went bare-foot, in token of meanness and subjection: hence it was used as a sign of mourning and humiliation, 2Sa 15:30. Isa 2:4. Eze 17:23. However, as the custom prevailed so early, and spread so universally, it is probable, as Mede and others remark, that it was one of the religious ceremonies observed by the patriarchs, as a sign of that awful respect, with which mortals ought to approach their Maker. Something of this kind has been usual among other nations: and, as in the East, they uncovered their feet, so we uncover our heads, in token of the same respect, when we approach the presence of the Almighty.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
The putting off the shoe is figurative for the putting on holy reverence, and godly fear. Jos 5:15 . It is not meant to forbid a drawing nigh to God, for David says, it is good to draw nigh unto God. But it means we cannot approach but in and through a Mediator. Joh 14:6 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 3:5 And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest [is] holy ground.
Ver. 5. Draw not nigh. ] Be not rash, but reverent. Heathens could say, Non loquendum de Deo sine lumine. God will be sanctified of all that draw nigh unto him. Lev 10:2
Put off thy shoes.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Draw not: Exo 19:12, Exo 19:21, Lev 10:3, Heb 12:20
put off: Gen 28:16, Gen 28:17, Jos 5:15, Ecc 5:1, Act 7:33
Reciprocal: Exo 3:1 – the mountain Exo 24:1 – Come up Jos 3:4 – a space 1Ki 19:13 – he wrapped his face 2Ch 8:11 – holy Psa 68:17 – as in Sinai Isa 20:2 – put 1Co 3:17 – destroy 2Pe 1:18 – the holy
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
REVERENCE
Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
Exo 3:5
The text is a call to reverence. I need hardly say how much that duty is dwelt upon in Scripture, both in the way of precept and of example.
We must all have been struck with the feeling expressed towards God in the Old Testament. What a profound awe! what a prostrate yet loving adoration! what an admiring sense of His goodness! what a longing, what a hungering and thirsting, after the knowledge, after the sight, of Him!
What is reverence? What are its ingredients, its component parts? What hinders and what helps it in us? And what are some of its blessings?
I. I need not sayfor all agree in itthat Gospel reverence must be a thing of the heart. It seems to be compounded of two things: the knowledge of God, and the knowledge of ourselves. It is the contact between the sinful and the Sinless. It is the access of a conscious transgressor to One who is altogether holy. It is the mind of a created being, who has also fallen, towards One whom he desires above all things still to belong to, still to return to, still to be with, and still to serve.
II. The hindrances to a spirit of reverence lie on the very surface of our life. Things that are seen obscure the things that are not seen. We cannot help feeling earthly things to be very real. What can be so real, we all say to ourselves, as this work, this person, this house and garden, this bright sun, this fair world, which is here before my eyes? Compared with these things, all other knowledge, we think, can be but guessing. The reality even of the Maker is put out of sight by the thing made.
Irreverence is fostered by everything approaching to unreality of expression in prayer. It is one of the many advantages of our Church Prayers that they are for the most part extremely simple, and (what is not less important for a mixed congregation) perfectly level to humble spiritual attainments. There is little or nothing in them which it is hypocrisy for a very humble Christian to use. An advanced and devoted Christian finds them enough for him, but a backward and very failing Christian can use them without feeling them unreal. There is something perhaps in the mere fact of their being prescribed to us which gives us confidence in using them. It is not so always with other prayers. It is not so always even with our own private prayers: we are apt, some of us, to use expressions which, if we examine them, we shall find to be beyond our mark; beyond the mark of our desire, I mean, and not only of our experience. All such prayers are irreverent. They do not express the mind of a poor sinner kneeling before his holy God. They are more or less the prayers of one who thinks wickedly that God is such a one as himself, and can be misled by words, when the heart is not in them.
III. We all of us, more or less, mourn over a want of reverence. There are times when we terribly miss it.
But God would not have us left here, left thus. Reverence may, by His gracious help through Christ by the Holy Spirit, be gainedyes, regained. We bless Him for that hope. We do believe that He desires not our death but our life: O let us come to Him! We must practise reverence, as well as pray for it. We must always recollect ourselves thoroughly before we begin to worship. In private, we must, if I might so express it, meditate and study Gods presence. We must not begin our prayers without trying to set God clearly before us a living Person to whom we are coming, to whom we are about to speak.
Dean Vaughan.
Illustration
(1) One sometimes fears that the power to see great sights is dying out of our eyes. Reverence is the hush that falls upon the spirit which beholds such sights and understands, at least, something of their significance. The vision of God is the greatest of sights; reverence has its source in the cleft of the rock upon the mount of vision. See God in Christ and you fall at His feet in worship and surrender. See God in your own heart, and you will
Still suspect and still revere yourself
In lowliness of heart.
See God in the flower that blossoms in the hedge, and it will stir
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.
Reverence is the mother of many graces: considerateness, courtesy, self-respect, humility are among her children.
(2) To take off ones sandals was simply the Oriental sign of respect as of those who are entering the presence-chamber of a great king. Translated into Christian language, this command to Moses reminds us that an outward decorum belongs to the worship of God. And though the spirit of reverence can express itself in more than one way, yet devout stillness and humble attention play no mean part in the services of the Christian Churchmost of all when they betoken the whole gesture and attitude of the inward man.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Exo 3:5. Draw not nigh hither Keep thy distance. Thus God checks his curiosity and forwardness, and disposes his mind to the greater reverence and humility. Put off thy shoes from thy feet This is required as a token of his reverence for the Divine Majesty, then and there eminently present; of his humiliation for his sins, which rendered him unworthy to appear before God; of his putting away all sin in his walk or conversation; and of his submission and readiness to obey Gods will; for which reason slaves were wont to approach their masters barefooted. We find the same direction given to Joshua, for the same reason, Jos 5:15. And it seems not improbable that putting off the shoes, as a sign of humiliation and veneration, was a ceremony observed by the patriarchs in their religious worship. Buxtorf says, that to this day the Jews go to their synagogues barefoot on the day of atonement, (Jud. Synag., c. 30, p. 57,) and many learned men suppose that the priests officiated barefoot in the tabernacle and temple. The custom of treading barefoot in holy places seems to have been general in the East: the Egyptians used it: and Pythagoras, who recommends to his disciples to worship, putting off their shoes, ( ,) is thought to have learned this rite from them. The Mohammedans observe this ceremony at the present time, as do also the Christians of Abyssinia. The truth seems to be, as Henry observes, that putting off the shoes was then what putting off the hat is now, a token of respect and submission. The ground is holy Not absolutely, but in relation to him who sanctified it by this peculiar manifestation of his presence. We ought to approach to God with a solemn pause and preparation; and to express our inward reverence by a grave and reverent behaviour in the worship of God, carefully avoiding every thing that looks light or rude.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
3:5 And he said, Draw not nigh hither: {e} put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest [is] {f} holy ground.
(e) Resign yourself to me; Rth 4:7, Jos 5:15.
(f) Because of my presence.