Biblical Usage

Sandals are mentioned numerous times throughout the Bible, often with symbolic connotations as well as practical uses. For example:

• Sandals were part of standard dress throughout biblical times.

• After the Israelites take 200,000 Judahite captives, a prophet admonishes them to return the captives. They clothe the naked ones and give them sandals to wear. (2 Chr 28:15).

• In Ezekiel, the Lord tells Jerusalem, “I clothed you with beautiful finished cloth, and I put sandals on you of fine leather, and I bound you in fine linen, and I covered you with costly fabric.” (Ezek 16:10).

• When the prodigal son returns home, his father tells servants to put the best robe on him and a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet (Luke 15:22).

• Sandals also were considered a basic necessity for a journey.

• Before the Lord leads the Israelites out of Egypt, He instructs them how to eat the Passover meal. They are to eat quickly with sandals on their feet and staffs in their hands (Exod 12:11). In this way, they are prepared for an imminent journey and ready to set off at any time.

• Worn-out sandals on travelers’ feet sometimes indicated that they had traveled a long way. The Gibeonites trick Joshua and Israelites into making a covenant with them by appearing as if they had journeyed from outside the promised land: they wear patched sandals and clothing, and carry old provisions (Josh 9:3–15).

• Jesus sends out his disciples with no provisions except a staff and sandals (Mark 6:8–9).

• Sandals customarily played a role in transactions between two parties in ancient Israel.

• In transactions of land, one man removed his sandal and gave it to another to transfer the right of redemption or ownership (Ruth 4:7–8).

• In the Deuteronomic law of levirate marriage among Israelites, if a brother of the deceased refused to do his duty as levir, to marry the childless widow of his deceased brother, the widow could go to the elders. If he persisted, the widow was instructed to remove her brother-in-law’s sandal from his foot and spit in his face (Deut 25:5–10).

• It was a custom in the ancient Near East to take off one’s sandals before entering a house, especially in temples or sanctuaries.

• Moses and Joshua are told to take off their sandals because the ground they stand on is holy (Exod 3:5; Josh 5:15).

• It was the duty of the lowest household slaves to remove the master’s sandals and carry them until needed. In speaking of Jesus’ superiority, John the Baptist states that he is not fit to remove or carry Jesus sandals (Matt 3:11; Mark 1:7; Luke 3:16); he thus does not feel qualified even to be Jesus’ slave (Osborne, Matthew, 115; Doriani, Matthew, 56).