Exodus 3:5

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

And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Put off thy shoes.

Draw not nigh hither; keep thy distance; whereby he checks his curiosity and forwardness, and works him to the greater reverence and humility. Compare ,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, ,4 Ezekiel 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 . 4. Of this submission and readiness to obey God’ s 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.

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.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. Put off thy shoes.] Of sensuality and other sins. Quid pedes, saith Erasmus, nisi affectus? Quid pedes calceamentorum onere liberi nisi animus nullis terrenis cupiditatibus oneratus? Affections are the feet of the soul; keep them unclogged.

(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 Genesis 28:16-17.

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, Ανυποδητοςθυεκαιπροσκυνει, 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 נעלים nealim, in the text, signifies sandals, translated by the Chaldee סנדל sandal, and סנדלא sandala, (see Genesis 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.

5. shoes] properly (as always) sandals. Cf. Joshua 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.

Put off thy shoes - The reverence due to holy places thus rests upon God’s own command.

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