Psalms 60:8

Moab [is] my washpot,.... To wash hands and feet in: and so the Syriac version, "and Moab the washing of my feet"; a vessel for low and mean service, and so denotes the servile subjection of the

Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe: Philistia, triumph thou because of me. Moab is my washpot - or washing-tub: expressing the ignominious subjection to which David reduced Moab (2 Samuel 8:2).

Moab is my wash-pot, in which I shall wash my feet. I shall bring them into the lowest degree of servitude, and make them contemptible and miserable. See . Over Edom, an old, and proud, and insolent, and cruel enemy of Israel, will I cast out my shoe, i.e. I will use them like slaves; either holding forth my shoes, that they may pluck them off; or throwing my shoes at them, either in anger or contempt, as the manner of many masters was and is in such cases. Or, I will take possession of them; which was done by treading upon their land. Or, I will tread upon their necks; as they did in like case, . But these notions suit not with this phrase of casting or throwing the shoe. Philistia, triumph thou because of me; or, over me, as thou didst in former years use to triumph and insult over the poor Israelites. It is an ironical expression, signifying that her triumphs were come to an end.

Psalms 60:8 Moab [is] my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe: Philistia, triumph thou because of me.Ver. 8. Moab is my wash pot] A pot wherein to wash my feet, a vessel of dishonour, such as at my pleasure I will break in pieces, Psalms 2:9; and such as I reserve of them alive, shall be my scullions and underlings, glad to do my drudgery. Non vas coquendi carnes, sed lavandi pedes (Kimchi). Over Edom I will cast out my shoe] i.e. Walk through their country as a conqueror; or, I will tread them under my feet; or, I will throw my shoe at the heads of them, and make them to take it up; or, I will make no more of subduing them, than of casting my shoe over them. Exutos mihi calceos et in ipsorum caput proiectos attollere iubebo (Beza). Philistia, triumph thou because of me] i.e. Cry me up for thy king; Si velis, et videas quid in extremum eveniet, saith Kimchi. Or, triumph thou over me (by an irony) as thou lately didst over Saul and his sons in Mount Gilboa; and as since that time thou camest forth to seek me, but wentest home again by weeping cross.

(8) Moab is my washpot—i.e., probably the footbath, a figure expressing great contempt, which receives illustration from the story told of Amasis (Herod. ii. 172) and the golden footpan, which he had broken to pieces and made into an image of one of the gods—from base use made divine—as allegorical of his own transformation from a private person to a king. Others explain, from analogy of Arabic proverbs, that the conqueror would as it were wash his face white, i.e., acquire renown in Moab. Possibly the comparison of Moab to a bath was suggested by its proximity to the Dead Sea, which might be said to be at the foot of Israel. Over Edom . . .—The most natural explanation of this figure is that Edom is disgraced to the character of the slave to whom the conqueror tosses his sandals (na’al is collective), that they may be cleaned. (Comp. Matthew 3:11). The symbolic action of Rth 4:7 had a different meaning, the transfer of a right of ownership, and so cannot be employed in illustration. Of the “shoe,” as a figure of what is vilest and most common, Dr. J. G. Wetzstein quotes many Arabic proverbs. A covering for the feet would naturally draw to it such associations. (Comp. the use of footstool repeatedly in the Psalms, and Shakespeare’s use of foot, “What my foot my tutor!”—Tempest.) But the custom which Israel brought from Egypt (Exodus 3:3), of dropping the sandals outside the door of a temple, and even of an ordinary house, must have served still more to fasten on that article of dress, ideas of vileness and profanation. Philistia, triumph thou because of me . . .—This cannot be the meaning intended by the clause, since it is quite out of keeping with the context, and in Psalms 108 we have the very opposite, “over Philistia will I triumph.” We must therefore change this reading so as to get, over Philistia is my triumph, or render the text as it stands, from analogy with Isaiah 15:4 : Upon (i.e., because of) me, Philistia, raise a mournful wail.The LXX. and Vulg. indicate this meaning while translating the proper name, “the foreigners have been subdued to me.”

Verse 8. Moab is my washpot] The Moabites shall be reduced to the meanest slavery. Over Edom will I cast out my shoe] I will make a complete conquest of Idumea, and subject the Edomites to the meanest offices, as well as the Moabites. Philistia, triumph thou because of me.] John Hyrcanus subdued the Idumeans, and caused them to receive circumcision, and profess the Jewish religion. The words here seem to predict their entire subjugation. In an essay for a new translation of the Bible, there is what appears to me a correct paraphrase of the seventh and eighth verses: "Gilead and Manasseh have submitted unto me; Ephraim furnishes me with valiant men, and Judah with men of prudence and wisdom. I will reduce the Moabites to servitude; I will triumph over the Edomites, and make them my slaves; and the Philistines shall add to my triumph."

8. The neighbouring nations are reduced to servitude. In strong contrast to the honour assigned to Ephraim and Judah is the disgrace of Moab and Edom. Moab, notorious for its pride (Isaiah 16:6), is compared to the vessel which is brought to the victorious warrior to wash his feet when he returns from the battle. The old enemy of God and His people is degraded to do menial service: in other words, it becomes a subject and a vassal. In close connexion with this metaphor the next line may be rendered, Unto Edom will I cast my shoe: Edom is like the slave to whom the warrior flings his sandals to carry or to clean. Haughty and defiant Edom (Obadiah 1:3 f.) must perform the duty of the lowest slave (cp. Matthew 3:11). The R.V. renders, Upon Edom will I cast my shoe. This would mean, ‘I will take possession of Edom,’ in allusion to an Oriental custom of taking possession of land by casting the shoe upon it; but the first explanation agrees best with the context. Philistia, triumph thou because of me] R.V., shout thou because of me. Mighty Philistia must raise the shout of homage to its conqueror. Cp. Psalms 2:11; Psalms 18:44; Psalms 47:1. This rendering is preferable to that of A.V. marg. (with its explanatory note) ‘triumph thou over me (by an irony)’: and to the rendering, ‘cry aloud in terror.’ But perhaps we should alter the vocalisation and read: Over Philistia shall be my shout of triumph, or adopt the reading of Psa 108:9, Over Philistia will I shut in triumph.

Moab is my washpot - Moab was a region of country on the east of the Dead Sea, extending as far north as the river Arnon. See the notes at Isaiah 15:1-9.

8. Washpot—A vessel for common washing, as distinct from a seething pot, or a sacred vessel. Some suppose it the same as Herodotus mentions as (book ii, c.