SANDAL (Heb. usually נַ֫עַל, H5837; but מִנְעָל, H4981, is rendered shoes by KJV in Deut 33:25; Gr. usually ὑπόδημα, G5687; but σανδάλιον, G4908, is used in Mark 6:9 and Acts 12:8). Sandals or shoes of some kind were worn in the E from very early times to protect the feet. However, the poor frequently walked barefoot when no great distance was to be covered. The form of ancient footwear can be known chiefly from monuments of Assyria, Egypt, and Persia. Some kind of covering on the feet can be distinguished in a painting on wood, dating as far back as the fourth millennium b.c., but the exact shape is not clear. The Beni-hassan panel, c. 1900 b.c. shows a group of Asiatics in Egypt, the men wearing soles fastened to the foot by crossing straps with a strap running round the ankle, and the women having boots reaching above the ankle with a white band at the top. A black obelisk of Shalmaneser III (9th cent. b.c.) portrays Jehu and the Israelites having shoes with upturned toes, while the Assyrians to whom they were paying tribute were wearing sandals with heel caps. In a painting of Sargon II (8th cent. b.c.) the method of fastening is seen more distinctly. The sandals have sides coming above the arch of the foot and are held in position by a double strap over the toes. These are prob. the sandals of the more wealthy. A simpler type consisted of soles of wood, leather or some fibrous material kept in position by leather thongs. Ezekiel described women’s shoes made of seals’ skin, or the skin of some dolphin-like animal (Ezek 16:10).
Shoes were commonly taken off on entering a house, and water was provided for guests to bathe their feet. The washing of feet was necessary, esp. because the sandals afforded only partial protection from dust or insects (Luke 7:44). To unloose the shoe was often the work of a slave, who might also carry the shoes to an appropriate place (Matt 3:11; Luke 3:16). The latter practice prob. lies behind Psalms 60:8 and 108:9. As shoes might sometimes be thrown to a slave to carry away, the figure suggests power exercised over Edom to make its people serve God’s purpose. According to Moffatt’s rendering of 1 Samuel 12:3, shoes might be offered as a bribe to a judge; and from Amos 2:6; 8:6 it appears that a poor man’s shoes were the most trifling pledge that could be accepted. Where these were lacking, the debtor was likely to be enslaved by the unrelenting creditor. The absence of shoes is a mark of poverty (Luke 15:22); it also points to the plight of the captive (Isa 20:2ff.). In 2 Samuel 15:30 it is a sign of mourning, but the wearing of shoes (Ezek 24:17, 23) during a period of mourning is an attempt to conceal grief. Twice in the OT the command was given to remove shoes in the presence of God or His supernatural representative (Exod 3:5; Josh 5:15).
It is in keeping with this symbolism denoting reverence that no mention is made of shoes in the descriptions of priestly dress. The service of the Tabernacle and Temple was performed barefoot. Moslems observe a similar custom in modern times, either removing or covering the shoes when about to enter a mosque. To have a shoe removed on refusal to undertake a levirate marriage was to be shown contempt (Deut 25:9ff.), but in the arrangement between Boaz and Elimelech’s nearer relative, the former by giving his sandal confirmed the bargain (Ruth 4:7ff.).
Bibliography E. A. Speiser, “Of Shoes and Shekels,” BASOR, LXXVII (1940), 15ff.; R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel (1961), 22, 37, 59, 86, 169.