Acts 7:33

Act 7:33. Τῶν ποδῶν, from thy feet) He who puts his shoes off his feet is regarded as having himself aright in respect to the whole body. Comp. Joh 13:10—ὁ γὰρ τόπος, for the place) The sanctity of places depends on the unrestricted will and presence of GOD, and is therefore moveable (not stationary).

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 7:33 . λῦσον , cf. Jos 5:15 , λῦσον A., cf. Exo 3:5 ; in classical Greek, λῦσαι , omitting σου . On the custom of worshipping bare-footed, as the priests when actually engaged in the Temple, or as the Arabs enter their mosques with bare feet, or the Samaritan the holiest place on Gerizim, see instances, both classical, Juvenal, Sat. , vi., 158, and from Josephus and others, Wetstein and Wendt, in loco . The latter refers to an Egyptian custom the order of Pythagoras ἀνυπόδητος θῦε καὶ προσκύνει , Jamblich., Vit. Pyth. , 23, and cf. 18 in Wetstein. τὸ ὑπόδημα , cf. Act 13:25 , and Joh 1:27 , where in each passage the singular is used. Both Weiss and Wendt note the significance of the verse a strange land is consecrated ( cf. Act 6:13 , τόπος ἅγιος ) by the presence of God the Jews thought that the Temple was the only holy place, cf. add. note for significance in connection with the aim of St. Stephen’s speech, and St. Chrysostom’s comment in loco .

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

33. Because the place wherein. The Lord meant by this commendation which he giveth to the place, to lift up the mind of Moses into heaven, that he might not think upon any earthly thing. And if so be that Moses was to be pricked forward with so many pricks, that having forgotten the earth, he might hearken to God, must not we have our sides even, as it were, digged through, seeing we are an hundred times more slow than he? Notwithstanding, here may a question be asked, how this place became so holy? for it was no more holy than other places before that day. I answer, that this honor is given to the presence of God, and not to the place, and that the holiness of the place is spoken of for man’s sake. For if the presence of God do make the earth holy, how much more force thereof ought men to have? Notwithstanding, we must also note, that the place was thus beautified only for a time, so that God did not fix his glory there, as Jacob erected an altar to God in Bethel, after that God had showed some token of his presence there, (Genesis 35:7.) When as his posterity did imitate the same afterward, it was such worship as was reproved. Finally, the place is called holy for Moses’ sake only, that he may the better address himself to fear God and to obey him. Forasmuch as God doth now show himself unto us everywhere in Christ, and that in no obscure figures, but in the full light and perfect truth, we must not only put off our shoes from our feet, but strip ourselves stark-naked of ourselves.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(33, 34) Then said the Lord to him . . . .—The words are almost a verbal reproduction of Exo_3:5; Exo_3:7-8. The citation was in part an implied answer to the charge of disregarding the sanctity of places in which man stands as in the presence of God, partly an implied protest against the narrowing thoughts which limited that sanctity to the Temple of Jerusalem.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then said the Lord to him,.... To Moses, who through curiosity had made too near an approach:

put off thy shoes from thy feet; in token of humility, obedience, and reverence:

for the place where thou standest is holy ground; not really, but relatively, on account of the divine presence in it, and only so long as that continued.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

33 Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground.

Ver. 33. Put off thy shoes] Thy fleshly affections, and be wholly at my disposal, in the business whereabout I shall send thee.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then said the Lord ... - In Exo. 3 this is introduced in a different order, as being spoken “before” God said “I am the God,” etc.

Put off thy shoes ... - Exo 3:5. To put off the shoes; or sandals, was an act of reverence. The ancients were especially not permitted to enter a temple or holy place with their shoes on. Indeed, it was customary for the Jews to remove their shoes whenever they entered any house as a mere matter of civility. Compare the notes on Joh 13:5. See Jos 5:15. “The same custom, growing out of the same feeling,” says Prof. Hackett (Illustrations of Scripture, pp. 74, 75), “is observed among the Eastern nations at the present day. The Arabs and Turks never enter the mosques without putting off their shoes. They exact a compliance with this rule from those of a different faith who visit these sacred places. Though, until a recent period, the Muslims excluded Christians entirely from the mosques, they now permit foreigners to enter some of them, provided they leave their shoes at the door, or exchange them for others which have not been defiled by common use.

“A Samaritan from Nablus, who conducted Mr. Robinson and Mr. Smith to the summit of Gerizim, when he came within a certain distance of the spot, took off his shoes, saying it was unlawful for his people to tread with shoes upon this ground, it being holy.”

Is holy ground - Is rendered sacred by the symbol of the divine presence. We should enter the sanctuary, the place set apart for divine worship, not only with reverence in our hearts, but with every “external” indication of veneration. Solemn awe and deep seriousness become the place set apart to the service of God. Compare Ecc 5:1.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Loose the shoes. This was a method of testifying respect among the eastern nations. The Mahometans do not wear their shoes in their mosques. The Jewish priests served in the temple with their shoes off. The angel who appeared to Josue ordered him also to take off his shoes. (Josue v. 16.) If the apparition of an angel, or of God himself, could make the place and ground holy so as to deserve external signs of respect, and veneration from Moses; how much more the corporal birth, abode, and miracles of the Son of God in Jewry, and the blessed Sacrament, must make that country, and all Catholic chapels and altars, holy? Is it not then the height of blindness to tax with superstition, the reverence Christians pay to things or places, rendered holy by the presence, or wonderful operations of God.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Put off thy shoes; either out of reverence to the Divine presence, as Jos 5:15, or that thereby he might show that he resigned himself wholly to God’s will and disposal; as in Rth 4:7, the kinsman, by pulling off his shoe and giving it to Boaz, did resign all his right he might have had to Ruth and the inheritance.

Holy ground, whilst God manifested his presence there.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

33. Put off thy shoes—The rabbies say that the priests perform their service with bare feet, in token of purity and reverence.

33. Judgment was taken away—Not his own mental faculty of judgment, but a fair judicial trial, which was taken away by violence and fraud.

His generation—Who shall describe the generation, that is, the men of that cruel age?

Life is taken—For they unjustly deprived him of earthly life.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the Lord said unto him for then said the Lord to him, A.V.; loose the shoes for put off by shoes, A.V. Loose the shoes, etc. In Exo_3:5 it is lu ejk twn podwn sou. Iamblichus, quoted by Meyer, refers the Pythagorean precept, "Sacrifice and worship with thy shoes off," to an Egyptian custom. The custom of Orientals to take off their sandals on entering mosques or other sacred places, as existing to the present day, is noticed by many travelers. (see also Jos_5:15)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then said the Lord, Loose thy shoes - An ancient token of reverence; for the place is holy ground - The holiness of places depends on the peculiar presence of God there.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

See notes on verse 30

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Take off the sandals

God told Moses this so he would honor God. (See: Symbolic Action)

for the place where you are standing is holy ground

The implied information is that where God is present, the immediate area around God is considered or made holy by God. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

certainly seen

"seen for sure." The word certainly adds emphasis to seen.

my people

The word "my" emphasizes that these people belonged to God. AT: "the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob"

I have come down to rescue them

"will personally cause their release"

now come

"get ready." God uses an order here.

translationWords

lord

sandal

holy

suffer

people of God

Egypt

send

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

33. ἐφ’ ᾧ with אABCD.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

33.] See Jos 5:15. Putting off the sandals was a mark of reverence. The priests performed all their ministrations barefooted. The Arabs to this day continue the practice: they always enter their mosques barefooted. Among the Pythagoreans it was a maxim, ἀνυπόδητος θῦε κ. προσκύνει, Iamblich. vita Pythag 105 (Mey.). So Juvenal, Sat. vi. 158, ‘Observant ubi festa mero pede sabbata reges.’

On the sanctity of the place, Chrys. remarks,—οὐδαμοῦ ναός, κ. ὁ τόπος ἅγιος τῇ ἐπιφανείᾳ κ. ἐνεργείᾳ τοῦ χριστοῦ.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.