A shoe fastened to the foot with thongs or straps. Putting on sandals was a sign of preparation for a journey (Exod 12:11; Deut 29:5; Josh 9:5; Josh 9:13) or warfare (Isa 5:27). Footwear was removed indoors, in sacred precincts (Exod 3:5; Josh 5:15), and during mourning (Ezek 24:17). Transfer of property was confirmed in Hebrew custom by the symbolic exchange of a sandal (Ruth 4:7; Ruth 4:8; Amos 2:6), arising, probably, from the practice of claiming title to land by walking its boundaries or casting a shoe upon it (Ps 60:8). The public removal of a man’s shoe by the woman he has refused to take in levirate marriage was a humiliating gesture (Deut 25:9-10). Jesus’s instructions in sending out the Twelve, that they should go barefoot (Matt 10:10; Luke 10:4), countered normal practice. Sandals typically belonged to fine dress (Luke 15:22) and full dress (Acts 12:8).
