What Does “Throwing a Sandal” Mean in the Bible?

By Elizabeth Prata

In my daily Bible reading, I came across a phrase with which I was not familiar:

“Moab is My washbowl; I will throw My sandal over Edom; Shout loud, Philistia, because of Me!” (Psalm 60:8)

Why is throwing your shoe over a country or region an insult or a statement of dominance, as it appears to be in the verse?

You have heard scripture interprets scripture. In this case we can refer to Ruth 4:7 for an explanation of the shoe handling:

Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning the redemption and the exchange of land to confirm any matter: a man removed his sandal and gave it to another; and this was the way of confirmation in Israel.

I looked it up some more. This is where commentaries come in handy.

Barnes’ Notes on the Bible says the same as the Ruth 4:7 verse above, and goes on with a bit more context-

He here expresses the utmost confidence that he would succeed in this, notwithstanding the adverse events which had occurred. It is supposed that there is allusion in the expression “I will cast out my shoe,” to the custom, when transferring a possession, of throwing down a shoe on the ground as a symbol of occupancy. Compare Ruth 4:7. In the middle ages this was expressed by throwing down a glove; in the time of Columbus, by solemnly taking possession and setting up a cross; in other times, by erecting a standard, or by building a fort. 

You may have heard that ‘throwing down a glove” (gauntlet) in the Middle Ages meant the fight was on. History.com and Merriam-Webster Dictionary explain,

The term “gauntlet” comes from the French word gantelet, referring to the heavy, armored gloves worn by knights, according to History.com. Meaning: It was a literal, public act of defiance that, if accepted (by “taking up the gauntlet”), required personal combat to resolve a dispute

Apparently in Bible times, throwing the shoe was the signal that one side was prepared to fight for victory, in other words, ‘I’m coming for you! – and I will win!”

It’s helpful to pursue some of these long-ago idiomatic phrases that help us understand the verse more deeply.