s the prestige of antiquity and universality in its
favor.

That it not only very generally prevailed, but that its symbolic
signification was well understood in the days of Moses, we learn from that
passage of Exodus where the angel of the Lord, at the burning bush,
exclaims to the patriarch, "Draw not nigh hither; put off thy shoes from
off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." [84]
Clarke[85] thinks it is from this command that the Eastern nations have
derived the custom of performing all their acts of religious worship with
bare feet. But it is much more probable that the ceremony was in use long
anterior to the circumstance of the burning bush, and that the Jewish
lawgiver at once recognized it as a well-known sign of reverence.

Bishop Patrick[86] entertains this opinion, and thinks that the custom
was derived from the ancient patriarchs, and was transmitted by a general
tradition to succeeding times.

Abundant evidence might be furnished from ancient authors of the existence
of the custom among all nations, both Jewish and Gentile. A few of them,
principally collected by Dr. Mede, must be curious and interesting.

The direction of Pythagoras to his disciples was in these words:
"[Greek: Anypo/detos thy/e kai pro/skynei];" that is, Offer sacrifice and
worship with thy shoes off.[87]

Justin Martyr says that those who came to worship in the sanctuaries and
temples of the Gentiles were commanded by their priests to put off their
shoes.

Drusius, in his Notes on the Book of Joshua, says that among most of the
Eastern nations it was a pious duty to tread the pavement of the temple
with unshod feet.[88]

Maimonides, the great expounder of the Jewish law, asserts that "it was
not lawful for a man to come into the mountain of God's house with his
shoes on his feet, or with his staff, or in his working garments, or with
dust on his feet." [89]

Rabbi Solomon, commenting on the command in Leviticus xix. 30, "Ye shall
reverence my sanctuary," makes the same remark in relation to this custom.
On this subject Dr. Oliver observes, "Now, the act of going with naked
feet was always considered a token of humility and reverence; and the
priests, in the temple worship, always officiated with feet uncovered,
although it was frequently injurious to their health." [90]

Mede quotes Zago Zaba, an Ethiopian bishop, who was ambassador from David,
King of Abyssinia, to John III., of Portugal, as saying,