Exodus Chapter 3 verse 5 Holy Bible
And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
read chapter 3 in ASV
And he said, Do not come near: take off your shoes from your feet, for the place where you are is holy.
read chapter 3 in BBE
And he said, Draw not nigh hither: loose thy sandals from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
read chapter 3 in DARBY
And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
read chapter 3 in KJV
And he said, Approach not hither: put off thy shoes from thy feet, for the place on which thou standest is holy ground.
read chapter 3 in WBT
He said, "Don't come close. Take off your sandals from off your feet, for the place you are standing on is holy ground."
read chapter 3 in WEB
And He saith, `Come not near hither: cast thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place on which thou art standing is holy ground.'
read chapter 3 in YLT
Exodus 3 : 5 Bible Verse Songs
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 5. - Draw not nigh. The awful greatness of the Creator is such that his creatures, until invited to draw near, are bound to stand aloof. Moses, not yet aware that God himself spoke to him, was approaching the bush too close, to examine and see what the "great thing" was. (See ver. 3.) On the general unfitness of man to approach near to holy things, see the comment on Exodus 19:12. Put off thy shoes. Rather, "thy sandals." Shoes were not worn commonly, even by the Egyptians, until a late period, and would certainly not be known in the land of Midian at this time. The practice of putting them off before entering a temple, a palace, or even the private apartments of a house, was, and is, universal in the East - the rationale of it being that the shoes or sandals have dust or dirt attaching to them. The command given to Moses at this time was repeated to Joshua (Joshua 5:15). Holy ground. Literally, "ground of holiness " - ground rendered holy by the presence of God upon it - not "an old sanctuary," as some have thought, for then Moses would not have needed the information. Exodus - The God of thy father. "Father" here is used collectively, meaning forefathers generally, a usage well known to Hebraists. (Compare Exodus 15:2, antioch, 18:4.) The God of Abraham, etc., i.e. the God who revealed himself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and entered into covenant with them (Genesis 15:1-21; Genesis 26:2-5; Genesis 35:1-12). The conclusion which our Blessed Lord drew from this verse (Matthew 22:32) is not directly involved in it, but depends on his minor premiss, "God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." Moses hid his face. A natural instinctive action. So Elijah, on the same site (1 Kings 19:13) and the holy angels before God's throne in heaven (Isaiah 6:2). In the religious system of Rome, the augurs when discharging their office, and all persons when offering a sacrifice, veiled their heads. (See Liv. 1:18; Virg. Aen. 3:405; Juv. 6:390.)
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(5) Put off thy shoes.--Rather, thy sandals. It is doubtful whether shoes were known at this early date. They would certainly not have been worn in Midian. Egyptians before the time of Moses, and Orientals generally, in ancient (as in modern) times, removed their sandals (or their shoes) from their feet on entering any place to which respect was due, as a temple, a palace, and even the private house of a great man. It is worthy of notice that God Himself orders this mark of respect to be shown to the place which His Presence has hallowed. On the reverence due to holy places, see the Note on Genesis 28:16-17.
