Charles Ellicott Commentary Psalms 60:8

"Moab is my washpot; Upon Edom will I cast my shoe: Philistia, shout thou because of me." — Psalms 60:8 (ASV)

Moab is my washpot — that is, probably the footbath, a figure expressing great contempt. This is illustrated by the story told of Amasis and the golden footpan, which he had broken to pieces and made into an image of one of the gods—from base use made divine—as allegorical of his own transformation from a private person to a king.

Others explain, from analogy with Arabic proverbs, that the conqueror would, as it were, wash his face white, that is, acquire renown in Moab.

Possibly the comparison of Moab to a bath was suggested by its proximity to the Dead Sea, which might be said to be at the foot of Israel.

Over Edom... — The most natural explanation of this figure is that Edom is disgraced to the character of the slave to whom the conqueror tosses his sandals (na’al is collective), so that they may be cleaned. . The symbolic action of Ruth 4:7 had a different meaning, the transfer of a right of ownership, and so cannot be used as an illustration.

Regarding the “shoe” as a figure of what is vilest and most common, Dr. J. G. Wetzstein quotes many Arabic proverbs. A covering for the feet would naturally attract such associations. (Compare the use of footstool repeatedly in the Psalms, and Shakespeare’s use of foot, such as “What my foot my tutor!”—The Tempest.)

But the custom that Israel brought from Egypt (Exodus 3:3), of dropping sandals outside the door of a temple, and even of an ordinary house, must have served still more to link ideas of vileness and profanation to that article of dress.

Philistia, triumph thou because of me... — This cannot be the intended meaning of the clause, since it is quite out of keeping with the context. In Psalm 108:9, we have the very opposite: “over Philistia will I triumph.” We must therefore change this reading to get, over Philistia is my triumph, or render the text as it stands, by analogy with Isaiah 15:4: Upon (that is, because of) me, Philistia, raise a mournful wail.

The Septuagint and Vulgate indicate this meaning while translating the proper name as “the foreigners have been subdued to me.”