Matthew Poole and continuators on Exodus 3:5

5 And he said, Draw not nigh hither , put off thy shoes from off thy feet , for the place whereon thou standest, is holy ground .

Keep thy distance; whereby he checks his curiosity and forwardness, and works him to the greater reverence and humility. Compare Exod. 19. 12, 21. Ios. 5. 15.

This he requires as an act and token, 1. of his reverence to the divine Majesty then and there eminently present. 2. of his humiliation for his sins whereby he was unfit and unworthy to appear before God: for this was a posture of humiliation, 2 Sam. 15. 30. Isa. 20. 2, 4. Ezek. 24. 17, 23. 3. of purification, from the filth of his feet or ways or conversation, that he might be more fit to approach to God. See Ioh. 13. 10. Heb. 10. 22. 4. of his submission and readiness to ob[illegible: 1+ letters] Gods will, for which reason slaves used to be barefooted▪

With a relative holiness at this time, because of my special presence in it.

Marginal references: Act. 7. 33.