‘lift up the foot,’ to take or initiate a course of action (Gen. 41:44); “make your foot rare at the house of your fellow man,” not taking undue advantage of his hospitality (Prov. 25:17); ‘walking barefoot,’ in humiliation or mourning (captives often being led barefoot) (Isa. 20:2); ‘laying [something] at the feet of’ (a person), as a gift or offering (Acts 5:1, 2); ‘falling at one’s feet,’ in obeisance (Mark 5:22); ‘putting under the feet,’ in subjection (1 Cor. 15:27; Heb. 2:8); ‘bruising or treading under feet,’ in victory (Mal. 4:3; Rom. 16:20); ‘putting feet upon the neck of an enemy,’ as a symbol of subduing or conquering him (Josh. 10:24); ‘washing the foot in blood,’ in execution of enemies (Ps. 68:22, 23); ‘covering the feet,’ easing nature (literally, ‘keeping the feet hidden’—Judg. 3:24; 1 Sam. 24:3). The phrase “dipping his foot in oil” was used prophetically in foretelling the fat or abundant portion that the tribe of Asher would have among their brothers of Israel. (Deut. 33:24) Ruth uncovered the feet of Boaz and lay down at his feet as a notification for him to take legal action in the matter of brother-in-law marriage.—Ruth 3:4, 7, 8.

“Comely” feet

Jehovah has special regard for the feet of those proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom, calling them “comely.” (Isa. 52:7; Rom. 10:15) The Christian must have his feet shod with the “equipment of the good news of peace” so that he can properly carry the good news. (Eph. 6:15) Jesus instructed his disciples that when those in a house or a city refused to take them in or listen to their words, they should shake the dust off their feet, thereby showing that they left the unreceptive house or city to the consequences that were due to come upon them from a higher source, from heaven.—Matt. 10:14.

‘Cut off your foot’

Jesus used the term “foot” figuratively in saying: “If, then, your hand or your foot is making you stumble, cut it off and throw it away from you,” meaning that if something as precious as the hand or foot is causing us to sin, or if something is leading us to sin with the hand or foot, we should get rid of that thing rather than to forfeit integrity and life itself.—Matt. 18:8.

In the Christian “body”

The apostle Paul, likening the Christian congregation to a human body, highlights the interdependence of the members thereof when he says: “If the foot should say: ‘Because I am not a hand, I am no part of the body,’ it is not for this reason no part of the body.”—1 Cor. 12:15.

GOD’S FOOTSTOOL

Jehovah pictures himself in his sovereign position as sitting on a heavenly throne with the earth as his footstool. (Isa. 66:1) He says to Zion that he will beautify the place of his sanctuary, and adds: “I shall glorify the very place of my feet.”—Isa. 60:13, 14; see ATTITUDES AND GESTURES; HEEL; TOE.

FOOTSTOOL

A low stool, designed to serve as a rest or support for the feet when the individual is seated. The Hebrew word keʹvesh appears only once in the Scriptures and is used with reference to the gold footstool of King Solomon’s throne. (2 Chron. 9:18) The Hebrew expression hadhomʹ ragh·laʹyim (literally, “stool of the feet”) occurs six times and is used figuratively to refer to the temple (1 Chron. 28:2; Ps. 99:5; 132:7; Lam. 2:1), the earth (Isa. 66:1) and the enemies as being crushed by Messiah’s rule. (Ps. 110:1) James reproves those practicing class distinctions in the congregation, using the illustration of a poor man being told: “Take that seat there under my footstool.” (Jas. 2:3) All other occurrences of the word footstool in the Christian Greek Scriptures are quotations from or references to the Hebrew Scriptures.—Matt. 5:35; Acts 7:49; “stool for your [or, his] feet” in Luke 20:43; Acts 2:35; Heb. 1:13; 10:13.

FORCED LABOR

The use of forced labor was evidently quite common in Bible times, with conquered peoples frequently being constituted slaves. (Deut. 20:11; Josh. 16:10; 17:13; Esther 10:1; Isa. 31:8; Lam. 1:1) As slavish forced laborers, the Israelites, under the immediate oversight of Egyptian chiefs who tyrannized over them, engaged in building the storage places of Pithom and Raamses. (Ex. 1:11-14) Then, upon entering the Promised Land, the Israelites, instead of following through on Jehovah’s command to drive out all the Canaanite inhabitants of the land who should have been devoted to destruction, forced them into task work, slavish labor. This had the bad effect of luring Israel into the worship of false gods. (Josh. 16:10; Judg. 1:28; 2:3, 11, 12) King Solomon continued levying the descendants of these Canaanites, that is, of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, for slavish forced labor.—1 Ki. 9:20, 21.

At times, Israelite workers were drafted to meet an emergency or to complete a special project that could not be delayed indefinitely. Issachar, according to the words of his dying father Jacob, was to be subjected as a tribe to this type of forced labor. (Gen. 49:15) Solomon conscripted thirty thousand men of Israel for his temple-building operations. Nevertheless, these were not constituted slaves, for they served in shifts of ten thousand a month in Lebanon and thus were able to spend two months at home and a month at the work. (1 Ki. 5:13, 14) But it appears that considerable resentment built up against the conscripting of Israelites for forced labor. When Rehoboam did not agree to lighten the heavy yoke Israel had had to bear under the rulership of Solomon and subsequently sent Adoram (Hadoram, Adoniram) to conscript workers, the Israelites stoned Adoram, who must have been quite advanced in years then, having begun to serve in David’s time as overseer of those conscripted for work.—2 Sam. 20:24; 1 Ki. 4:6; 5:14; 12:14, 18; 2 Chron. 10:18.

Laziness could easily get an Israelite into debt and in time force him to sell his inheritance and also himself into slavery. Hence the proverb: “The slack hand will come to be for forced labor.”—Prov. 12:24.

FOREHEAD

As a very prominent and readily seen feature of an individual, the forehead was, in ancient times, a place for marking slaves so that all could see to what master they belonged. Also, the devotees of certain pagan gods were thus marked. Even today some follow the practice of putting religious marks on the forehead, so that all others can be aware of their devotion to their religious beliefs.

MARK IN THE FOREHEAD

Bearing a mark in the “forehead” is similarly used in a figurative way in the Bible to signify that one is a slave to the true God or to another. At Revelation 7:2-4, reference is made to angelic sealing of 144,000 persons in their foreheads. The Bible indicates that such seal is a symbol of God’s holy spirit and that the sealing began at Pentecost, 33 C.E., with the last remaining ones being sealed in the “time of the end.” (Eph. 1:13, 14; 4:30) These, by their following Christ Jesus and their activity in preaching and supporting his kingdom, display the seal of the outpoured spirit and thus are clearly identifiable as slaves of Jehovah God. (Rev. 20:4) In another part of the vision of Revelation, the 144,000 are represented as having the name of the Lamb Jesus Christ and the name of his Father written on their foreheads. As the Bride of the Lamb, they would properly take his name. (Rev. 14:1; 22:3, 4) Since the Hebrew language is twice mentioned in the book of Revelation (9:11; 16:16) and since the apostle John was a Hebrew, it may have been the sacred Tetragrammaton that was written on the foreheads of the 144,000, identifying them as Jehovah’s servants and witnesses.

As described at Ezekiel 9:3-6, a class of persons is marked in the forehead for protection from destruction by God’s executional forces, not being marked by angels in this instance, nor with a “seal,” but by a man having a “recorder’s inkhorn.” Pictured as “sighing and groaning over all the detestable things that are being done,” these, when ‘marked,’ show themselves to be slaves and devotees of Jehovah, their actions, practices and personalities evidently giving evidence of this before all, as if written ‘on their foreheads.’

In branding slaves for the world political “wild beast” (see BEASTS, SYMBOLIC [The seven-headed wild beast out of the sea]) a symbolic mark is put on the foreheads or the right hands of persons, even by compulsion, as depicted at Revelation 13:16, 17. Those receiving such mark identify themselves as against God and are due to receive his anger in undiluted form.—Rev. 14:9-11; see MARK, II.

ISRAEL’S HIGH PRIEST

In Israel the high priest’s turban had on its front, over the priest’s forehead, a gold plate, “the holy sign of dedication,” upon which was inscribed “with the engravings of a seal” the words “Holiness belongs to Jehovah.” (Ex. 28:36-38; 39:30) As Israel’s chief representative of Jehovah’s worship, it was fitting that the high priest keep his office holy, and this inscription would also serve as a reminder to all Israel of the need of constant holiness in the service of Jehovah. It also served as a suitable picture of the great High Priest, Jesus Christ, and his dedication and holiness to Jehovah.—Heb. 7:26.

BABYLON THE GREAT

Conversely, the symbolical great harlot has the name “Babylon the Great” on her forehead. Ancient Babylon long represented that which was unholy and in opposition to God.—Rev. 17:1-6; see BABYLON THE GREAT.

OTHER USES OF TERM

Other figurative uses of the word “forehead” are found at Isaiah 48:4, where Jehovah stated that Israel’s forehead was copper, evidently because so great was her stubbornness and rebelliousness; also at Ezekiel 3:7-9, God told Ezekiel, who prophesied to hardheaded, hardhearted Israelites, that he had made the prophet’s forehead “like a diamond,” in that he had given him the resolution, determination and boldness to deliver God’s message to them.

When King Uzziah presumptuously and illegally usurped a priest’s duties in attempting to offer incense upon the altar of incense in the temple of Jehovah, his sin and Jehovah’s judgment were plainly and immediately made manifest by leprosy flashing up in his forehead.—2 Chron. 26:16, 19, 20.

FOREIGNER

[Heb., nakh·riʹ].

A person of non-Israelite extraction, a Gentile. The foreigners among the Hebrews consisted of hired laborers, merchants, captives taken in war, Canaanites not executed or expelled from the Promised Land, and various kinds of transients.—Josh. 17:12, 13; Judg. 1:21; 2 Sam. 12:29-31; 1 Ki. 7:13; Neh. 13:16.

Although foreigners’ rights were limited by the Law covenant, they were to be treated with justice and fairness and were to receive hospitality as long as they did not flagrantly disobey the laws of the land. The foreigner, by virtue of his having no real ties with Israel, was distinct from the circumcised proselyte who had come into membership in the congregation of Israel by completely accepting Law covenant responsibilities. Similarly, the foreigner was different from the settler who had taken up semipermanent residence in the Promised Land, and who, therefore, not only came under certain legal restrictions, but also enjoyed certain rights and privileges.—See ALIEN RESIDENT.

Many non-Israelites composed part of the households of the sons of Jacob and their descendants during the time of the Israelites’ alien residences in Canaan and in Egypt. This came about through the purchasing of slaves, who, by the terms of the covenant with Abraham, had to be circumcised, and through the hiring of servants who lived with the family. (Gen. 17:9-14) Evidently some involved in mixed marriages, along with their offspring, came to form the vast mixed company that accompanied the Israelites in the exodus.—Ex. 12:38; Lev. 24:10; Num. 11:4.

After Israel settled in the Promised Land, foreigners had to be dealt with, such as the Canaanites who were not driven out. (Judg. 2:2, 3) Merchants and craftsmen also began to travel into the land of Israel. (Ezek. 27:3, 17; 2 Sam. 5:11; 1 Ki. 5:6-18) Likely hired laborers accumulated as the Israelites grew more prosperous in developing the Promised Land. (Compare Deuteronomy 8:11-13; Leviticus 22:10.) Foreigners began to be attached to the Israelite armies, and in doing so they developed an esteem for their Hebrew leaders and a respect for the Israelite religion, as in the cases of the Gittites, the Cherethites and the Pelethites.—2 Sam. 15:18-21.

PROVISIONS OF THE LAW COVENANT

In the Law covenant Jehovah provided basic legislation to regulate dealings with foreigners and to protect the Israelite commonwealth and the integrity of its citizens and dependents economically as well as religiously and politically. The Israelites were not to have any fellowship, especially religiously, with the people of the land (Ex. 23:23-25; Deut. 7:16-26; Josh. 23:6, 7), and were not to conclude any covenants with them or their gods. (Ex. 34:12-15; 23:32; Deut. 7:2) Time and again Jehovah stressed the absolute need not to bow down to the gods of the foreigners (Ex. 20:3-7; 23:31-33; 34:14), nor even to inquire into (interest themselves in) their religious practices.—Deut. 12:29-31.

Marriage alliances with foreigners were prohibited, due primarily to the danger of corruption of pure worship. (Ex. 34:16; Deut. 7:3, 24; Josh. 23:12, 13) In the capture of a city not of the proscribed seven Canaanite nations, an Israelite soldier could take a virgin from the city as a wife after she had undergone a period of purification. In such cases no actual alliance would be formed with a foreign tribe or family, her parents having been slain when her city was taken. (Deut. 21:10-14; Num. 31:17, 18; Deut. 20:14) All inhabitants of cities of the seven Canaanite nations were to be destroyed.—Deut. 20:15-18.

An additional restriction was that no uncircumcised foreigner could eat of the Passover. (Ex. 12:43) It appears, however, that foreigners could offer sacrifices through the priestly arrangement, provided the offering itself conformed to divine standards. (Lev. 22:25) Of course, such could never come into the sanctuary (Ezek. 44:9), but they could come to Jerusalem and ‘pray toward God’s house,’ and they would likely not do so empty-handed, that is, without an accompanying sacrificial offering.—1 Ki. 8:41-43.

In governmental matters, the foreigner had no political status and could never become a king. (Deut. 17:15) Though the Israelite and the alien resident and settler in the land could take advantage of the sanctuary provided for the unintentional manslayer in the cities of refuge, there is no mention of such provision for the foreigner.—Num. 35:15; Josh. 20:9.

In economic matters, an animal that had died without the blood being drained could legally be sold to a foreigner. (Deut. 14:21) During sabbath years the Israelite could not be pressed for payment of debts, but the foreigner was not under this arrangement, and could be pressed for payment. (Deut. 15:1-3) Although a fellow Israelite was not to be charged interest, the foreigner could be so charged.—Deut. 23:20.

SOURCE OF DIFFICULTY

During Joshua’s time and the period of the judges that followed, many foreigners were in the land and were a source of constant difficulty. (Josh. 23:12, 13)