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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Folks: Some of you are confusing Christian with Jewish references. In ancient Israel "feet" was indeed a euphemism for "penis" or "genitals". See for instance the story of David and Bathsheba, where David tells Uriah to go home and "bathe his feet", meaning he should sleep with his wife (breaking his warrior's vow). -- Mary Suydam ----- Original Message ----- From: Cameron Kippen <[log in to unmask]> To: Mary Suydam <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Friday, February 21, 2003 2:21 AM Subject: The meaning of feet > medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture > > Hi > > My name is Cameron Kippen and I am a podologist (study of the foot in health > and disease) and shoe historian. A colleague has asked me to verify > something they were told but have found no evidence to support. To ancient > Judaic people, "foot" or "feet" were a euphemism for penis. In Ruth 3:1-9 > > Then Naomi her mother in law said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek > rest for thee, that it may be well with thee? And now is not Boaz of our > kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley to night > in the threshingfloor. Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy > raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the floor: but make not thyself > known unto the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking. And it > shall be, when he lieth down, that thou shalt mark the place where he shall > lie, and thou shalt go in, and uncover his feet, and lay thee down; and he > will tell thee what thou shalt do. > > And she said unto her, All that thou sayest unto me I will do. And she went > down unto the floor, and did according to all that her mother in law bade > her. And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to > lie down at the end of the heap of corn: and she came softly, and uncovered > his feet, and laid her down. > > And it came to pass at midnight, that the man was afraid, and turned > himself: and, behold, a woman lay at his feet. And he said, Who art thou? > And she answered, I am Ruth thine handmaid: spread therefore thy skirt over > thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman. > > According to my colleague the story doesn't make a lot of sense as it reads. > But would if > "feet" were a euphemism for penis. > > Can anyone shed more light on this > > Much appreciated > > Cameron > > ********************************************************************** > To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME > to: [log in to unmask] > To send a message to the list, address it to: > [log in to unmask] > To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion > to: [log in to unmask] > In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: > [log in to unmask] > For further information, visit our web site: > http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html > ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html