📖 Biblical Definition
Feet in Scripture carry covenantal weight. Washing a guest's feet was the servant's first duty; Jesus washed His disciples' feet the night of His betrayal (John 13). Mary anointed Jesus' feet with costly nard (John 12:3). The bronze serpent was lifted on a pole, and looking at it healed the snake-bitten; Christ lifted similarly heals those who look. The proclamation of the gospel is "how beautiful are the feet of those who preach" (Rom 10:15). Feet tread enemies (Josh 10:24, Rom 16:20). And the final defeat: "he has put all things in subjection under his feet" (1 Cor 15:27). Feet are about direction, submission, and arrival.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
FEET, n. pl.
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FEET, n. pl. (plural of foot). The terminal members of the legs on which animals stand and walk. In Scripture, feet carry extensive symbolic weight: the direction of one's life ("make straight paths for your feet"), the humility of service (foot-washing), the beauty of those who bring good news, the trampling of enemies under the feet of the conquering King, and the final subjection of all things under the feet of Christ.
📖 Key Scripture
John 13:14 — "If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet."
Romans 10:15 — "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"
Psalm 119:105 — "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."
1 Corinthians 15:25-27 — "For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet... For "God has put all things in subjection under his feet.""
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern Christians rarely think theologically about feet. Scripture makes them a primary image of direction, service, and conquest.
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Scripture's imagination is embodied. Feet do theological work constantly: where you walk reveals who you follow; washing feet reveals whether you actually serve; the lamp lights not the head but the feet — illuminating the next step, not the whole roadmap. Christians who have spiritualized the body out of biblical thought miss the embodied register of Scripture. Honor the feet. Wash them when the opportunity arises. Watch where yours are walking.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
H7272 — regel. G4228 — pous.
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H7272 — regel (רֶגֶל) — foot; also the thrice-yearly pilgrimages were called regalim.
G4228 — pous (πούς) — foot; metonymically "footsteps," "following."
Usage
"The lamp shines on your feet, not on the horizon. God gives light for the next step, not the map."
"Whose feet are you willing to wash? That answers whether you have yet understood the Servant."