Psalm 60 · a question people ask

"Moab is my wash basin. I will throw my sandal on Edom" (60:8). What do these pictures mean?

In the text

The psalm doesn't explain them, and these notes won't go beyond the lexicons. In Hebrew wash basin is two words: sir, which Brown-Driver-Briggs gives as "pot", and rachats, which it gives as "washing" (tap wash basin). Sandal is na'al, which Brown-Driver-Briggs gives as "sandal, shoe"; Strong's adds, "sometimes as a symbol of occupancy, a refusal to marry, or of something valueless", and doesn't say which of these, if any, fits this verse (tap sandal). Psalm 108 has the same Hebrew for both lines, and the WEB words them "Moab is my wash pot. I will toss my sandal on Edom" (Psalm 108:9). What the verse does make plain is who says it: these are God's words, spoken "from his sanctuary" (60:6), and they come right after "Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine" (60:7). These notes don't apply Moab, Edom or Philistia to any people today.

The verses

“God has spoken from his sanctuary: “I will triumph. I will divide Shechem, and measure out the valley of Succoth. Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine. Ephraim also is the defense of my head. Judah is my scepter. Moab is my wash basin. I will throw my sandal on Edom. I shout in triumph over Philistia.””
Psalm 60:6-8 · World English Bible
“Moab is my wash pot. I will toss my sandal on Edom. I will shout over Philistia.””
Psalm 108:9 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Psalm 60

Psalm 60: Through God we will do valiantly

Psalm 60 opens "God, you have rejected us" (60:1), and after God has spoken (60:6-8) it asks, "Haven’t you, God, rejected us?" (60:10), the same Hebrew verb, and then prays anyway. And the two helps of 60:11 are two Hebrew words: the help it asks of God, and the teshu'ah of man it calls vain.

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions