The Meaning of the Footwashing Ceremony from the Ancient Epics to Christian and Jewish Sources in Late Antiquity

• In Event: Situating Ancient Judaism in Ancient and Modern Contexts

Abstract

The ancient hospitality practice of Footwashing appears in the ancient sources as a meaningful ritual.
Tracing the Footwashing ritual from Hebrew Bible and Greek Epic to Judeo-Hellenistic interpretation and Early-Christianity Sermons is indicating the connection between the ceremony and divine revelation.
The involvement of the Gods lies in the deeper layers of the texts. The Gods do not appear only as figures, shoulder to shoulder with the mortals; the divine elusiveness creates the need of recognition, which being necessary for the acceptance of the announcement.
The connection between Footwashing and divine recognition reaches its climax in the New Testament: in Last Supper story in John 13 Footwashing is involved with Jesus' revelation. It also symbolizes the acceptance of the other, brotherhood, and partnership in Jesus' community.
In parallel Footwashing appears in the Rabbinic Midrash with an ambivalent meaning: Footwashing appears as stringency against idolatry filth and should be examined in the context of religious-social separation rituals. But beside the praise, Abraham is receiving for his strictness against idolatry, in another source; the Midrash criticizes Abraham's unjustified suspicion towards the guests.
The importance of understanding the textual sequence between ancient sources from the Hebrew canon and around it; arises from many researches dealing with analysis, deciphering or any other kind of examination of the sources.
Traditions that first appear in ancient epics such as Greek poetry and Hebrew bible continued to develop in post-biblical literature: in the Apocrypha and in the literature of the Second Temple in general; including their appearance in the New Testament and the literature of the Sages.
The lecture focuses on the significance of Footwashing which is implied by the sources as representing the recognition of the divine, and presents different models of relationship with the other in Rabbinic Midrash and Early-Christianity Sermons.

Author

• Naama A Weiss, JTS