barefoot, being unshod

Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew Words:

Number:
3182 (find all occurrences in KJV Bible)
Transliteration:
yacheph
Phonic:
yaw-khafe’
Meaning:
from an unused root meaning to take off the shoes; unsandalled
KJV Usage:
barefoot, being unshod

From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

To go barefoot was a sign of distress and humiliation. Thus David went up Mount Olivet when he left Jerusalem at the time of Absalom’s rebellion (2 Sam. 15:3030And David went up by the ascent of mount Olivet, and wept as he went up, and had his head covered, and he went barefoot: and all the people that was with him covered every man his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up. (2 Samuel 15:30)). The humiliation of the Egyptians was represented by the prediction of their walking barefoot (Isa. 20:2-42At the same time spake the Lord by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot. 3And the Lord said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia; 4So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. (Isaiah 20:2‑4)). When Ezekiel was directed to cease his mourning be was told to put on his shoes (Ezek. 24:1717Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men. (Ezekiel 24:17)). Michaelis says, “Barefooted was a term of reproach, and probably signified a man who had sold everything, a spendthrift and a bankrupt” (Com. Laws Moses, vol.1, p. 435). In this way the man who refused to marry his brother’s childless widow was considered a worthless fellow.