Treading Down Enemies: Victory in Christ — Psalm 110

The victory ritual practiced throughout the ancient Near East involved the conqueror placing his foot on the neck of a defeated enemy commander to proclaim triumph. We examine the significance of this practice, which continued for thousands of years in Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, and beyond, along with its biblical background.

Treading Down Enemies: Victory in Christ — Psalm 110

In the ancient Near East, conquerors sometimes performed a victory ritual in which they placed the king, general, or captured soldiers of a defeated nation under their feet and trod upon them (1 Kgs 5:3). They also proclaimed—both domestically and internationally—their complete dominion over conquered territory by physically treading upon the land.

The Victory Ritual of Treading on the Enemy Commander

In the ancient world, it was customary for the victorious king to place the head or neck of a defeated king (or commander) under his foot as a footstool, thereby celebrating his triumph (Josh 10:24). The stele of Assyrian king Shalmaneser III, for instance, depicts Jehu, king of the northern kingdom of Israel, prostrating himself at the king’s feet and kissing the ground. A tomb mural of the Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta I (13th century B.C.) shows the Assyrian king treading on the necks of the kings of various conquered nations.

A tomb mural of the Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose, dating to around the 15th century B.C., depicts Thutmose seated on the lap of a woman believed to be his mother, while beneath him, on a footstool, enemy prisoners are shown piled one upon another in captivity. In Egypt, from around 3000 B.C. onward, it was customary at the conclusion of a war for the commanding general to mount his horse and march in procession over the bodies of fallen enemies. This tradition was likewise practiced in Sumer, Assyria, and Babylon until approximately 1000 B.C.

The Bible also contains symbolic expressions related to the sole of the foot in several passages. For example, “ashes under the soles of your feet” (Mal 4:3) signifies utter destruction; “every place on which the sole of your foot treads” refers to land conquered and possessed (Deut 11:24; Josh 1:3); and “no rest for the sole of your foot” (Deut 28:65) denotes the absence of a resting place or refuge.

Source: Dictionary of Biblical Cultural Background

Originally published in Korean at bible2u.com