Footstool (Hastings' Dictionary)

Although this word occurs re- peatedly In the Bible, it is remarkable that only t\vice at most is it used in its literal sense. In Ol" it appears in 2 Ch 9'« as tr" of was (fr. 1733 ' tread under foot'), the golden footstool of Solomon's throne, but here Kittel (see his note in Haupt's OT) would read bjj ' lamb.' The one clear refer- ence to a literal footstool is in Ja 2* ' sit imder my footstool ' {{nvoirbSi.tiv fiou).

Everywhere else, both in OT (1 Ch 282, Is 66', La 2', Ps 99' 110' 132', in all of which it is tr" of chi-i Dig, the word 013 bein" poet, or late) and NT (Mt 5", Mk 123«, Lk 20«, Ac 2^ 7■'^ He 1'^ 10'», all iTroTrdSiov tuv iroSuv, tr^ by RV with strict accuracy ' footstool of my [thv, his] feet' instead of AV 'my [tliy, his] footstool'),* it is used metaphorically.

Originally '}T Diri, spoken of God, seems to have designated the ark, 1 Ch 28^, but was naturally extended to include the wliole of the temple. La 2' (see notes of Thenius and Lolir), Ps 99» 132' (cf. Is 60", Ezk 43'). In Ps 110' tlie vanquished foes of the Messianic King are put as a footstool under His feet. In Is 66' earth is the footstool of Him whose throne is heaven. J. A. Selbie.