Bible Lexicons

Girdlestone's Synonyms of the Old TestamentGirdlestone's OT Synonyms

Worship

Two classes of words are put together in this chapter. First, there are those adopted in Scripture to set forth man's public and private expression of his dependence on God, and of his thankfulness to the Being who 'giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not;' Prayer and praise are uniformly regarded in Scripture as actions well-pleasing to God; they are based on an acknowledgment of his Personality, of his greatness, and of his power and willingness to interfere in the temporal and spiritual affairs of men. Secondly, there are the words by which the Hebrews set forth the mode of conveying truth from man to man in each case there is something of that pictorial power to which attention has been called in previous chapters.

The word worship is the general representative of the Hebrew Shachah (שׁחה ), and of the Greek; προσκυνει̂ν. The following are the only exceptions: - The Chaldean word Segid (סגד ) is used in Daniel 2:46, where we read that the king prostrated himself before Daniel, and commanded that they should offer sweet odours and an oblation unto him; it is also used throughout the third chapter for the prostration or worship which was to be offered to the image of gold. Atsav (עצב ) is found in Jeremiah 44:19, where it appears to signify the fashioning of cakes as images of 'the queen of heaven.' The words 'did we make her cakes to worship her?' might be rendered 'did we make her cakes to represent her?' in 2 Kings 10:1-36. the word used for the worshippers of Baal is Eved, which signifies a servant or slave.

Shachah originally signified prostration as a mark of respect, and is applied in Scripture not only to God and to false gods, but also to men, just as the English word 'worship' is used of the husband's reverence for his wife in the marriage service of the English Church, and is retained as a title of respect for a civil magistrate. Shachah is also rendered in the A. V. by the words bow, stoop, crouch, fall down, beseech humbly, make obeisance, and do reverence. It is used of Abraham's reverent prostration before his three angelic visitors (Genesis 18:2), and of his obeisance before the Hittites (Genesis 23:7; Genesis 23:12); it occurs in the blessing which Isaac gave to Jacob, 'Let nations bow down to thee: let thy mother's sons bow down to thee' (Genesis 27:29); Jacob himself bows down or prostrates seven times on meeting Esau (Genesis 33:3; Genesis 33:6-7); Joseph dreams that be receives this worship from his parents and brethren (Genesis 37:10), and he does receive it (Genesis 42:6). See also Genesis 48:12; Genesis 49:8; Exodus 11:8; Ruth 2:10; 1 Samuel 20:41; 1 Samuel 24:8.

In Genesis 47:31 we read that Israel bowed himself (worshipped or prostrated) on the bed's head, or, according to the LXX, as quoted in Hebrews 11:21, on the top of his staff. Various explanations are given of this statement. The difference between the LXX and the Hebrew depends not up on the letters, but up on the vowel points. on comparing the passage with others in which the same verb is used with the same preposition in Hebrew and in the LXX, it will be seen that the top of the rod was not that which he leaned upon, as might seem to be implied by the italics in the A. V., but that which he touched with his forehead in the act of prostration; and the only question remains, whether the worship thus offered was directed to Joseph, in fulfilment of the dream and in reverence for his high office, or whether it was directed to God, in accordance with whose promise Jacob exacted an oath from Joseph concerning the transmission of his bones to Canaan; or finally, whether by faith he saw in Joseph a type or foreshadowing of the true deliverer of the people. De Sacy, in his French version, gives an interpretation to which Calv in is very much inclined also. Bearing in mind the Egyptian custom of carrying a staff of authority, suc has may still be seen graven on the walls of the ancient temples, he holds that Jacob bowed to the staff which Joseph bore in his hand, and there by recognised his son's secular authority and fulfilled the dream of Joseph.

Turning to the more directly religious use of the word Shachah, it may be observed that the worship of God was to be carried out by the people themselves, and was not done for them by the priest. It was not only to consist of outward prostration, suc has they offered as a mark of reverence to one another, or suc has the heathen offered to their false gods, but was to be accompanied by the devotion of the heart. The annual keeping of the three feasts was considered a mark of worship (1 Samuel 1:3). See also 1 Samuel 15:25; 2 Samuel 12:20; 2 Kings 18:22; Psalms 5:7; Psalms 29:2; Psalms 132:7; Psalms 138:2; Isaiah 27:13.

Reverent worship was to be offered in later days to the Messiah, as seems evident from Psalms 22:27, 'All the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee;' verse 29, 'All they that be fat up on earth shall eat and worship; all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him;' Psalms 45:11, 'He is thy lord; and worship thou him ;' Isaiah 49:7, 'Thus saith the Lord, . to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord.'

With regard to the heathen, the prophet's assurance is not only that their old worship is evil, but that 'Men shall worship God, everyone from his own place, even all the isles of the heathen' (Zephaniah 2:11). Each man, whether in this mountain or in that, was to render true allegiance to God. and this prediction is fully consistent with others which speak of all going up to Jerusalem and to the temple of the Lord to worship, as in Isaiah 66:20-23; Ezekiel 46:2-9; Zechariah 14:16-17.

NT Teaching

The witness of the N.T. is very interesting in connection with the prophetic passages cited above We find, for instance, that our Lord received worship from the Magi (Matthew 2:8; Matthew 2:11), from the leper (Matthew 8:2), from the ruler (Matthew 9:18), from his disciples after He had calmed the storm (Matthew 14:33), from the Canaanitish woman (Matthew 15:25), from Salome (Matthew 20:20), from the blind man (John 9:38), and from his disciples after his resurrection (Matthew 28:9; Matthew 28:17). It has been thought that this was only civil worship, and that it was paid to Jesus as a mark of respect or gratitude. But was it so in all eases? Did not the man whose eyes had been opened by Jesus Christ mean something more than civil worship when he prostrated himself before Him on hearing that He was the son of God? Did not the disciples mean something more than civil worship when they bowed before their risen Lord? and it may be fairly asked whether the Lord would have permitted it to be paid to Him unless He were worthy to receive it? Surely not. He would have said, as Peter did to Cornelius when he fell at his feet and worshipped, 'St and up, for I also am a man' (Acts 10:26). He would have said, as the angel did to St. John, when acting in the same way, 'See thou do it not, for I am thy fellow servant: worship God' (Revelation 19:10; Revelation 22:9). The truth is that in receiving worship from men, the Lord Jesus Christ was assuming to Himself the right of the First Begotten, of whom the Lord had said, 'Let all the angels of God worship him' (Hebrews 1:6). Compare Revelation 5:11-14, where there is an ascription of 'Blessing and honour and glory and power for ever and ever to him that sitteth on the throne and to the Lamb.'

Various instances of worship or adoration are found in the N.T in addition to the passages now referred to. When Satan tempted the Lord to fall down and worship him, the answer given from Deuteronomy 6:13 was, 'Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.' Evidently stress is here laid on the word worship, and yet when we turn to the Hebrew and to the LXX in the passage in question, we find 'Thou shalt fear,' &c. Worship, then, is regarded by our Lord as the expression of reverential fear; and what Satan called for was recognised as an act of that kind which should only be offered to God.

In our Lord's conversation with the woman of Samaria, the word προσκυνει̂ν occurs nine times in the course of five verses, and the true principle of worship is clearly enunciated. The spirituality of worship, however, was not intended to supersede all external forms in religion, as may be shown by the fact that the worship of God, as manifested in outward prostration, is referred to in later times (see 1 Corinthians 14:25; Revelation 4:10; Revelation 5:14; Revelation 19:10). The movements of the body may therefore still be allowed to represent outwardly the feelings of the spirit. External ceremonial is not done away with in the present dispensation, though its relative importance is considerably reduced, and every place is hallowed ground.

The word σέβομαι, answering to yara (ירא ), to fear, is occasionally found in the LXX, and is used several times in the Acts (never in the Epistles), generally with reference to outsiders who had been led to look with reverence on the God of Israel. See Acts 13:43; Acts 13:50; Acts 16:14; Acts 17:4; Acts 17:17; Acts 18:7; Acts 18:13; Acts 19:27.

The word δόξα is used in Luke 14:10, where the A. V. has 'Thou shalt have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee.' this rendering is as old as Coverdale, but Tyndale's rendering 'praise' is better, and 'glory' would be still more literal. See R. V.