Bible Lexicons

";do obeisance to,"; ";worship,"; used generally of a god, as P Flor III. 332.11 (i/i A.D.) καὶ οὔ [τε ἐ ]λουσάμην [οὔ ]τε προσεκύνησα θεοὺς φοβουμένη σου το ̣̣ μετέωρον. In Ptolemaic inscrr. the verb is construed with the acc., never the dat, as often in the NT (see Proleg., p. 64), e.g. OGIS 184.5 (i/ B.C.) προσκεκύνηκα τὴν μεγίστην θεὰν κυρίαν Σώτειραν Ἷσιν.

P Giss I. 11.14 (A.D. 118) (= Chrest. I. p. 523) ἐπ <ε >ὶ ἐγὼ οὐ πάρειμει προσκυνῆσαί σε τὸν τιμιώτατον, ib. 17.11 (a slave to her master—time of Hadrian) (= Chrest. I. p. 566) ὤφελον εἰ ἐδυνάμεθα πέτασθαι καὶ ἐλθεῖν καὶ προσκυνῆσαί σε, BGU II. 423.15 (ii/A.D.) (= Selections, p. 91) ἵνα σου προσκυνήσω τὴν χεραν, and P Tebt II. 286.22 (A.D. 121–138) προσκυνεῖ [ν ] ὀφείλοντες τὰς ἀναγνῳ [σ ]θείσας τοῦ θεοῦ Τ [ρ ]αιανοῦ. . . ἀποφ [ά ]σεις, ";as we are bound to respect the rescripts of the deified Trajan"; (Edd.) are exx. of προσκυνέω with an object other than a god, though the last instance falls little short.

Often the verb is without object. Thus P Par 49.32 (before B.C. 161 or 160) (= UPZ i. p. 309) ἐ [ὰ ]ν ἀναβῶ κἀγὼ προσκυνῆσαι —a very close parallel to Acts 24:11 : Syll 807 (= .3 1173).2 (ii/A.D.) ἐχρημάτισεν (sc. Asclepius) ἐλθεῖν ἐπ [ὶ τὸ ] ἱερὸν ̣ βῆμα καὶ προσκυνῆσαι : P Tebt II. 416.7 (ii/A.D.) ἐγενάμην εἰς Ἀλεξάνδριαν προσ [κ ]υ ̣νῆσαι, ";I came to Alexandria to pray"; (Edd.). In MGr the meaning is weakened into ";honour,"; ";offer respects"; : see Thumb Handb. p. 352.

The subst. προσκύνημα, not in the NT, is used in in numerable pagan letters in the formula τὸ προσκύνημα σου ποιῶ παρὰ (τῷ δεῖνι) θεῷ and the like, e.g. BGU III. 846.2 (ii/A.D.) (= Selections, p. 93) τὸ προσκύνημά σου [ποι ]ῶ κατ᾽ αἱκάστην ἡμαίραν παρὰ τῷ κυρίῳ [Σερ ]άπειδει : cf. P Oxy III. 528.5 (ii/A.D.) τὸ προσκύνημά σου πυῶ παρὰ τῇ σε φιλούσῃ Θοήρι, ";I perform the act of veneration on your behalf to Thöeris who loves you"; (Edd.). For a possible ex. of προσκύνημα ποιέω occurring in a Christian letter, see ib. XIV. 1775.2 (iv/A.D.) τὸ προσκύνημά σου ποιῶ καθ᾽ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν παρὰ τῷ δεσπότῃ θεῷ ὅπως ὁλόκληρόν σε ἀπολάβω ̣ : see Ghedini Lettere, p. 254 f.

Προσκύνησις is is found in the late P Oxy I. 128 verso.13 (vi/vii A.D.) ἡγείσθω τῆς ἐπιστ [ο ]λῆς ἡ ἐποφειλομένη κατὰ χρέος προσκύνησις τῇ ὑμετέρᾳ ἐνδοξότητι, ";in the forefront of this letter we would place our due and fitting obeisance to your excellency"; (Edd.).