Bowing before someone
The first word is a bow, and it is a bigger word than English makes it sound. In Hebrew it is שָׁחָה (shachah, shah-KHAH). It means to bow down or prostrate oneself. To prostrate yourself is to lie stretched out face down on the ground. In Greek the matching word is προσκυνέω (proskuneō, pros-koo-NEH-oh). It also means to bow down or prostrate oneself; it can include going to your knees or touching the ground with your forehead. Its older associations include kissing toward someone to show honor, though the passages here do not describe a kiss. The Greek Old Testament uses proskuneō very often to translate shachah.
Neither word says who is being honored or why. They say the body goes low. How low depends on the passage. When Joseph's brothers came before him in Egypt, they bowed with their faces to the ground (Genesis 42:6).
Abraham shows the other end of the range. When he went to buy a burial place for Sarah:
Genesis 23:7 (BSB) Then Abraham rose and bowed down before the people of the land, the Hittites.
Read Genesis 23:7 in your Bible.
The text does not say how low he went. The United Bible Societies' handbook on Genesis says it means bending forward from the hips, more than a nod of the head. Either way, nobody reads this as Abraham worshiping the Hittites. It was courtesy toward the people he was dealing with. The BSB, ESV, NIV, and KJV all simply say he bowed.
Now look at Matthew. Visitors find the child they had been looking for:
Matthew 2:11 (BSB) On coming to the house, they saw the Child with His mother Mary, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.
Read Matthew 2:11 in your Bible.
The BSB says worshiped, but the word Matthew wrote is proskuneō, the bow. Young's Literal Translation says “they bowed to him.” Matthew has already told us why they came: they were looking for the King of the Jews (Matthew 2:2). Falling down before a king was how a king was honored. Reading worshiped as though it meant they already knew Jesus as God adds something Matthew does not tell us. That takes nothing away from who Jesus is. It keeps us reading only what the text says.
So one word covers everything from a deep bend at the waist to lying face down on the ground, and it can mean courtesy toward a neighbor or honor toward a king. The passage tells us which. In English, bow can sound like a nod and worship can sound like singing in a service. The original word describes a body lowered before someone.
When the bow is aimed at God
Scripture also shows people bowing before God.
Psalm 95:6-7 (BSB, excerpt) O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, the sheep under His care.
Read Psalm 95:6-7 in your Bible.
The reason is right in the verse: He is our God, and we are His people. A body lowered to the ground says, “You made me, and I belong to You.” That is submission. It is acknowledging that He is over us. This is not only an Old Testament practice. The twenty-four elders fall down before the One seated on the throne (Revelation 4:10), and every knee will bow at the name of Jesus (Philippians 2:10).
To bow to Him is to call Him Lord. Jesus tells us what that involves:
Luke 6:46 (BSB) Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ but do not do what I say?
Read Luke 6:46 in your Bible.
Putting ourselves under His authority means doing what He says. That is the meaning behind the bow.
When Satan asks for the bow
Satan wants what the psalm gives to God. He shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and says they are His if Jesus will fall down before him.
Matthew 4:9-10 (BSB) “All this I will give You,” he said, “if You will fall down and worship me.” “Away from Me, Satan!” Jesus told him. “For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”
Read Matthew 4:9-10 in your Bible.
To fall down before Satan as master is to say, “You are my lord.” That is not courtesy like Abraham's, and it is not honor for a king like the wise men's. It is handing Satan the place that belongs to God. Jesus answers from Deuteronomy, and He names two things: proskuneō, the bow, and λατρεύω (latreuō, lah-TREW-oh), serving. Both go to the Lord your God, and the serving is for Him alone. The BSB renders the first as worship and the second as serve. Young's Literal Translation says “bow to” and “serve,” which makes the two easier to see.
Jesus is not saying all bowing is wrong. He is saying this bow, the one that says “You are Lord,” belongs to God alone.
What this looks like for us
To bow before the Lord is to lower yourself before Him. The picture the word gives is a body brought low: on your knees, even face down. It means being humble before Him and acknowledging Him as your Lord and Savior, the One who is over your life. A bowed head and folded hands are not wrong, but they are not the picture the word gives. And because this bow says “You are Lord,” it is not something we give to anyone or anything in His place.
Dig deeper: the bow in other passages
Job lost his children and everything he owned in one day, and he fell to the ground and bowed before God (Job 1:20). The Hebrew uses shachah. In Revelation 11:16 the elders fall on their faces before God; the Greek uses proskuneō.
Jacob bows to the ground seven times as he approaches his brother Esau (Genesis 33:3). It is the same Hebrew word, shachah, and it is a bow to a brother, not to God.
Cornelius falls at Peter's feet in Acts 10:25, using the Greek word proskuneō. Peter lifts him up and says he is only a man. Bowing to people was common, and Peter does not accept it as his due.
People bow to Jesus throughout Matthew (8:2; 9:18; 14:33; 15:25; 28:9). Each time, read what the person says and believes just before and after. The word gives the action, and the passage tells us more.
In John 4:20-24, the Samaritan woman raises the dispute about where people should approach God. Jesus uses proskuneō while speaking of approaching the Father “in spirit and in truth.” His answer moves the focus from rival sacred places to the Father and the truth of the approach.
Serving God
At the burning bush, God tells Moses what will happen after Israel leaves Egypt:
Exodus 3:12 (BSB) “I will surely be with you,” God said, “and this will be the sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, all of you will worship God on this mountain.”
Read Exodus 3:12 in your Bible.
The Hebrew word is עָבַד (ʿabad, ah-VAHD). It means to work or serve. Israel had been forced to work for Pharaoh. Now God says what they will do for Him. The BSB and NIV say worship. The ESV, KJV, and YLT say serve. Either way, God is the one they will serve, but worship hides the action: they will serve Him on this mountain.
Paul uses a close relative of latreuō when he urges believers to respond to God's mercy:
Romans 12:1 (BSB) Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
Read Romans 12:1 in your Bible.
The Greek word is λατρεία (latreia, lah-TRAY-ah), which means service. The BSB's service of worship is one Greek word, not two. The ESV says spiritual worship, the KJV says reasonable service, and YLT says intelligent service. Paul asks believers to give their bodies to God, and what follows describes a life: renewed thinking, humble use of gifts, sincere love, and care for others.
A bow says, “You are Lord.” Serving is doing what the Lord says.
What this looks like for us
To serve the Lord is to do what He says. It means living the way He wants us to live, every day and not one hour a week. It means following Him as a disciple, learning from Him and being shaped by Him, and letting others see Him in how we live. And it means loving people and caring for them, using what we have been given to help them, because that is the life Paul describes right after he calls us to serve.
Dig deeper: service in its setting
ʿAbad can describe work for a human master as well as service to God. In Exodus 3:12 it is the word for what Israel will do on the mountain.
Latreuō can describe service offered to God. Hebrews 9:14 says Christ cleanses the conscience so people may serve the living God. Human service does not complete His sacrifice. It is the response of people He has cleansed.
Hebrews 12:28 puts serving and reverence in one sentence. The BSB says to “worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.” The Greek word behind worship there is latreuō, serving, and the KJV says “serve God acceptably.”
In Acts 13:2 the BSB says the believers were “worshiping the Lord and fasting.” The Greek word there is λειτουργέω (leitourgeō, lay-toor-GEH-oh), which means ministry or service to Him.
Reverence for God
The third word is reverence. In Greek it is σέβομαι (sebomai, SEH-boh-my). It means to hold someone in deep respect and awe. The Hebrew word with the same sense is יָרֵא (yare, yah-RAY), which means to fear or revere.
A bow is something the body does, and serving is something the hands do. Reverence lives in the heart. It is what we truly think of God and how seriously we take Him. We cannot fake it, because He sees it.
1 Samuel 16:7 (BSB, excerpt) The LORD does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the LORD sees the heart.
Read 1 Samuel 16:7 in your Bible.
Hebrews 4:13 (BSB) Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
Read Hebrews 4:13 in your Bible.
People can see our words, our posture, and whether we show up. God sees what is underneath. A person can bow and serve where others can see. Only reverence is between us and God alone, and it is what gives the bow and the service their meaning.
What does real reverence look like? God tells us through Isaiah:
Isaiah 66:2 (BSB, excerpt) “This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at My word.”
Read Isaiah 66:2 in your Bible.
The person God esteems is not the one with the most impressive words. It is the one who is humble and takes what God says seriously enough to tremble at it.
We see it in Lydia:
Acts 16:14-15 (BSB) Among those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.
Read Acts 16:14-15 in your Bible.
The BSB calls Lydia “a worshiper of God.” The Greek word is sebomai. The label does not describe a particular religious act she was doing when Paul met her. It describes a woman who held God in deep respect. As Paul spoke, she listened. When the Lord opened her heart, she responded, was baptized, and opened her home. Her reverence listened, responded, and acted.
Reverence can also be empty, and Jesus said so. He had just answered leaders who criticized His disciples for skipping a handwashing tradition. He pointed out that these same leaders let people declare their money a gift to God and then refuse to use it to care for their parents, setting aside God's command to honor father and mother (Matthew 15:1-7). Then He quoted Isaiah:
Matthew 15:8-9 (BSB) ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’
Read Matthew 15:8-9 in your Bible.
The word for worship here is sebomai again. These leaders said the right things, but they taught their own rules as though they came from God, and those rules undid what God had actually said. God saw past their lips to their hearts. Their reverence was words only. Lydia's was a life.
What this looks like for us
Reverence lives in your heart, where God sees it, and you cannot hide it from Him. It is not an act, and it is not something you put on for other people. It is not something you go to church to do. It is inside you, wherever you are. It shows in how you treat His word: humbly, listening, and trembling at it. Without it, the bow and the service are only motions. With it, they mean something.
Dig deeper: the English word covers still more
Luke uses sebomai the same way for Titus Justus, who lived next door to the synagogue where Paul had been teaching. The BSB calls him “a worshiper of God” (Acts 18:7), as do the ESV and NIV. An English reader may hear someone performing a religious act. Luke is describing a man who respected God.
A chapter earlier, in Acts 17:17, the BSB uses “God-fearing Gentiles” for people described with another form of sebomai. The ESV says devout persons, and the NIV says God-fearing Greeks. In Acts 13:43 the BSB says devout converts. These all fit their settings, but they show that worshiper alone does not tell us what sebomai means.
Acts 17:23 uses worship twice in the BSB. The first is σέβασμα (sebasma, seh-BAHS-mah), a revered object. The second is εὐσεβέω (eusebeō, yoo-seh-BEH-oh), to practice religious devotion. Paul sees the Athenians' objects and tells them about the God they do not know. Their religious activity was not enough to know Him.
Jonah says, “I worship the LORD” (Jonah 1:9). The Hebrew is yare, to fear or revere. Jonah says he reveres the maker of sea and land while running from Him across the sea.
These examples are a beginning. The Worship page in The Word shows the BSB wording, the original word, the context, and what is lost in each of its 222 verses. It also marks places where worship is added to an English phrase rather than translated from a single word.
Why we go back to the original words
We use the BSB because it is readable, generally literal, and in the public domain, so we can show full passages. But no translation is perfect, and the BSB is no exception. It uses worship for the bow, for serving, and for reverence. Other versions make different choices: the ESV, KJV, and YLT say serve where the BSB says worship, and YLT says bowed where most say worshiped. The inerrancy we hold to belongs to the writings God inspired, not to any English translation.
Familiar words also carry assumptions. The King James translators were told to keep traditional church words, and one rule said church was not to be translated congregation, though the Greek word ἐκκλησία (ekklēsia, ek-klay-SEE-ah) means an assembly of people. That is why we check the original word and read the passage around it.
Where do you land now?
At the start, we asked what you would say worship means. Since then, we've seen that English folds several biblical words into one: words for a bow, for serving, and for reverence. Each is something a person does toward God, and He sees the heart behind it.
So go back to your answer. Does it still hold? What would you add, and what would you let go? When you think of worship, is it something you go to or something you do? Is it an hour on Sunday or a way of living? When you gather with others, what are you doing for one another? How much of that time is spent in Scripture, learning what it means and how Jesus has asked us to live? And what does the rest of your week look like?
Take your time with these. The next study will follow believers into their gatherings and ask what they actually did when they came together. What we find may change how you answer.