13. To Worship, Serve

 
The word of most frequent use for worship is προσκυνέω, from πρός and κυνέω, ‘to fawn or crouch' and ‘to kiss.' Its first use in scripture is in Gen. 18:22And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, (Genesis 18:2) (LXX), when Abraham prostrates himself on the ground. See also chapter 19:1. Job 31:2727And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand: (Job 31:27) may have reference to an act of worship. It takes in (as ‘worship' once did in English, see 1 Chron. 29:2020And David said to all the congregation, Now bless the Lord your God. And all the congregation blessed the Lord God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads, and worshipped the Lord, and the king. (1 Chronicles 29:20)) all acts of outward honor, such as kneeling, prostration, which were paid to kings and other superiors, as well as to a divine person, or one regarded as such: compare Matt. 18:2626The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. (Matthew 18:26); Acts 7:43; 10:2543Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon. (Acts 7:43)
25And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him. (Acts 10:25); Rev. 3:99Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. (Revelation 3:9); John 4:22, 2322Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. (John 4:22‑23); Rev. 13:12, 15; 16:2; 19:1012And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. (Revelation 13:12)
15And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. (Revelation 13:15)
2And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image. (Revelation 16:2)
10And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. (Revelation 19:10); &c. So that the word in itself does not determine whether the homage is rendered as to God (which is its most constant use) or not. It might in most passages be translated "do homage."
λατρεύω is another word three times translated 'worship,' of which however the usual rendering is to serve.' Connected as the word is with λάτρον, ‘hire,' its original force is ‘serving for hire,' not of compulsion like a slave. But Biblical Greek has raised the word, with its substantive λατρεία, ‘service,' to higher use, so as never to express any other service but that of God, or of false gods. Thus it most fully answers to the present sense of worship,' and all true service partakes of this character. The Lord meets Satan's proffer of the kingdoms of the world ― "if thou wilt fall down and worship (προσκ.) me” ―with "it is written, Thou shalt worship (προσκ.) the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve (λατρεύω)," thus using both words. Matt. 4:9, 109And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. (Matthew 4:9‑10).
Compare, as to the force of λατρεύω, Luke 1:7474That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, (Luke 1:74); Acts 7:7; 24:147And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come forth, and serve me in this place. (Acts 7:7)
14But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets: (Acts 24:14) (worship); Heb. 9:14; 12:2814How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:14)
28Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: (Hebrews 12:28); Rev. 7:15; 22:315Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. (Revelation 7:15)
3And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: (Revelation 22:3): for the worship of idols, Acts 7:4242Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness? (Acts 7:42); Rom. 1:2525Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. (Romans 1:25). It is applied also to the services connected with the first covenant, Luke 2:3737And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. (Luke 2:37); Acts 26:77Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope's sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews. (Acts 26:7); Rom. 9:44Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; (Romans 9:4); and Heb. 9:1, 61Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. (Hebrews 9:1)
6Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. (Hebrews 9:6) (λατρεία), with the omission in the original of divine ' and of God' (as if no longer to be recognized as such), obtruded in each case in the A. V. See also Heb. 8:5; 10:25Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount. (Hebrews 8:5)
2For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. (Hebrews 10:2) (' worshippers '); 13:10. Other passages are Phi. 3:3; Acts 27:2323For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, (Acts 27:23); Rom. 1:99For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers; (Romans 1:9); 2 Tim. 1:33I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day; (2 Timothy 1:3); Rom. 12:11I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. (Romans 12:1), and, in total contrast, John 16:22They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. (John 16:2) (λατρεία). These are almost all the occurrences.
Worship' is also given as the rendering of two words used in Acts 17 In verse 23 it is for εὐσεβέω, with which may be compared the adjective εὐσεβής ‘devout,' chap. 10:2, 7, and 22:12 and the substantive εὐσέβεια so often found as ‘godliness,' or perhaps better ‘piety' in the Pastoral Epistles and 2 Peter. It embraces not only the reverence well (εὖ) and rightly directed to God, but similarly to parents and others, though the first is the general use of the forms of the word in scripture. It may be rendered in Acts 17:2323For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. (Acts 17:23) "whom therefore ye reverence, not knowing (him)."
θεραπεύω (from θεράπων, ‘an attendant') in Acts 17:2525Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; (Acts 17:25) is ‘to serve,' ‘render service to' (A. V. ‘worship'), constantly used for curing and healing in the gospels; it is nowhere else translated ‘worship.'
One more word, used in this address of Paul in its substantival form, σέβασμα, ‘devotions,' Acts 17:2323For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. (Acts 17:23); and 2 Thess. 2:44Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. (2 Thessalonians 2:4), "that is worshipped," leads us to the only passage where the verb occurs, σεβάζομαι, ‘worship,' Rom. 1:2525Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. (Romans 1:25), which is from σέβας, ‘reverence' or ‘awe.' The substantive expresses the object of veneration, altar, image, or shrine, in heathenism, and not ‘devotions,' which has ceased to have this meaning in modern English.