"Worship"

[cizz]

Okay, I'm doing some studying on what the word 'worship' means and all the things that can be associated with it: actions, feelings, etc..., things that are viewed as forms, acts and methods of worship.

To start with I have looked at every Strong's number for the different words and meanings of 'worship'

For any that would like these reference #'s: (H is for Hebrew, G is for Greek)

H  7812,  H  6087,  H  5457

G  4352,  G  4576,  G  1391,  G  3000,  G  2151,  G  1479

[cizz]

Biblical Word of the Month - Worship


By: Jeff A. Benner

http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/emagazine/013.html

Webster’s Dictionary defines "worship" as;

1. The reverent love and devotion accorded a deity, an idol, or a sacred object.

2. The ceremonies, prayers, or other religious forms by which this love is expressed.


As I have stated many times but worth repeating, when we read the Old Testament/Tenach we must define our words from a Hebraic perspective, not English. Unfortunately, when we see the word "worship" in the Bible we automatically assume the above definition causing miss-interpretation of the Biblical text.


If I asked the average Christian/Jew/Messianic, "Is it okay to worship a man?" The answer would be, "Absolutely not, we are only to worship God.".


The first question we must ask is, "What is the Hebrew word behind the English word ‘worship’ and what does it mean?" Below are a couple of verses in English using the word "worship".


Genesis 24:26 And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the LORD.


1 Samuel 15:31 So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped the LORD.


Psalm 29:2 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.


In each of these verses the Hebrew word behind the English word "worship" is "shahhah" (the hh is pronounced hard like the ch in the name Bach). This Hebrew word appears 172 times in the Biblical text but is only translated as "worship" 99 times in the KJV. Below are some other translations of this same word.


Gen 27:29 Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee


In this passage other nations will bow down/worship the descendents of Jacob.


Exo 18:7 And Moses went out to meet his father in law, and did obeisance, and kissed him; and they asked each other of [their] welfare; and they came into the tent.


In this passage Moses bowed down/worshiped his father-in-law.


1 Kings 1:53 So king Solomon sent, and they brought him [Adonijah] down from the altar. And he came and bowed himself to king Solomon: and Solomon said unto him, Go to thine house.


In this passage Adonijah was found righteous when he bowed down/worshiped Solomon.


Whenever the Hebrew word "shahhah" is used as an action toward God, the translators translate this word as "worship". But, whenever this same Hebrew word is used as an action toward another man, the translators translate this word as "obeisance", "to bow" or "bow down". As you can see, the translators are preventing the reader from viewing the text in its proper Hebraic context. The literal meaning of the Hebrew word "shahhah" can be seen in Numbers 22:31 - "and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face". "shahhah" means to bow down with the face to the ground.


The concept of "worship" as defined by Webster’s dictionary is not Hebraic in any way and is not found in the Bible. We would be better off to remove the idea of "worship" from our Biblical vocabulary and replace it with "bow down". The only true way to bow down/worship God or a man from a true Hebraic perspective is to bow down with the face to the ground. Of course, this concept of bowing is an eastern custom that is not practiced in our western culture.

[cizz]

ANALYSIS OF THE VARIOUS GREEK WORDS

TRANSLATED AS WORSHIP

A study of the Greek nouns and verbs translated worship in the New Testament should assist individuals in their search to understand the biblical concept of worship. Believers must learn to reevaluate and reinterpret what has been handed down to them concerning the subject of worship. Nevertheless, the traditions of the church make it difficult, if not impossible, for many to read the Bible on this subject. In fact, a high percentage of the Christian’s theology has been passed on to them by teachers who learned them many years earlier. A consideration of the verbs and nouns in the teachings of Jesus and His chosen envoys will assist one’s understanding of worship.

Today, worship is generally identified as liturgy or ritual. In other words, worship is what one participates in on Sunday morning or Sunday evening. If one does not engage in a prearranged set of acts—singing, praying, preaching, communing, and giving—then one has not worshipped, according to many Christians. Such things as love, service, outreach, and fellowship are seldom associated with spiritual worship.

Since the Holy Spirit employs a number of words to convey what worship is, then an analysis of each word should help to shed the extra baggage attached to the English word worship.[2] In the New Testament, five verbs and three nouns radiate some light concerning worship. The verbs are: sevbomai (sebomai), sebavzomai (sebazomai), latreuvw (latreuw), eujsebevw (eusebew), and proskunevw (proskunew). The nouns are: sevbasma (sebasma), ejqeloqrhskeiva (et&elot&rhskeia), and qrhskeiva (t&rhskeia). The objective of this essay is to identify the various Greek words in their Classical Greek background, the Septuagint Greek usage, and the New Testament practice.

http://www.freedominchrist.net/sermons/worship/chapter%2010--worship--an%20analysis%20of%20the%20various%20greek%20words--part%201%20of%202.htm

[cizz]

Classical Greek: Sebomai

       In Classical Greek, the root seb (seb) meant originally “to step back from someone or something, to maintain a distance.”[3] The ideas associated with words built from this root convey the following definitions: “trepidation raging from shame, through wonder, to something approaching fear.”[4] Günther summarizes the various definitions in his article:

Sevbomai (sebomai), to reverence, shrink back in fear, worship; sebavzomai (sebazomai), show religious reverence, worship; sevbosma (sebosma), object of religious reverence, holy thing, sanctuary; eujsebevw (eusebew), reverence, be devout; eujsevbeia (eusebeia), devoutness, piety, fear of God, religion; euvsebhv'" (eusebhs), God-fearing, devout, pious; qeosevbeia (t&osebeia), fear of God, reverence for God, devoutness; qeosebhv" (t&eosebhs), devout, God-fearing;  ajsevbeia (asebeia), impiety, godlessness;  ajsebhv" (asebhs), godless, impious; semnov" (semnos), honourable, worthy of reverence, venerable, holy; semnovth" (semnoths), honourableness, dignity, holiness.[5]

Words from the stem seb are frequent in classical Greek and carry the idea of devoutness and religiousness. This devoutness does not carry the same connotation as in the Bible; that is, a committed obedience to a single, personally conceived God. With the Greeks, it was simply a holy anxiety, awe, or veneration called forth by the grandeur in things, men, or deities. In the Classical age, sebomai applied to objects as well as to men or to the gods. Further, it could also apply to one’s country, a landscape, dreams, parents, heroes, the dead, and so on.[6] For the Greeks those worthy of reverence were not only members of one’s own household but also their gods and laws.

Since the word sebomai conveys ethical behavior, a comparison between the positive form (sebomai) and the negative form (asebomai) enhances one’s appreciation and perception of this word. The purpose of this correlation is to enhance the ethical ideas associated with sebomai. Whenever one considers the negative aspect of a word, the negative often brings out the positive more forcefully. For instance, if a man was a misfit in the community or antisocial, he received the name ajsebhv" (asebhs, “godless,” “impious”). Paul, too, employed this word in his letter to the Romans. “He writes: However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked (ajsebh', asebh), his faith is credited as righteousness” (Romans 4:5).[7]

The Greek word is from aj (a) plus sevbomai (sebomai), which means, impious, ungodly, wicked, and sinful. Again, one observes Paul’s use of this word in Romans 5:6: “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly (ajsebw'n, asebwn).” Thus, the word asebomai has “an ethical and religious content.”[8] In other words, an individual that was asebhs was placed side by side with a[diko" (adikos, “unjust”); adikos is employed to describe the individual that is doing contrary to what is right. Adikos was that point of one’s behavior that was against the ordinances of the state, while, on the other hand, asebhs describes conduct against the gods.

            The Complete Biblical Library summarizes the Classical Greek usage of sevbomai (sebomai) with the following succinct definition:

In both the active and middle forms,[9] this verb denotes the act of “worshiping, revering,” or “the sense of awe, fear,” usually in a religious sense. Nonetheless, it is also applied to esteemed persons such as parents (Liddell-Scott). Essentially, though, the middle form means “to worship, fear” when directed to an individual. The religious connotations tend to dominate.[10]

http://www.freedominchrist.net/sermons/worship/chapter%2010--worship--an%20analysis%20of%20the%20various%20greek%20words--part%201%20of%202.htm

[me2lord]

Heb 12:28  Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;

 

In Christ's love

[cizz]

Excerpt: http://www.freedominchrist.net/sermons/worship/chapter%2010--worship--an%20analysis%20of%20the%20various%20greek%20words--part%201%20of%202.htm

New Testament Greek: Sebomai

Sebomai is also employed by Luke in narrating the story of Lydia and her household: “One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper (sebomevnh, sebomenh[17]) of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message” (Acts 16:14). Because of her worship, she met with others who also honored God. She did not go to worship, but rather, she praised God because of her reverence, or respect for God. In order for one to see at a glance all of the occurrences of this word sebomai in the New Testament, the following citations are cited in full for one’s observation:

They worship (sevbontai, sebontai[18]) me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men (Matthew 15:9).

When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout (sebomevnwn, sebomenwn[19]) converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God (Acts 13:43).

But the Jews incited the God-fearing (sebomevna", sebomenas[20]) women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region (Acts 13:50).

One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper (sebomevnh, sebomenh[21]) of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message (Acts 16:14).

Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing (sebomevnwn, sebomenwn[22]) Greeks and not a few prominent women (Acts 17:4).

So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing (sebomevnoi", sebomenois[23]) Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there (Acts 17:17).

Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper (sebomevnou, sebomenou[24]) of God (Acts 18:7).

“This man,” they charged, “is persuading the people to worship (sevbesqai, sebest&ai[25]) God in ways contrary to the law” (Acts 18:13).

There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited, and the goddess herself, who is worshiped (sevbetai, sebetai[26]) throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty (Acts 19:27).

 

Not one of the above Scriptures relate to a “worship service.” One was a worshiper of God whether in a synagogue or home or marketplace. This worship had to do with choice—serving God or others. It is significant that this word sebomai is never employed in reference to five acts carried out on Sunday morning.

[cizz]

Heb 12:28  Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;

 

In Christ's love

Amen! Thank you for adding this sister!   

[me2lord]

Heb 12:28  Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;

 

In Christ's love

Amen! Thank you for adding this sister!   

It is wonderful to know today we show our gratitude to Our Lord by being kind to one another in reverence to the Lord and our standing in awe of him , is really a beautiful thing is happening when we do this...I love it...lol