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NASB | Hebrews 1:6 And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, "AND LET ALL THE ANGELS OF GOD WORSHIP HIM." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Hebrews 1:6 And when He again brings the firstborn [highest-ranking Son] into the world, He says, "AND ALL THE ANGELS OF GOD ARE TO WORSHIP HIM." [Ps 97:7] |
Bible Question:
Jesus taught the christians to worship God our heavenly father but He did not tell the christians to praise and worship Him. How come now, the christians praise and worship Jesus? I would welcome your comments and the truth. With Love in Christ. fytrobert |
Bible Answer: A Study of the Word--by Truthseeker Hi FytRobert I have compiled a study of the word “Worship”. When I quote from the Greek Septuagint Version of the Bible, I use the Baxter edition and Charles Thomson edition. Please take the time and look up the cited verses but not quoted. (For space sake) What prompted this study is the verse found in Hebrews 1:6 which reads: “But when he again brings his First-born into the inhabited earth, he says: ‘And let all God’s angels worship him.’” The writer of Hebrews (Paul) is here quoting from Psalm 97:7, which reads (in part): “Bow down to him, all you gods.” The Septuagint Version, from which this writer evidently quoted, reads: “Worship Him all ye His angels.”—C. Thomson. These texts seem to raise a problem because they appear to conflict with Jesus’ plain statement to Satan the Devil: “It is written, ‘It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service.’” -- Matt 4:10. The Greek word rendered “worship” at Hebrews 1:6 is pro·sky·ne o. This Greek word is also used at Psalm 97:7 in the Septuagint to translate the Hebrew sha·hhah. What is the sense of these Hebrew and Greek terms? Sha·hhah means basically “to bow down.” (Prov. 12:25) Such bowing might be done as an act of respect toward another human, as to a king (1 Sam. 24:8; 2 Sam. 24:20) or a prophet. (2 Ki. 2:15) Abraham bowed down to the Canaanite sons of Heth from whom he sought to buy a burial place. (Gen. 23:7) Isaac’s blessing on Jacob called for national groups and Jacob’s own “brothers” to bow down to him.—Gen. 27:29; compare 49:8. From the above examples it is clear that this Hebrew term of itself does not necessarily have a religious sense or signify worship. Nevertheless, in a large number of cases it is used in connection with worship, either of the true God (Ex. 24:1; Ps. 95:6) or of false gods—Deut. 4:19; 8:19. Bowing down to humans as an act of respect was admissible, but bowing to anyone other than Jehovah as a deity was prohibited by God. (Ex. 23:24; 34:14) Similarly, the worshipful bowing down to religious images or to any created thing was positively condemned. (Ex. 20:4, 5; Lev. 26:1; Deut. 4:15-19) Thus, in the Hebrew Scriptures, when certain of Jehovah’s servants prostrated themselves before angels, they only did so as recognizing that these were God’s representatives, not as rendering obeisance to them as deities.—Josh. 5:13-15; Gen. 18:1-3. The Greek pro·sky·ne·o corresponds closely with the Hebrew sha·hhah as to conveying the thought of both obeisance to creatures and worship to God or a deity. While the manner of expressing the obeisance is perhaps not so prominent in pro·sky·ne·o as in sha·hhah, where the Hebrew term graphically conveys the thought of prostration or bowing down, some lexicographers suggest that originally the Greek term did emphatically portray this idea. As with the Hebrew term, the context must be considered to determine whether pro·sky·ne o refers to obeisance solely in the form of deep respect or obeisance in the form of religious worship. Where reference is directly to God (John 4:20-24; 1 Cor. 14:25) or to false gods and their idols (Acts 7:43; Rev. 9:20), it is evident that the obeisance goes beyond that acceptably or customarily rendered to men and enters the field of worship. So, too, where the object of the obeisance is left unstated, its being directed to God being understood. (John 12:20; Acts 8:27; Heb. 11:21) On the other hand, the action of those of the “synagogue of Satan” who are made to “come and do obeisance” before the feet of Christians is clearly not worship.—Rev. 3:9. Obeisance to a human king is found in Jesus’ illustration at Matthew 18:26. It is also evident that this was the kind of obeisance the astrologers rendered to the child Jesus, “born king of the Jews,” and also that Herod professed interest in expressing, and that the soldiers mockingly rendered to Jesus before his impalement. They clearly did not view Jesus as God or as a deity.—Matt. 2:2, 8; Mark 15:19. (Continued) |