Explainer / Word studies
שָׁחָה
Bowing down in the Tanakh
worshipped → bowed down
Why this word
Hishtachavah: prostration before kings, elders, angels, and Yehovah alike (Gen 23:7, 33:3; 1 Sam 24:8; 2 Sam 14:4). ASV already varies its rendering; make it consistent and reserve "worshiped" for Yehovah as object.
- Exodus 32:8
worshippedbowed down tothey have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made for themselves a molten calf, and have bowed down to it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, These are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- Exodus 34:14
worshipbow down to(for you shall bow down to no other god: for Yehovah, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God);
Why
Rendered 'bow down to', the same wording as Exod 20:5.
- Deuteronomy 4:19
worshipbow down toand lest you lift up your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them, and serve them, which Yehovah your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- Deuteronomy 8:19
worshipbow down toAnd it shall be, if you shall forget Yehovah your God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and bow down to them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish.
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- Deuteronomy 11:16
worshipbow down toTake heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside, and serve other gods, and bow down to them;
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- Deuteronomy 17:3
worshippedbowed down toand has gone and served other gods, and bowed down to them, or the sun, or the moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded,
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- Deuteronomy 29:26
worshippedbowed down toand went and served other gods, and bowed down to them, gods that they did not know, and that he had not given to them:
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- Deuteronomy 30:17
worshipbow down toBut if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but shall be drawn away, and bow down to other gods, and serve them;
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- Joshua 5:14
did worshipbowed downAnd he said, No; but as prince of the host of Yehovah I have now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, What does my lord say to his servant?
Why
Joshua before the prince of Yehovah's host. Rendered 'bowed down'.
- 1 Kings 1:23unchanged
And they told the king, saying, Behold, Nathan the prophet. And when he had come in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground.
Why
Nathan bows before King David. The Septuagint (3 Kingdoms 1:23) renders this verb with προσκυνέω, the verb rendered 'bow down' in the New Testament.
- 1 Kings 9:6
worshipbow down toBut if you turn away from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and bow down to them;
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- 1 Kings 9:9
worshippedbowed down toand they shall answer, Because they forsook Yehovah their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and bowed down to them, and served them: therefore Yehovah has brought all this evil upon them.
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- 1 Kings 11:33
worshippedbowed down tobecause they have forsaken me, and have bowed down to Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon; and they have not walked in my ways, to do what is right in my eyes, and to keep my statutes and my ordinances, as David his father did.
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- 1 Kings 16:31
worshippedbowed down toAnd it happened, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal, and bowed down to him.
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- 1 Kings 22:53
worshippedbowed down toAnd he served Baal, and bowed down to him, and provoked to anger Yehovah, the God of Israel, according to all that his father had done.
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- 2 Kings 5:18
worshipbow downIn this thing may Yehovah pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to bow down there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, may Yehovah pardon your servant in this thing.
Why
Naaman speaks of bowing in the house of Rimmon. Rendered 'bow down'.
- 2 Kings 17:16
worshippedbowed down toAnd they forsook all the commandments of Yehovah their God, and made for themselves molten images, even two calves, and made an Asherah, and bowed down to all the host of heaven, and served Baal.
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- 2 Kings 19:37
worshippingbowing downAnd it happened, as he was bowing down in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esar-haddon his son reigned in his place.
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- 2 Kings 21:3
worshippedbowed down toFor he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made an Asherah, as did Ahab king of Israel, and bowed down to all the host of heaven, and served them.
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- 2 Kings 21:21
worshippedbowed down toAnd he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and bowed down to them:
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- 1 Chronicles 29:20
worshippedprostrated themselves beforeAnd David said to all the assembly, Now bless Yehovah your God. And all the assembly blessed Yehovah, the God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads, and prostrated themselves before Yehovah, and the king.
Why
One verb, וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲווּ, with two objects: Yehovah and the king. Rendered 'prostrated themselves before', which fits both objects.
- 2 Chronicles 7:19
worshipbow down toBut if you turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and bow down to them;
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- 2 Chronicles 7:22
worshippedbowed down toAnd they shall answer, Because they forsook Yehovah, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and bowed down to them, and served them: therefore he has brought all this evil upon them.
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- 2 Chronicles 33:3
worshippedbowed down toFor he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; and he reared up altars for the Baalim, and made Asheroth, and bowed down to all the host of heaven, and served them.
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- Psalms 45:11
reverence youbow you down toSo the king will desire your beauty; For he is your lord; and bow down to him.
Why
The bride before the king. Rendered 'bow down to him'; the ASV's 'reverence' did not show the verb.
- Psalms 81:9
worshipbow down toThere shall be no strange god in you; Nor shall you bow down to any foreign god.
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- Psalms 106:19
worshippedbowed down toThey made a calf in Horeb, And bowed down to a molten image.
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- Isaiah 2:8
worshipbow down toTheir land also is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made.
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- Isaiah 2:20
worshipbow down toIn that day men shall cast away their idols of silver, and their idols of gold, which have been made for them to bow down to, to the moles and to the bats;
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- Isaiah 37:38
worshippingbowing downAnd it happened, as he was bowing down in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons struck him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esar-haddon his son reigned in his place.
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- Isaiah 44:15
worshipsbows down toThen it shall be for a man to burn; and he takes some of it, and warms himself; yes, he kindles it, and bakes bread: yes, he makes a god, and bows down to it; he makes it a graven image, and falls down to it.
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- Isaiah 44:17
worshipsbows downAnd the rest of it he makes a god, even his graven image; he falls down to it and bows down, and prays to it, and says, Deliver me; for you are my god.
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- Isaiah 46:6
worshipbow downSuch as lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, they hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god; they fall down, yes, they bow down.
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- Isaiah 49:7
worshipbow downThus says Yehovah, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhors, to a servant of rulers: Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall bow down; because of Yehovah who is faithful, even the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.
Why
Princes bow down to the despised servant addressed in the verse. Rendered 'bow down'.
- Isaiah 60:14unchanged
And the sons of those who afflicted you shall come bending to you; and all those who despised you shall bow themselves down at the soles of your feet; and they shall call you The city of Yehovah, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
Why
Source of Rev 3:9 — the same act toward the people of God.
- Jeremiah 1:16
worshippedbowed down toAnd I will utter my judgments against them concerning all their wickedness, in that they have forsaken me, and have burned incense to other gods, and bowed down to the works of their own hands.
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- Jeremiah 8:2
which they have worshippedto which they have bowed downand they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, which they have loved, and which they have served, and after which they have walked, and which they have sought, and to which they have bowed down: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried, they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- Jeremiah 13:10
worshipbow down toThis evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who walk in the stubbornness of their heart, and have gone after other gods to serve them, and to bow down to them, shall even be as this waistband, which is profitable for nothing.
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- Jeremiah 16:11
worshippedbowed down tothen you shall say to them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, says Yehovah, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have bowed down to them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law;
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- Jeremiah 22:9
worshippedbowed down toThen they shall answer, Because they forsook the covenant of Yehovah their God, and bowed down to other gods, and served them.
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- Jeremiah 25:6
worshipbow down toand do not go after other gods to serve them, and to bow down to them, and do not provoke me to anger with the work of your hands; and I will do you no harm.
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- Ezekiel 8:16
worshippingbowing down toAnd he brought me into the inner court of Yehovah’s house; and behold, at the door of the temple of Yehovah, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs toward the temple of Yehovah, and their faces toward the east; and they were bowing down to the sun toward the east.
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- Micah 5:13
worshipbow down toand I will cut off your graven images and your pillars out of the midst of you; and you shall no more bow down to the work of your hands;
Why
Non-Yehovah object: 'worship' → 'bow down to' (Decalogue wording, Exod 20:5).
- Zephaniah 1:5
worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worshipbow down to the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that bow downand those who bow down to the host of heaven upon the housetops; and those who bow down, who swear to Yehovah and swear by Malcam;
Why
The second occurrence has no stated object. Rendered 'bow down'.