To worship
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G4352 is a verb for bowing, paying homage, or worshiping toward someone or something. Its sixty governed forms include reverence offered to God and Jesus, human supplication before a superior, Peter's refusal of misplaced homage, mockery of Jesus, worship of idols and the beast, and angelic refusals that redirect John to God.
Reader summary
Full entry for προσκυνέω (G4352) · Open the biblical lexicon
G4352 is a verb for bowing, paying homage, or worshiping toward someone or something. Its sixty governed forms include reverence offered to God and Jesus, human supplication before a superior, Peter's refusal of misplaced homage, mockery of Jesus, worship of idols and the beast, and angelic refusals that redirect John to God.
The BSB source-word alignment has 60 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include Worship (15), worshiped (11), to worship (7), [and] worship (3), [and] knelt before (2).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 2:2. Its strongest book concentrations include Revelation (24), Matthew (13), John (11), Acts (4).
This entry includes 3 verse guides that explain exact original-language forms in context.
G4352 is a verb for bowing, paying homage, or worshiping toward someone or something. Its sixty governed forms include reverence offered to God and Jesus, human supplication before a superior, Peter's refusal of misplaced homage, mockery of Jesus, worship of idols and the beast, and angelic refusals that redirect John to God. The verb marks an embodied and directed act, but its object, setting, and narrative evaluation determine whether the act is faithful worship, ordinary homage, fearful appeal, mockery, or idolatry.
John 4 places worship inside Jesus' conversation with a Samaritan woman about contested places, revealed salvation, the Father, spirit, and truth. Jesus neither makes one mountain the permanent center nor defines worship as unstructured feeling. Matthew and Luke show the exclusive allegiance demanded by God and the risen Jesus receiving worship. Hebrews calls God's angels to worship the Son. These Christological uses are weighty, yet the lexeme alone does not settle the force of every Gospel kneeling scene; context and the wider witness must carry the conclusion.
Revelation repeatedly contrasts worship of God and the Lamb with worship of idols, demons, the dragon, and the beast. It also records John being stopped when he falls before an angel. Worship therefore concerns truth, allegiance, and the worth of its object, not merely intensity or bodily posture. Christian leaders, nations, institutions, experiences, and techniques must not receive the submission that belongs to God. Teaching this word must reject coerced displays, anti-Jewish misuse, contempt for disabled bodies, manipulation through music or fear, and claims that visible emotion proves divine approval.
Sixty governed forms range from kneeling and homage to worship of God and Christ, rejected worship of creatures, and condemned allegiance to idols and the beast.
His worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth
True worship corresponds to God and to the truth revealed in Jesus rather than being secured by geography or performance.
Cornelius met him and fell at his feet to worship him
Peter's immediate refusal protects the distinction between honored service and worship.
The elders fell down and worshiped
The throne-room response follows praise of the One on the throne and the Lamb.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Greek word. Physical prostration expressing reverence or submission to God, Christ, or human superiors.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 60 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I worship
Read verseI worship
Read verseI worship
Read verseI worship
Read verseI worship
Read verseI worship
Read verseI worship
Read verseI worship
Read verseI worship
Read verseI worship
Read verseI worship
Read verseI worship
Read verseI worship
Read verseI worship
Read verseI worship
Read verseI worship
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
How this verb appears across 60 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 5 selected witnesses from 60 lexical occurrence verses.
προσκυνέω is built from these roots:
Demonstrates that Jesus receives royal homage.Hebrews 1:5-14
Confirms Christ’s divine worthiness.Luke 24:50–53
Shows angels rendering worship to the Son, affirming His divine status.Matthew 2:1–12
The same bodily action can appear in faithful worship, urgent petition, ordinary homage, cruel mockery, or idolatrous allegiance. The object and the truth of the encounter matter. John 4 refuses to let sacred geography contain worship, but it does not replace truth and the body with private feeling. Acts and Revelation refuse creature worship even amid extraordinary experiences.
A faithful gathering may be quiet or exuberant, structured or spontaneous, standing or seated. It must direct people to God through truth without manipulating bodies, emotions, money, trauma, or loyalty for the benefit of leaders. Worship that exalts God can still make space for lament, questions, accessibility, rest, and help. Its integrity appears not only in a gathered moment but also in truthful leadership, justice, mercy, and refusal to protect idols of reputation or power.
John.4.24
Twenty-four morphology labels account for the sixty governed forms. Indicatives narrate faithful, false, or mocked acts; commands and subjunctives express demands or intended action; participles and infinitives embed worship in larger scenes. Tense, mood, and posture do not identify the rightful object or prove sincerity. The clause, object, speaker, and narrative evaluation must do that work.
The Greek Old Testament commonly uses this verb for Hebrew bowing language directed toward God, kings, or superiors. The wider canon therefore requires attention to the object and context of reverence. Israel's rejection of idols and call to worship the Lord frame the New Testament's exclusive allegiance to God and its worship of the Son.