proskyneō · worship, bow down

What it means

proskyneō (προσκυνέω) is a Greek word of the Bible that means “worship, bow down”.

Bow down before someone, bend to the ground as a sign of reverence; when it is before God, worship.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. To bow to the ground before someone.
2. To give honor and devotion to God, or other gods.

From Abbott-Smith (1922) · Thayer (1889)

Word study

To bow down before someone, to bend to the ground as a sign of reverence or submission; directed to God, to worship. It is the verb by which Greek renders the Hebrew הִשְׁתַּחֲוָה.

• The magi come to bow down before the child Matthew 2:2Matthew 2:11
• Bowing down before Jesus Matthew 28:9Matthew 8:2
• “You shall bow down before the Lord your God” Matthew 4:10Luke 4:8
• Worshiping God: where and how John 4:20John 4:24
• “Worship God”: not a messenger, nor the beast Revelation 22:9Revelation 13:8Acts 10:25

How we translate it

Two renderings, according to the gesture and the one it is directed to: “bow down” (“bowed down before” 7 times, “bow down before” 4, “was bowing down before” 4, “bow down” 3) when the word describes the gesture before someone; “worship” (26 times, “worshiped” 11) when it is the worship of God or of an idol. In Matthew 2, “bow down before”, like the Hebrew הִשְׁתַּחֲוָה; in John 4, “worship”, because it is about worship; in Revelation, “worship” before God.

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• worship ×26
• worshiped ×11
• bowed down before ×7
• bow down before ×4
• was bowing down before ×4
• bow down ×3
• bowing down ×1
• he bowed down ×1
• they were paying homage ×1
• worshiping ×1
• others ×1

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Matthew×13
• Mark×2
• Luke×3
• John×11
• Acts×4
• 1 Corinthians×1
• Hebrews×2
• Revelation×24

• Matthew 2:2

  saying, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star at its rising and have come to bow down before him.”

• Matthew 2:8

  And sending them to Bethlehem, he said, “Go and inquire precisely about the child; and when you find him, report to me, so that I too may come and bow down before him.”

• Matthew 2:11

  And coming into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell and bowed down before him; and opening their treasures, they offered him gifts: gold and frankincense and myrrh.

• Matthew 4:9

  and he said to him, “All these things I will give you, if you fall down and bow down before me.”

• Matthew 4:10

  Then Jesus says to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall bow down before the Lord your God, and him alone you shall serve.’”

• Matthew 8:2

  And look, a leper came and was bowing down before him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

• Matthew 9:18

  While he was saying these things to them, look, a ruler came and was bowing down before him, saying, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.”

• Matthew 14:33

  And those in the boat bowed down before him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

• Matthew 15:25

  But she came and was bowing down before him, saying, “Lord, help me.”

• Matthew 18:26

  So the slave fell down and was bowing down before him, saying, ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you everything.’

• Matthew 20:20

  Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, bowing down and asking something of him.

• Matthew 28:9

  And look, Jesus met them, saying, “Greetings.” And they came up and took hold of his feet and bowed down before him.

• Matthew 28:17

  And when they saw him, they bowed down before him; but some doubted.

• Mark 5:6

  And seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him;

• Mark 15:19

  And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him, and bending their knees, they were paying homage to him.

• Luke 4:7

  So if you bow down before me, it will be all yours.”

• Luke 4:8

  And answering, Jesus said to him, “It is written: Before the Lord your God you will bow down, and him alone you will serve.”

• Luke 24:52

  And they, having bowed down before him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy,

• John 4:20

  Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where one must worship.”

• John 4:21

  Jesus says to her, “Believe me, woman, an hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.

• John 4:22

  You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.

• John 4:23

  But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father seeks such people as those who worship him.

• John 4:24

  God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

• John 9:38

  And he said, “I believe, Lord!” And he bowed down before him.

• John 12:20

  Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the feast.

• Acts 7:43

  And you took up the tent of Molech and the star of the god Rephan, the images that you made to worship them. And I will deport you beyond Babylon.’

• Acts 8:27

  And he got up and went. And look, an Ethiopian man, a eunuch, an official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasury, who had come to Jerusalem to worship,

• Acts 10:25

  And when it happened that Peter entered, Cornelius met him, fell at his feet, and bowed down before him.

• Acts 24:11

  as you can verify that it is not more than twelve days for me since I went up to worship in Jerusalem;

• 1 Corinthians 14:25

  the secrets of his heart become evident, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God, declaring that God is really among you.

• Hebrews 1:6

  And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says: And let all God’s angels worship him.

• Hebrews 11:21

  By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped leaning on the top of his staff.

• Revelation 3:9

  Look, I am handing over some of the synagogue of Satan, of those who call themselves Jews and are not, but are lying; look, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and know that I have loved you.

• Revelation 4:10

  the twenty-four elders will fall down before the one who sits on the throne and will worship the one who lives to the ages of the ages, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

• Revelation 5:14

  And the four living creatures were saying, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

• Revelation 7:11

  And all the angels were standing around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell before the throne on their faces and worshiped God,

• Revelation 9:20

  And the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not even change their minds from the works of their hands, so as to stop worshiping the demons and the idols of gold and of silver and of bronze and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk;

• Revelation 11:1

  And a measuring reed like a staff was given to me, saying, “Get up and measure the sanctuary of God and the altar and those who worship in it.

• Revelation 11:16

  And the twenty-four elders who sit before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God,

• Revelation 13:4

  And they worshiped the dragon, because he had given the authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

And 20 more times.