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Bow down
Bow • Bowing • Bowing the Knee • Genuflect • Lying Prostrate • Prostrate
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Dictionaries
The Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia
Bow, Bowing
BOW, BOWING. An act of obeisance. Many Heb. and Gr. words signify the act of bending one’s knees and bowing down in humility before a superior. The custom symbolized (1) servitude (Gen 27:29); (2) homage, respect, or reverence e.g., when Abraham bowed before the three angels (Gen 18:2), Lot before the
The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church
bowing
bowing. From very early times Christians have bowed ‘at the name of Jesus’, on the authority of Phil. 2:10. How far back the custom of bowing at other times, particularly to the altar, can be traced, is disputed. In the C of E, despite *Puritan objections, bowing at the Holy *Name was enjoined in Canon
The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary
Bowing
BOWING. An attitude of respect and reverence from the earliest times. Thus Abraham “bowed to the people of the land” (Gen. 23:7); Jacob, when he met Esau, “bowed down to the ground seven times” (33:3); and the brothers of Joseph “bowed down in homage” (43:28). The orientals in the presence of kings and
Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Bowing
Bowing—a mode of showing respect. Abraham “bowed himself to the people of the land” (Gen. 23:7); so Jacob to Esau (Gen. 33:3); and the brethren of Joseph before him as the governor of the land (Gen. 43:28). Bowing is also frequently mentioned as an act of adoration to idols (Josh. 23:7; 2 Kings 5:18;
Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary
Bowing
BOWING — the practice of bowing down or bending the knee. In a more pronounced form, it involved prostration, the practice of falling upon the knees, gradually inclining the body, and touching the forehead to the ground. In Bible times such practices were intended to convey an attitude of reverence,
Dictionary of Biblical Imagery
Bow, Bowing
Bow, BowingBowing is one of the most basic acts of showing deference in the Scripture. The image of bowing or prostrating oneself is contained in several of the key biblical words for worship (see Lying Prostrate).An Egyptian woman bows down with one leg drawn up beneath her to allow her to rise
Lying Prostrate
Lying ProstrateLying prostrate may be variously represented in the Bible as “falling on one’s face,” “bowing down with one’s face to the earth,” “prostrating oneself,” “doing reverence” or “doing obeisance.” Some of the many references to mere *“bowing” may also indicate someone lying prostrate. The
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
BOWING
BOWING<bou’-ing> (נָתָה‎ [naTah], “to incline,” “bulge”): The Psalmist’s assailants expected that he would be “like a leaning (the King James Version “bowing”) wall” (Psalm 62:3) before their united attack, as when an ill-built, bulging wall gives way under a sudden and heavy fall of rain (compare
The Lutheran Cyclopedia
Bowing at the name of Jesus
Bowing at the name of Jesus. This old Christian custom of reverence, symbolizing Phil. 2:10, is retained in some parts of the Lutheran Church, but has become a simple nodding of the head. Generally it has been lost.
The Westminster Bible Dictionary
Bowing
Bowʹing. As an attitude indicative of respect and reverence, bowing was in use from the earliest times (Gen. 23:7; 33:3; 43:28), and is still in use among the peoples of the East. The attitude is more or less profound, in accordance with the dignity and station of the person saluted and the feeling of
The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Volumes 1–5
Bowing
BOWING, bouʹing (נָטָה‎, nāṭāh, “to incline,” “bulge”): The Psalmist’s assailants expected that he would be “like a leaning [AV “bowing”] wall” (Ps 62:3) before their united attack, as when an ill-built, bulging wall gives way under a sudden and heavy fall of rain (cf Ezk 13:11; 38:22).
The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, Volumes 1–5
BOW DOWN, TO
BOW DOWN, TO [שָׁחָה‎ shakhah; προσκυνέω proskyneō]. The verb usually translated “to bow down” can also be rendered “to prostrate oneself,” “to make obeisance,” “to bend low,” and, most significantly, “to worship” (as in bowing down before) Yahweh, or even some other god, on occasions of prayer or sacrifice.