Should Jesus Be Worshipped, or Only Given Obeisance?

The Study Edition says the Greek verb is broad, and that “worship” would give the impression that Jesus is God. The same verb, in the Society’s interlinear, is “worship” when the object is God and “obeisance” when the object is Jesus.

The question

Should Christians worship Jesus? Jehovah’s Witnesses say no. Worship belongs to Jehovah alone. Jesus may be honored, and people may bow to him, but that bow is obeisance, not worship. The New World Translation marks the difference in English even where the Greek verb is the same.

What Jehovah’s Witnesses teach

The study note on Hebrews 1:6 (1) states the policy and the reason:

The Greek verb rendered “do obeisance to” (pro·sky·neʹo) at Heb 1:6 is broad in meaning. One lexicon gives the following possible meanings: “(fall down and) worship, do obeisance to, prostrate oneself before, do reverence to, welcome respectfully.” The context is essential in determining which is the correct rendering in this case. (See study note on Lu 24:52.) Many Bible translators use the term “worship” here (Heb 1:6), giving the impression that Jesus is God. However, the Bible shows elsewhere that Jesus is not Almighty God. Jehovah alone has the right to be worshipped. (Mt 4:10; Re 4:10, 11; 22:8, 9) Therefore, such renderings as “do obeisance to” or “bow down to” are well-supported and are found in various translations of this verse.

The New World Translation of Hebrews 1:6 (2) follows that rule: “And let all of God’s angels do obeisance to him.” The New World Translation of Matthew 4:10 (3), quoting Jesus’ reply to Satan, uses the other English word: “It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service.”

The same choice appears when the disciples meet the risen Jesus. The New World Translation of Matthew 28:9 (4) says: “They approached and took hold of his feet and did obeisance to him.” Verse 17: “When they saw him, they did obeisance, but some doubted.” (5) The note on verse 9 offers “bowed down to him; prostrated themselves to him; paid him homage.” (9)

This is a real lexical range, and the note is right that the verb does not always mean the worship due to God alone. Subjects bowed to kings. The Society’s claim is that context picks “obeisance” whenever the one honored is Jesus, because Jesus is not Almighty God.

The texts

The Kingdom Interlinear at Hebrews 1 (10) gives the word-for-word line: “προσκυνησάτωσαν let do obeisance toward αὐτῷ him πάντες all ἄγγελοι angels.” At Matthew 4 (12) the same verb is glossed “προσκυνήσεις you shall worship,” in the command Jesus quotes about God. At Revelation 22 (11) John falls “προσκυνῆσαι to worship” before an angel, and the angel says “προσκύνησον give your worship” to God. At Revelation 5 (13) the elders “προσεκύνησαν they worshiped.”

The New World Translation of Revelation 22:8–9 (8) has John fall down “to worship at the feet of the angel,” and the angel answer: “Be careful! Do not do that! I am only a fellow slave of you and of your brothers the prophets and of those observing the words of this scroll. Worship God.” Revelation 19:10 (7) is the same refusal: “Worship God!”

Revelation 5:8–14 (16) does not have the Lamb refuse. The New World Translation (6) says the living creatures and the elders “fell down before the Lamb,” and the angels say the Lamb is worthy to receive “the power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.” Then every creature says: “To the One sitting on the throne and to the Lamb be the blessing and the honor and the glory and the might forever and ever.” The elders “fell down and worshipped.”

Hebrews 1:6 (14) commands that worship, in the wording most English Bibles use, from the angels toward the Son. Matthew 28:9 (15) has the women take hold of his feet and worship him. Matthew 28:17 has the eleven worship him.

Stephen’s last words belong in the same conversation. The New World Translation of Acts 7:59 (17) reads: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” The study note says the Greek word “is rendered ‘prayed’ in many Bible translations, giving the impression that Stephen prayed directly to Jesus,” and answers that he was making an appeal to an authority, not praying (18).

A Christian response

Jesus is worshipped, and that worship is not a mistake the text corrects. The verb is broad. The Study Edition is right about the range. What has to be shown is that the context of Jesus is the context of the honor due to God, not the context of a bow to a king.

The Society’s own interlinear is the cleanest way to see the English choice. One Greek verb is “you shall worship” when Jesus is telling Satan to worship God, “give your worship” when an angel refuses John’s bow, and “let do obeisance” when God tells the angels to honor the Son. The study note says “worship” at Hebrews 1:6 would give the impression that Jesus is God. The impression is coming from the decision to apply to the Son a line about the honor of God. The note’s reason for avoiding that English word is the conclusion the verse is being asked not to suggest.

Angels in Revelation know the difference and will not accept the verb. They say they are fellow slaves, and they redirect the bow to God. Nobody in Revelation 5 redirects the bow away from the Lamb. The elders fall before him. Heaven assigns him the same blessing, honor, glory, and might it assigns to the One on the throne, in one sentence. The New World Translation uses “worshipped” for that falling down. If the worship in the room is only for the One on the throne, the Lamb is still in the sentence that names what is given, and he is the one the elders have already fallen before.

Matthew 28:9 is not a court bow from across the room. They take hold of his feet. He does not say “Worship God,” the sentence the angel says when the same verb is aimed too low. Matthew 4:10 remains true. Jehovah God is the one to worship. The Christian claim is that the Son is included in that worship because he is God, not because a creature has been granted a polite gesture. The Trinity is how the church says that without saying there are two gods.

Stephen asks the Lord Jesus to receive his spirit. The study note is candid that many translations call this prayer, and it argues from the vision in verses 55 and 56 that Stephen could speak to Jesus without praying to him. The words he uses are the words of a dying man committing himself to the one he sees. The note’s distinction is worth reading. It does not change the address. He calls on the Lord Jesus. How the New World Translation handles “Lord” and “Jehovah” in the next verse is a separate page.

Common follow-ups

People bowed to kings and to angels. Bowing is not worship. Sometimes it is not. The test is what the text does with the bow. Angels refuse it and name worship of God as the alternative. Jesus, risen, receives it at his feet and does not refuse it. Hebrews 1 commands it from all God’s angels, quoting a line the Study Edition itself traces to Deuteronomy 32:43 in the Septuagint or to Psalm 97:7, lines about the honor of God.

Revelation 5:14 says the elders worshipped, but it does not say they worshipped the Lamb. The sentence before it has every creature give blessing, honor, glory, and might “to the One sitting on the throne and to the Lamb.” Verse 8 has already put the elders on their faces before the Lamb. The worship is not aimed past him.

Philippians 2 says every knee bends “in the name of Jesus,” to the glory of the Father. It does. The note on Hebrews 1:6 cites that passage as the pattern for obeisance to the Son. Bending the knee at the name that belongs to the LORD, so that Jesus Christ is confessed as Lord, is the honor Isaiah 45 gives to God. It is not a smaller ceremony beside worship.

Keep reading

• Is Jesus Michael the archangel?
• Does “Jehovah” belong in the New Testament?
• The deity of Christ