
No New Testament passage instructs Christians to assemble for the purpose of worship. In fact, many of our modern worship terms, ideas, and practices are not found in the New Testament. First-century Christians gathered for a different purpose, so their gatherings looked different. The New Testament shows that their goal was not worship but mutual edification and discipleship.
What do Christians mean by the word worship? Here’s how different believers might respond if we ask them what worship is:
- Pastor Greg: “Worship is feeling awe and gratitude toward God and expressing it through prayer, singing, and praise.”
- Choir Member Rachel: “Worship is when my heart overflows with love for God, and I can’t help but sing or pray to Him.”
- Youth Minister Alex: “Worship is an active response to God’s presence, whether it’s raising hands in praise or kneeling in prayer.”
- Congregant Lisa: “Worship is getting lost in God’s presence, feeling His love, and responding with joy or tears.”
- Small Group Leader Tom: “Worship is setting aside time to focus on God through songs, reflection, and heartfelt prayer.”
Webster’s Dictionary defines worship as “a prayer, church service, or other rite showing reverence for a deity.”1 While these are common modern ideas about worship, the New Testament reveals a different idea.
The New Testament’s “worship” words
As it turns out, the English word “worship” is a poor translation choice since it does not reveal what someone in the New Testament was doing when it says they “worshipped.” Dr. Tom Wadsworth, in his extensive PhD research on early church terminology, asked:
“[When] an English Bible says that someone ‘worshiped,’ what did that person do? Did they offer a prayer or a song? Did they feel a sense of reverence? When a Bible verse says that someone ‘paid homage,’ what exactly constitutes ‘homage?’ Did the person present a gift? Did they offer a sacrifice? Did they say certain words? The reader does not know.”2
Why doesn’t the reader know? We don’t know because there are five Greek words, each with a distinct meaning, that our English Bibles generically translate as “worship” or “serve.” These two English words do not adequately express a meaning in English which is equivalent to the meaning in Greek.
In this article, we will consider the most frequently used Greek word that our Bibles translate as worship: “proskuneo.”
Proskuneo: to prostrate one’s self, bowing down
Here’s how lexicons define proskuneo:
“the custom of prostrating oneself before persons and kissing their feet or the hem of their garment, the ground, etc.; the Persians did this in the presence of their deified king, and the Greeks before a divinity or something holy.”3.
“to crouch, crawl, or fawn, like a dog at his master’s feet; hence, to prostrate one’s self, after the eastern custom, to do reverence or homage to anyone, by kneeling or prostrating one’s self before him.”4
Other lexicons define the proskuneo similarly.

Proskuneo denotes a physical posture
Quite clearly, proskuneo is a word which indicates a physical posture. It describes when someone was bowing, kneeling, or had prostrated themselves on the ground as a show of respect or reverence. Wadsworth observes, “Of the sixty-one times that proskuneo appears in the NT, the NASB translates it as ‘worship’ 87 percent of the time.”5 6 As for the remainder, the ESV renders proskuneo as bow, fell, kneel, etc.
In other words, when the New Testament mentions worship using this Greek word, it’s describing an act of physically bowing down, not the modern idea of singing or praying in a church. This makes one wonder why the translators of the various English New Testament chose to translate proskuneo as bowing, kneeling, falling down, etc. in some passages and as worship in others. Why the inconsistency?
Prostration indicators
Often there are other words in a sentence where proskuneo appears which suggest the action of bowing. Dr. Wadsworth calls these “prostration indicators.”7 For example:
“All this I will give You,” he said, “if You will fall down and worship [proskuneo] me.” (Matt. 4:9)8
As Peter was about to enter, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet to worship [proskuneo] him. (Acts 10:25)
the twenty-four elders fall down before the One seated on the throne, and they worship [proskuneo] Him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying: (Rev. 4:10)
These clues, along with the definition of proskuneo, show that prostration was a physical and visible act. It describes kneeling, bowing, or laying flat on the ground face down before the one being honored and revered. The English word worship does not necessarily describe a physical posture nor any kind of visible, outward, action.
The New Testament never uses the word proskuneo to describe what Christians did when they came together as a congregation!9 On the other hand, the Bible does use proskuneo to describe what happened in a different religious setting.
Bowing was performed in the Old Testament temple
The Septuagint (LXX), the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, often uses proskuneo to translate the Hebrew word histahawa. Both words have the same meaning and, with very few exceptions, English Bibles translate histahawa as “worship.” Histahawa “specifically refers to or is connected with either the act of bowing down or the attitude associated with it. This includes frequent references to ‘bowing down and worshipping’ which expresses both the specific action and the attitude prompting the action.”10 “[B]oth histahawa and proskuneo are almost entirely confined to bowing or prostrating oneself.”11
This practice was an essential part of temple worship, as seen in numerous passages like 2 Chronicles 7:3, where the Israelites “bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped [histahawa, LXX: proskuneo]” when the glory of the LORD filled the temple. The physicality of this act underscored the Israelites’ submission and deep reverence for God. It wasn’t an abstract, internal feeling but a visible, embodied expression of homage, central to their worship in the temple setting.
Prostration in the heavenly temple
The New Testament continues this association between proskuneo and the temple. For example, Revelation 11:1 refers to those who “prostrate” in the temple, reflecting the same physical act of devotion seen in the Old Testament. Similarly, Revelation 11:16 describes the twenty-four elders falling on their faces and prostrating before God, echoing the LXX’s portrayal of temple prostration. These scenes emphasize the continuity of proskuneo as a tangible, physical act reserved for sacred spaces.
Importantly, the term does not describe general worship practices such as prayer, singing, or communal gatherings. The LXX consistently separates proskuneo from other temple activities like sacrificing (latreuo) or offering incense, reinforcing that prostration was a distinct and highly specific act within the temple context.
No prostration in church gatherings
In stark contrast, early Christian gatherings did not involve prostration (proskuneo). The New Testament never uses this word to describe what believers did when they assembled as a church. Instead, Christians met for mutual edification, teaching, and fellowship, as seen in passages like 1 Corinthians 14:26, where each person contributed to the building up of the community. While temple prostration symbolized reverence in a physical space, the early church focused on spiritual growth and community encouragement. These gatherings underscore that the Old Covenant used the physical act of temple prostration, which the New Covenant did not carry forward.
Prostration in the presence of God
Wadsworth points out Heinrich Greeven’s observation that proskynesis (i.e., bowing, prostration) virtually disappears from the New Testament after the Gospels and Acts.12 It reappears in Revelation where it describes those who prostrate before God leading Greeven to conclude: “Proskynesis demands visible majesty before which the worshipper bows.”13
When the New Covenant replaced the Old Covenant, it brought sacred spaces, objects, and rituals to a close. God’s presence was no longer in a temple made with hands, but within each believer and in the congregation of believers – the church. Paraphrasing Wadsworth, it would seem that prostration lost its significance and purpose under a covenant where God was no longer physically present (i.e., in the temple).14
The presence of God no longer resided in the temple in Jerusalem and Jesus had ascended back to the Father. In this new world of the New Covenant, there was no longer a Divine presence to bow before. Therefore, prostration became irrelevant in the church and therefore, it played no part in the Christian gatherings.
A shift from external rituals
In light of this, we see a profound shift from external rituals to internal transformation in the New Testament. Proskuneo, with its focus on physical prostration, belonged to an era when sacred spaces defined worship. With the New Covenant, worship took on a deeper, spiritual dimension—no longer confined to a temple but embodied within the lives of believers. This transition underscores the purpose of early Christian assemblies: mutual edification, not ritualistic homage. Understanding this helps us see church gatherings not as ceremonial acts but as opportunities for shared growth and encouragement, aligning our practices with the heart of New Testament teaching.
In our next article, we’ll explore another ‘worship’ word – latreuo – and see how it further reshapes our understanding of early Christian gatherings.
References
- Guralnik, David B., ed. Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language. Nashville, Tennessee: The Southwestern Company, 1965. 858.
- Wadsworth, Thomas Richard. “A Worship Service or an Assembly: An Investigation of the Terminology Used to Describe Church Meetings in the New Testament,” 2022. 192.
- BDAG, s.v. “προσκυνέω,” 882.
- Bullinger, E. W. A Critical Lexicon and Concordance to the English and Greek New Testament. [Reprint]. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1999. 903.
- Wadsworth, Thomas Richard. “A Worship Service or an Assembly: An Investigation of the Terminology Used to Describe Church Meetings in the New Testament,” 2022. 182.
- Matt. 2:2, 8, 11; 4:9-10; 8:2; 9:18; 14:33; 15:25; 18:26; 20:20; 28:9, 17; Mark 5:6; 15:19; Luke 4:7-8; 24:52; John 4:20-24; 9:38; 12:20; Acts 7:43; 8:27; 10:25; 24:11; 1 Cor. 14:25; Heb. 1:6; 11:21; Rev. 3:9; 4:10; 5:14; 7:11; 9:20; 11:1, 16; 13:4, 8, 12, 15; 14:7, 9, 11; 15:4; 16:2; 19:4, 10, 20; 20:4; 22:8-9
- Wadsworth, Thomas Richard. “A Worship Service or an Assembly: An Investigation of the Terminology Used to Describe Church Meetings in the New Testament,” 2022. 199.
- Unless otherwise specified, all Bible references are to the Berean Standard Bible.
- Wadsworth, Thomas Richard. “A Worship Service or an Assembly: An Investigation of the Terminology Used to Describe Church Meetings in the New Testament,” 2022. 213.
- Richardson, John. “Is ‘Worship’ Biblical.” Churchman 109, no. 3 (1995): 197–218.
- Richardson, John. “Is ‘Worship’ Biblical.” Churchman 109, no. 3 (1995): 197–218.
- Wadsworth, Thomas Richard. “A Worship Service or an Assembly: An Investigation of the Terminology Used to Describe Church Meetings in the New Testament,” 2022. 211.
- Wadsworth, Thomas Richard. “A Worship Service or an Assembly: An Investigation of the Terminology Used to Describe Church Meetings in the New Testament,” 2022. 211.
- Wadsworth, Thomas Richard. “A Worship Service or an Assembly: An Investigation of the Terminology Used to Describe Church Meetings in the New Testament,” 2022. 211.