diacrisis

..."when you interject 2000 years."

A fellow elder is learning Greek from me (and I'm re-learning a few things). He asked me the other day what I thought about the Greek word for "worship" (προσκυνέω ). Here was my response in email:

Here's the word for worship. What does your dictionary say?
4352 προσκυνέω [proskuneo /pros•koo•neh•o/] v.
From 4314

which is "pros" = to or toward

and a probable derivative of 2965

which is "kuon" = dog

That...is a really odd conclusion. My Homeric dictionary says "kuneo" means "to kiss", and I would go with that as the primary meaning, especially given what the TDNT says below about kissing the earth. Although there are many Greek words which begin with "kun-" and have something to do with dogs, that doesn't mean they're related. In English, analogously, "dogma" has little to do with dogs. [10 points to whomever first spots the minor flaw in that analogy...]

TDNT 6:758; TDNTA 948; GK 4686;

I've got the TDNT (abridged) right here...

proskyneo [to bow down, worship]

A. Meaning for the Greeks. proskyneo is an ancient term for reverent adoration of the gods, which in the case of chthonic deities would mean stooping to kiss the earth. The Greeks abandon the outward gesture but keep the term for the inner attitude. Later the word takes on a much more general sense expressing love and respect.

B. Jewish Understanding. The LXX uses the term for various words meaning "to bow", "to kiss", "to serve", and "to worship."... Obeisance is always intended [until Maccabees]. Josephus...Philo...in the sense of respect. In rabbinic Judaism proskynesis is an attitude in prayer (alhough standing is more customary). It may also be a means of showing respect to rabbis...

C. The NT. Uses proskynein only in relation to a divine object...Peter rejects proskynesis in Acts 10:25-26...While proskynein is common in the Gospels and Acts, and then again in Revelation, it occurs in the epistles only in Heb 1:6; 11:21 and 1 Cor 14:25. The last verse offers the only instance of proskynein in the Christian community and it refers along OT lines to the unconditional subjection expressed by an unbeliever. Elsewhere we read of kneeling or raising hands in prayer (Ac 9:40; 1 Tim 2:8) but the word proskynein does not occur. Being a concrete term, proskynein demands visible majesty. It is thus apposite only when the incarnate Christ is present or when the exalted Lord is again manifested.

[Me again...] The important thing is to work forwards, not backwards. That is, when you want to know what a word means, look up all the uses of that word in your source text, and other contemporary texts if you can find them. Determine the context rather than just reading the translator's English word. In the case of "proskuneo", don't just read the English translator's choice of "worship" again and again and think you're learning anything about what the word meant.

It's pretty clear that "proskuneo" primarily means to fall down in reverence toward something--it certainly has nothing to do with singing. The TDNT makes a good point that this act of falling down on one's knees in reverence just didn't merit a mention in the epistles, perhaps because it wasn't common, perhaps because, without Jesus present in the flesh, there's no drive to, or direction for, falling on one's knees toward him.

Meta-commentary:

It struck me that his first reaction was "oh, cool! worship is like a dog licking its master's hand." I just about choked. That is not the connotation at all, any more than the word "ballistics" connotes tennis balls. I wondered if he was going to spend his next Sunday morning with his tongue in the air during the singing.

Preachers especially take note: simile and analogy worked fine for the Ancients, but these days we expect functional and network explanations, even proofs. The ancient Israelites loved their poetic parallels, to be sure. But with the rise of geek elitism, and the application of the long tail to discourse, persuasion is swinging to rely more on systematic delineation than holistic koans. There are still plenty of questions that have no answers, only decisions, but Westerners are being taught to narrow that ratio at every opportunity.

A better response would be, "oh, cool! worship is something you do when Jesus is present in the flesh." Until that occurs again, perhaps we should spend our time in prayer, service and study. Perhaps we should hire an "equipping pastor" before a "worship pastor". I have yet to see a "worship pastor" re-incarnate our Lord; if you know of one, post his phone number here and we'll hire him out to Christian music festivals.

I'll also say aside that an older member of our church recently said, "I don't get modern Christian music--in our day [hymns], we declared the glory of God in his works. Modern music [praise & worship choruses] just ramble on about his ineffable qualities." I rather think they had it righter.

I have performed proskuneesis once or twice in my life. Once was high-school camp, of course. Another was during prayer for a sick pillar of our church. Isn't it odd that the verb occurs 60 times in the NT but the noun not once? Yet we Merkins use the noun, never the verb. I think we're afraid of it. We'd rather "go to worship" than "go worship", because the former implies a level of control over our own schedule and actions. The latter implies a level of control over the schedule and actions of the Holy Spirit. I believe we have sacrificed spirituality for scheduling, and we are poorer for it. The thoughtful church should try to reconcile that.

Maybe your church needs an extra hour (or day) between services. Maybe it needs to design Sunday morning for the people that actually show up--old Christians full of ennui--and abandon preaching in a lecture format in favor of Socratic discussion. I bet your parishioners have had far more education than those present when itinerant preachers first settled down and designed the first sermon series and catechisms. Use that instead of fighting it.