To Whom Can Proskynesis Properly Be Given? (Looking at Case Examples)-In Progress

This post was written years ago, but I've taken the time to edit some of it or supplement some parts: still a work in progress.

Exodus 11:8 (LXX): καὶ καταβήσονται πάντες οἱ παῗδές σου οὗτοι πρός με καὶ προκυνήσουσίν με λέγοντες ἔξελθε σὺ καὶ πᾶς ὁ λαός σου οὗ σὺ ἀφηγῇ καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐξελεύσομαι ἐξῆλθεν δὲ Μωυσῆς ἀπὸ Φαραω μετὰ θυμοῦ

In BAGD (now BDAG), Exodus 11:8 is cited as an example of the LXX using προσκυνὲω: I guess that one could interpret Moses' words there as describing inferiors bowing down to their superior, but I do not understand 11:8 that way. Even if the Egyptians would acknowledge that the Israelites were correct in their religious beliefs, and that Jehovah (YHWH) God was the living and true deity and Moses was a prophet-ruler/priest (as it were)--this would not necessarily mean that the children of Israel or Moses were superior to the Egyptian officials who would bow down to them. But maybe the text could be read that way.

Furthermore, I see no reason to view the Christians in first-century Philadelphia as being superior to the Jews who persecuted them: being a Christian does not make one superior to a non-Christian (Rev. 3:9), especially not socially. When the Jews would come "groveling" to the early Christians, I don't think they would perform this act as that of an inferior to a superior.

Regarding προσκυνεῖν and Jesus, Gerald L. Borchert declares concerning John 9:38:

"The use here of proskunein ('worship') as applied to Jesus is unique in this Gospel. While the term can be used in secular parlance for rendering 'obeisance' or prostrating oneself before another human and kissing the person's feet in an act of utmost respect, in the Biblical context the term, when applied to God, is meant to signify worship" (Borchert 325). [check]

Borchert feels that what took place in John 9:38 was an act of worship, likely because he believes that Jesus is God. However, I do not wish to debate that point now; rather, I want to point out that Borchert admits προσκυνεῖν may delineate an act rendered to "another human" and constitute a sign of "utmost respect" in secular Greek; moreover, the term can be employed that way in the LXX (Genesis 23:7).

While Borchert reckons that John 9:38 describes a religious act directed to God somehow, not all scholars agree. For instance, neither G.R. Beasley-Murray nor R. Schnackenburg think John 9:38 portrays the blind man worshiping Jesus per se.

Murray's exact comments:

"PROSEKUNHSEN is commonly translated [in John 9:38], 'he worshiped him' . . . but this is doubtful. KUNEW means 'to kiss,' its extension in PROSKUNEW reflects the Eastern custom of prostrating oneself before a person and kissing his feet, especially of one viewed as belonging to the supernatural world, e.g., a deified king . . . Note also Acts 10:25, and Rev. 3:9, which is significant in view of the frequent and consistent use of the term in Revelation for the worship of God or pseudo-divinities. It would seem that in John 9:38 the healed man is ascribing honor to the Redeemer from God, which is beyond that due to other men but short of that due to God Almighty" (Murray 159-160).

Again, Murray says that PROSKUNEW could be performed "before a person," especially of a "superior. Yet according to this Johannine scholar, PROSKUNEW is not limited to those who are one's superiors. It is also clear that Murray does not view John 9:38 as proof that Jesus is worshiped while on earth; the former blind man is seen as ascribing honor to the God-sent Redeemer. This honor is greater than the kind given to other men, but less than the honor vouchsafed to God Almighty. Depending on his intent, I concur with this part of his remarks.

Finally, Schnackenburg professes:

"The man's action is not the expression of formal adoration of Jesus, but of the honor due to the God-sent bringer of salvation which itself gives honor and adoration to God. It shows the man's advance from his Jewish faith (vv 31-33) to Christian faith" (Schnackenburg 2:254).

I might add remarks by Ralph Earle pertaining to Mark 5:6 which show that PROSKUNEW does not always mean worship, in the Biblical context; of course, Jesus was and is superior to any human. This doesn't mean that the man in Mark's Gospel was worshiping Jesus when EDRAMEN KAI PROSEKUNHSEN AUTWi. Mark 5:6 could illustrate the non-religious import of PROSKUNEW.

I offer one other thought on proskunew: R.E. Brown in the Anchor Bible for the Gospel of John I-XII:

So, Brown thinks the blind man offers worship to Jesus in John 9:38. Could he be mistaken?