David Aune (Revelation in WBC Series):
Grant R. Osborne (Baker Exegetical Commentary NT):
The passage alludes to Isa. 60:14, “The sons of your oppressors will come bowing before you; all who despise you will bow down at your feet” (cf. also Isa. 2:3; 14:2; 45:14; 49:23; Ezek. 36:23; Zech. 8:20–23). The OT taught that the Gentiles would be forced to pay homage to the Jews at the eschaton, and now this promise is turned on its head: Jewish oppressors would be forced to pay homage to Gen- tile believers. Christ is promising these persecuted Christians that they would be vindicated by God, and this is a theme that will appear again and again in the book (6:9–11; 16:6; 18:20; 19:2). The telling point in favor of this interpre- tation is that they (the Jews) will bow “at your (σου, sou) feet” and not “at my (μου, mou) feet.” This is submission, not worship, and parallels 2:26–27, where the faithful saints are promised that they will participate in the judgment of their (and God’s) enemies.
Gregory K. Beale (The Book of Revelation): That the salvation of the Jews is in mind is also apparent from the still present connection with the salvific key and door imagery continued in v 9a from vv. 7–8a, and ultimately from 1:18b (this view of the Jews’ salvation is also suggested by the striking similarity of language between v 9b and 1 Cor. 14:25). The notion of voluntary worship of God is also underscored by recognizing that all the other uses of προσκυνέω in Revelation refer to voluntary “worship” of either God (10 occurrences) or of the beast and idols (11 occurrences). In particular, the almost identical phrase “worship (προσκυνέω) before the feet” is used elsewhere of voluntary reverence on the part of a Christian believer (22:8, which is virtually the same as 19:10). The Isaiah prophecies are to be fulfilled imminently in the church’s own experience, though not exclusively, since the letter is also addressed to all the churches.
Craig Koester (Revelation in the Anchor Bible Series):
Friday, October 08, 2021
Scholarly Comments About Revelation 3:9
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One can worship "before" others, but that does not necessitate others are being worshiped (Revelation 14:3). Indeed, our singing "to" one another in worship has God as its recipient ("to the Lord"; cf. Ephesians 5:19). In Isaiah 45:14 (LXX) 'prayer' is spoken to others, but once again with God as the recipient.
When speaking to the priest it is a prayer to God, but this doesn't mean the priest is God.
Deuteronomy 26:3
You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, ‘I declare this day to the LORD my God that I have entered the land which the LORD swore to our fathers to give us.’ (NASB)
New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (NIDNTT): As used in the New Testament proskyneo "denoted exclusively worship addressed (or which should be addressed) to God or to Jesus Christ" (2:877, Prayer, H. Schonweiss, C. Brown).
"I will make them to come and worship before thy feet" (προσκυνήσουσιν ἐνώπιον τῶν ποδῶνσου) does not mean that the church itself received the worship, but that the ungodly will be compelled to come and worship God in the presence of these Christians in the eschatological judgment (Philippians 2:9-11) if they do not repent of their persecuting actions, fall down before them, and worship God in this life (cf. 1 Corinthians 14:24-25; cf. also the historical interaction of the church at Philadelphia with Judaism as recorded in Ignatius' epistle to the Philadelphians 6:1; also note the different preposition in Revelation 22:8, where what is forbidden is John's action when he ἔπεσα προσκυνῆσαι ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ποδῶν τοῦ ἀγγέλου.). Compare also Revelation 3:9 to 2 Kings 18:22 (LXX), καὶ ὅτι εἶπας πρός με ἐπὶ κύριον θεὸν πεποίθαμεν οὐχὶ αὐτὸς οὗτος οὗ ἀπέστησεν Εζεκιας τὰ ὑψηλὰ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰ θυσιαστήρια αὐτοῦ καὶ εἶπεν τῷ Ιουδα καὶ τῇ Ιερουσαλημ ἐνώπιον τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου τούτου προσκυνήσετε ἐν Ιερουσαλημ, “And whereas thou hast said to me, We trust on the Lord God: is not this he, whose high places and altars Ezekias has removed, and has said to Juda and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?” Here the altar is not worshipped, but God is “before” the altar. Just as “before” does not of itself necessitate that the church itself receives the worship, so the connection of “worship” and the “feet” in Revelation 3:9 does not require this position. In Psalm 98:5, LXX, “worship the footstool of His feet” does not mean that the footstool itself is worshipped, but God is worshipped at the place where His “feet” are (cf. Psalm 131:7, LXX); God, not the footstool for the feet, receives the worship.
http://faithsaves.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/WorshipoftheSonofGod.pdf
John Gill: the conversion of the Jews is here intended. The worship here spoken of is not either a religious or civil worship of the church, for the church is not the object of worship; only before whom, and at whose feet, this worship shall be given to God in the most humble and hearty manner: the sense is, that the convinced and converted Jews shall come to the church, and in the most lowly and contrite manner acknowledge their former blindness, furious zeal, and violent hatred of the Christians, and shall profess their faith in Christ; shall join themselves to the church, and partake of the ordinances of the Gospel with them; and shall worship God and Jesus Christ, their Lord and King, in their presence, and at their feet.
https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/geb/revelation-3.html
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