TO BOW DOWN — to prostrate oneself, face to the ground; the ordinary courtesy to a king or a stranger of rank, and the posture of worship, in one verb. Jacob bows to Esau seven times with it (Genesis 33:3, already on these pages); the second commandment forbids it to images (Exodus 20:5); and the Greek that translates it, proskyneō, is the verb Jesus quotes in the wilderness, you shall bow before the Lord your God (Matthew 4:10, both already on these pages). ⭐ In Deuteronomy the second-person form ve-hishtachavita, and you shall bow down, stands in five verses of the book, and four are warnings — the sun, moon and stars at 4:19, other gods at 8:19, 11:16 and 30:17. The one time the book commands it toward Jehovah is over a basket of firstfruits, 26:10. ⚠ The form is a rare stem, and the lexicons now derive it from a root meaning to coil or sink down rather than from shachah; the meaning is not in doubt, only the grammar. → first discussed at Deut 26:10