Adoration
ADORATION
The act of rendering divine honors, including in it reverence, esteem, and love: this is called supreme, or absolute. The word is compounded or absolute. The word is compounded, of ad, “to,” and os oris, “mouth;” and literally signifies to apply the hand to the mouth, “to kiss the hand;” this being in the eastern countries, one of the great marks of respect and submission.
See Job 31:26-27.
The attitude of adoration, however, we find has not been confined to this mode; standing, kneeling, uncovering the head, prostration, bowing, lifting up the eyes to heaven, or sometimes fixing them upon the earth with the body bending forward; sitting with the under parts of the thighs resting on the heels, have all been used, as expressive of veneration and esteem.
1.Whatever be the form, however, it must be remembered, that adoration, as an act of worship, is due to God alone, Mat 4:10. Act 10:25-26. Rev 19:10. There is,
2.what may be called adoration human, or paying homage or respect to persons of great rank and dignity. This has been performed by bowing, bending the knee, falling on the face. The practice of adoration may be said to be still subsisting in England, in the ceremony of kissing the king’s or queen’s hand, and in serving them at table, both being performed kneeling on one knee. There is also
3.adoration relative, which consists in worship paid to an object as belonging to or representative of another. In this sense the Romanists profess to adore the cross not simply or immediately, but in respect of Jesus Christ, whom they suppose to be on it. This is generally, however, considered by protestants, as coming little short of idolatry.
4.See IDOLATRY.
Fuente: Theological Dictionary
adoration
(Latin: ad, to; orare, to pray; or os, oris, mouth: from the pagan custom of expressing preference for a god by wafting a kiss to the statue)
An act of religion offered to God alone in recognition of His infinite perfection and supreme dominion, and of the creature’s dependence on Him. It is an act of mind and will expressing itself exteriorly by postures of reverence and prayers of praise. It is loosely used to express admiration and affection for creatures.
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Adoration
In the strict sense, an act of religion offered to God in acknowledgment of His supreme perfection and dominion, and of the creature’s dependence upon Him; in a looser sense, the reverence shown to any person or object possessing, inherently or by association, a sacred character or a high degree of moral excellence. The rational creature, looking up to God, whom reason and revelation show to be infinitely perfect, cannot in right and justice maintain an attitude of indifference. That perfection which is infinite in itself and the source and fulfilment of all the good that we possess or shall possess, we must worship, acknowledging its immensity, and submiting to its supremacy. This worship called forth by God, and given exclusively to Him as God, is designated by the Greek name latreia (latinized, latria), for which the best translation that our language affords is the word Adoration. Adoration differs from other acts of worship, such as supplication, confession of sin, etc., inasmuch as it formally consists in self-abasement before the Infinite, and in devout recognition of His transcendent excellence. An admirable example of adoration is given in the Apocalypse vii 11, 12: “And all the angels stood rouud about the throne, and about the ancients, and about the living creatures; and they fell before the throne upon their faces, and adored God, saying: Amen. Beneditiction and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, honour, and power, and strength to our God. forever and ever. Amen.” The revealed precept to adore god was spoken to Moses upon Sinai and reaffirmed in the words of Christ: “The Lord thy God thou shalt adore, and Him only shalt thou serve” (Matthew 4:10).
The primary and fundamental element in adoration is an interior act of mind and will; the mind perceiving that God’s perfection is infinite, the will bidding us to extol and worship this perfection. Without some measure of this interior adoration “in spirit and in truth” it is evident that any outward show of divine worship would be mere pantomime and falsehood. But equally evident is that the adoration felt within will seek outward expression. Human nature demands physical utterance of some sort for its spiritual and emotional moods; and it is to this instinct for self-expression that our whole apparatus of speech and gesture is due. To Suppress this instinct in religion would be as unreasonable as to repress it in any other province of our experience. Moreover, it would do religious grievous harm to check its tendency to outward manifestation, since the external expression reacts upon the interior sentiment, quickening, strengthening, and sustaining it. As St Thomas teaches: “it is connatural for us to pass from the physical signs to the spiritual basis upon which they rest” (Summa II-II:48:2). It is to be expected, then, that men should have agreed upon certain conventional actions as expressing adoration of the Supreme Being. Of these actions, one has pre-eminently and exclusivly signified adoration, and that is sacrifice. Other acts have been widely used for the same purpose, but most of of them — sacrifice always excepted — have not been exclusively reserved for Divine worship; they have also been employed to manifest friendship, or reverence for high personages. Thus Abram “fell flat on his face” before the Lord (Genesis 17:3). This was clearly an act of adoration in its highest sense; yet that it could have other meaning, we know from, e. g., I Kings, xx, 41, which says that David adored “falling on his face to the ground” before Jonathan, who had come to warn him of Saul’s hatred. In like manner Gen xxxi;; 3 narrates tbat Jacob, on meeting his brother Esau “bowed down with he face to the ground seven times”. We read of other forms of adoration among the Hebrews, such as taking off the shoes (Exod. iii, 5), bowing (Gen. xxiv, 26), and we are told that the contrite publican stood when he prayed, and that St Paul knelt when he worshipped with the elders of Ephesus. Among the early Christians it was common to adore God, standing with outstretched arms and facing the east. Finally, we ought perhaps to mention the act of pagan adoration which seems to contain the etymological explanation of our word adoration. The word adoratio very probably originated from the phrase (manum) ad os (mittere), which designated the act of kissing the hand to the statue of the god one wished to honour. Concerning the verbal manifestation of adoration — that is, the prayer of praise – explanation is not necessary. The connection between our inner feelings and their articulate utterance is obvious.
Thus far we have spoken of the worship given directly to God as the infinitely perfect Being. It is clear that adoration in this sense can be offered to no finite object. Still, the impulse that leads us to worship God’s perfection in itself will move us also to venerate the traces and bestowals of that perfection as it appears conspicuously in saintly men and women. Even to inanimate objects, which for one reason or another strikingly recall the excellence, majesty, love, or mercy of God, we naturally pay some measure of reverence. The goodness which these creatures possess by participation or association is a reflection of God’s goodness; by honouring them in the proper way we offer tribute to the Giver of all good. He is the ultimate end of our worship in such cases as He is the source of the derived perfection which called it forth. But, as was intimated above, whenever the immediate object of our veneration is a creature of this sort, the mode of worship which we exhibit towards it is fundamentally different from the worship which belongs to God alone. Latria, as we have already said, is the name of this latter worship; and for the secondary kind, evoked by saints or angels, we use the term dulia. The Blessed Virgin, as manifesting in a sublimer manner than any other creature the goodness of God, deserves from us a higher recognition and deeper veneration than any other of the saints; and this peculiar cultus due to her because of her unique position in the Divine economy, is designated in theology hyperdulia, that is dulia in an eminent degree. It is unfortunate that neither our own language nor the Latin possesses in its terminology the precision of the Greek. The word latria is never applied in any other sense than that of the incommunicable adoration which is due to God alone. But in English the words adore and worship are still sometimes used, and in the past were commonly so used, to mean also inferior species of religious veneration and even to express admiration or affection for persons living upon the earth. So David “adored” Jonathan. In like manner Miphiboseth “fell on his face and worshipped” David (2 Samuel 9:6). Tennyson says that Enid in her true heart, adored the queen. Those who perforce adopted these modes of expression understood perfectly well what was meant by them and were in no danger of thereby encroaching upon the rights of the Divinity. It is hardly needful to remark that Catholics, too, even the most unlearned, are in no peril of confounding the adoration due to God with the religious honour given to any finite creature even when the word worship, owing to the poverty of our language, is applied to both. The Seventh General Council, in 757, puts the natter in a few words when it says that “true latria is to be given to God alone”; and the Council of Trent (Sess. XXV) makes clear the difference between invocation of saints and idolatry.
A few words may be added in conclusion on the offences which conflict with the adoration of God. They may be summed up under three categories: worship offered to false gods; worship offered to the true God, but in a false, unworthy and scandalous manner; and blasphemy. The first class comprises sins of idolatry. The second class embraces sins of superstition. These may take manifold forms, to be treated under separate titles. Suffice it to say that vain observances which neglect the essential thing in the worship of God and make much of purely accidental features or which bring it into contempt through fantastic and puerile excesses, are emphatically repudiated in Catholic theology. Honouring, or pretending to honour, God by mystic numbers or magical phrases, as though adoration consisted chiefly in the number or the physical utterance of the phrases, belongs to the Jewish Cabbala or pagan mythology, not to the worship of the Most High. (see BLASPHEMY; IDOLATRY; MARY; SAINTS; WORSHIP.)
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WILLIAM L. SULLIVAN Transcribed by Michael C. Tinkler
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume ICopyright © 1907 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Adoration
an act of worship to a superior being; strictly due to God alone, but performed to other objects also, whether idols or men. The word adore may be derived from (manum) ad os (mittere), or the custom of kissing the hand in token of respect. The Greek term implies the prostration of the body as a sign of reverence. SEE WORSHIP.
1. The Hebrew forms of adoration or worship were various; putting off the shoes, standing, bowing, kneeling, prostration, and kissing (Exo 3:5; Jos 5:15; Psa 2:12; Gen 41:40-43; Gen 43:26-28; Dan 2:46; Mat 27:9; Luk 7:38; Rev 19:20). SEE ATTITUDES. In this last sense the term (in its Latin signification as above) is descriptive of an act of worship alluded to in Scripture: If I had beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon, walking in brightness; and my heart had been secretly enticed, or my mouth had kissed my hand; this also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge (Job 31:26-28); a passage which clearly intimates that kissing the hand was considered an overt act of worship in the East (see Kiesling, in the Miscell. Lips. Nov. 9, 595 sq.). SEE ASTROLOGY. So Minutius Felix (De Sacrific. cap. 2, ad fin.)
remarks, that when Caecilius observed the statue of Serapis, according to the custom of the superstitious vulgar, he moved his hand to his mouth, and kissed it with his lips. The same act was used as a mark of respect in the presence of kings and persons high in office or station. Or rather, perhaps, the hand was not merely kissed and then withdrawn from the mouth, but held continuously before or upon the mouth, to which allusion is made in such texts as Jdg 18:10; Job 21:5; Job 29:9; Job 40:4; Psa 39:9; in which laying the hand upon the mouth is used to describe the highest degree of reverence and submission; as such this posture is exhibited on the monuments of Persia and of Egypt. SEE SALUTATION.
The acts and postures by which the Hebrews expressed adoration bear a great similarity to those still in use among Oriental nations. To rise up and suddenly prostrate the body was the most simple method; but generally speaking, the prostration was conducted in a more formal manner, the person falling upon the knee, and then gradually inclining the body until the forehead touched the ground. The various expressions in Hebrew referring to this custom appear to have their specific meaning: thus (naphal, to fall down, ) describes the sudden fall; (kara, to bend, ), bending the knee; (kadad, to stoop, ), the inclination of the head and body; and, lastly, (shachah, to bow, ), complete prostration; the term (sagad, to prostrate ones self, Isa 44:15; Isa 44:17; Isa 44:19; Isa 46:6) was introduced at a late period as appropriate to the worship paid to idols by the Babylonians and other Eastern nations (Dan 3:5-6). Such prostration was usual in the worship of Jehovah (Gen 17:3; Psa 95:6); but it was by no means exclusively used for that purpose; it was the formal mode of receiving visitors (Gen 18:2), of doing obeisance to one of superior station (2Sa 14:4), and of showing respect to equals (1Ki 2:19). Occasionally it was repeated three times (1Sa 20:41), and even seven times (Gen 33:3). It was accompanied by such acts as a kiss (Exo 18:7), laying hold of the knees or feet of the person to whom the adoration was paid (Mat 28:9), and kissing the ground on which he stood (Psa 72:9; Mic 7:17). Similar adoration was paid to idols (1Ki 19:18); sometimes, however, prostration was omitted, and the act consisted simply in kissing the hand to the object of reverence (as above) in the manner practiced by the Romans (Pliny 28:5; see Smiths Dict. of Class. Antiq. s.v. Adoratio), or in kissing the statue itself (Hos 13:2). The same customs prevailed at the time of our Saviors ministry, as appears not only from the numerous occasions on which they were put in practice toward himself, but also from the parable of the unmerciful servant (Mat 18:26), and from Corneliuss reverence to Peter (Act 10:25), in which case it was objected to by the apostle, as implying a higher degree of superiority than he was entitled to, especially from a Roman, to whom it was not usual.
2. The adoration performed to the Roman and Grecian emperors consisted in bowing or kneeling at the princes feet, laying hold of his purple robe, and then bringing the hand to the lips. Some attribute the origin of this practice to Constantius. Bare kneeling before the emperor to deliver a petition was also called adoration. It is particularly said of Diocletian that he had gems fastened to his shoes, that divine honors might be more willingly paid him by kissing his feet. And this mode of adoration was continued till the last age of the Greek monarchy. The practice of adoration may be said to be still subsisting in England in the custom of kissing the kings or queens hand.
3. Adoration is also used in the court of Rome in the ceremony of kissing the popes feet. It is not certain at what period this practice was introduced into the Church; but it was probably borrowed from the Byzantine court, and accompanied the temporal power. Baronius pretends that examples of this homage to the popes occur so early as the year 204. These prelates, finding a vehement disposition in the people to fall down before them and kiss their feet, procured crucifixes to be fastened on their slippers, by which stratagem the adoration intended for the popes person is supposed to be transferred to Christ. Divers acts of this adoration we find offered even by princes to the pope, and Gregory XIII claims this act of homage as a duty.
Adoration properly is paid only to the pope when placed on the altar, in which posture the cardinals, conclavists, alone are admitted to kiss his feet. The people are afterward admitted to do the like at St. Peters church; the ceremony is described at large by Guicciardini.
4. In the Roman worship it is said that to adore the cross, the saints, relics, and images, is to prostrate ones self before them, and to pay them a lower degree of worship, inferior to that which is due to God alone. Adoration is paid to the Host (q.v.) on the theory that Christ is bodily present in the Eucharist. SEE IMAGES.
In the Greek communion they pay, says Dr. King, a secondary adoration to the Virgin Mary and the saints, but they deny that they adore them as believing them to be gods; the homage paid to them is, as they define it, only a respect due to those who are cleansed from original sin and admitted to minister to the Deity. SEE DULIA; SEE HYPERDULIA.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Adoration
(See Adore.)
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
Adoration
ADORATION.The word is not found in AV [Note: Authorized Version.] or RV [Note: Revised Version.] , and even for the verb RV [Note: Revised Version.] substitutes worship in Bel 4; but both the idea and its expression in act are frequent.
Amongst the Hebrews the postures and gestures expressive of adoration underwent slight change in the course of time. Kissing the statue of a god (1Ki 19:18, Hos 13:2; cf. Job 31:27) was an early Arab. [Note: Arabic.] custom, and became a technical meaning of adoratio amongst the Romans; but in this usage the sense is identical with that of worship. Adoration proper was expressed by prostration to the ground, or even by lying prone with the face touching the ground (Gen 17:3, Jos 5:14, Job 1:20, Psa 95:6; Psa 99:5, Dan 3:5). As elsewhere, this posture was not at first confined to intercourse with God. As an act of special courtesy it was adopted towards kings (2Sa 14:4), towards strangers of mysterious quality (Gen 18:2), as an expression of close and respectful attachment (1Sa 20:41), or with the design to conciliate (Gen 33:3, 1Sa 25:23, Est 8:3, Mat 18:26), or to honour (2Ki 4:37). Sat before the Lord (2Sa 7:18) may refer to a special and solemn mode of sitting, as in 1Ki 18:42; the Arabs are said to have sat during a part of their worship in such a way that the head could easily be bent forward and made to touch the ground.
Outside the Christian sphere, prostration continued in the East to be a mark of submission and homage, rendered to such men as were for any reason or even by convention invested in thought with Divine qualities or powers. The NT, by example and less frequently by precept, confines this fullest mode of worship to God, and protests against its use towards men. Jairus act (Mar 5:22, Luk 8:41) was prompted by intense yearning, a fathers self-abandonment in the sore sickness of his child, and must not be taken as implying a full recognition of Christs Divinity. Like Marys posture at Bethany (Joh 11:32), it was a preparation for the attitude of the disciples after their visit to the empty tomb (Mat 28:9). Whatever Cornelius intended (Act 10:25 f.), Peter found an opportunity to lay down the rule that no man under any circumstances is an appropriate object of adoration; and John repeats that rule twice not far from the end of Scripture (Rev 19:10; Rev 22:8 f.). The attempt to alienate from God His peculiar honours is a work of Satan (Mat 4:9); and adoration naturally follows a conviction of the presence of God (1Co 14:25).
R. W. Moss.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Adoration
See Adore
Fuente: The Poor Mans Concordance and Dictionary to the Sacred Scriptures
Adoration
ad-o-rashun: Though this word never occurs in English Versions, it represents aspects of worship which are very prominent in the Bible.
I. Etymology
The word is derived from Latin adorare = (1) to speak to, (2) to beseech, entreat, (3) to do homage, to worship; from the Latin, os (oris), mouth. Some have supposed that the root os points to the Roman practice of applying the hand to the mouth, i.e. kissing the hand to (a person or thing), as a token of homage.
II. Meaning
Adoration is intense admiration culminating in reverence and worship, together with the outward acts and attitudes which accompany such reverence. It thus includes both the subjective sentiments, or feelings of the soul, in the presence of some superior object or person, and the appropriate physical expressions of such sentiments in outward acts of homage or of worship. In its widest sense it includes reverence to beings other than God, especially to monarchs, who in oriental countries were regarded with feelings of awe. But it finds its highest expression in religion. Adoration is perhaps the highest type of worship, involving the reverent and rapt contemplation of the Divine perfections and prerogatives, the acknowledgment of them in words of praise, together with the visible symbols and postures that express the adoring attitude of the creature in the presence of his Creator. It is the expression of the soul’s mystical realization of God’s presence in His transcendent greatness, holiness and lovingkindness. As a form of prayer, adoration is to be distinguished from other forms, such as petition, thanksgiving, confession and intercession.
III. Outward Postures
In the Old Testament and New Testament, these are similar to those which prevailed in all oriental countries, as amply illustrated by the monuments of Egypt and Assyria, and by the customs still in use among the nations of the East. The chief attitudes referred to in the Bible are the following:
1. Prostration
Among the Orientals, especially Persians, prostration (i.e. falling upon the knees, then gradually inclining the body, until the forehead touched the ground) was common as an expression of profound reverence and humility before a superior or a benefactor. It was practiced in the worship of Yahweh (Gen 17:3; Num 16:45; Mat 26:39, Jesus in Gethsemane; Rev 1:17), and of idols (2Ki 5:18; Dan 3:5, Dan 3:6), but was by no means confined to religious exercises. It was the formal method of supplicating or doing obeisance to a superior (e.g. 1Sa 25:23; 2Ki 4:37; Est 8:3; Mar 5:22; Joh 11:32).
2. Kneeling
A substitute for prostration was kneeling, a common attitude in worship, frequently mentioned in Old Testament and New Testament (e.g. 1Ki 8:54; Ezr 9:5; Psa 95:6; Isa 45:23; Luk 22:41, Christ in Gethsemane; Act 7:60; Eph 3:14). The same attitude was sometimes adopted in paying homage to a fellow-creature, as in 2Ki 1:13. Sitting as an attitude of prayer (only 2Sa 7:18 parallel 1Ch 17:16) was probably a form of kneeling, as in Mahometan worship.
3. Standing
This was the most usual posture in prayer, like that of modern Jews in public worship. Abraham stood before Yahweh (Jehovah) when he interceded for Sodom (Gen 18:22). Compare 1Sa 1:26. The Pharisee in the parable stood and prayed (Luk 18:11), and the hypocrites are said to pray standing in the synagogues, and in the corners of the streets (Mat 6:5 the King James Version).
4. The Hands
The above postures were accompanied by various attitudes of the hands, which were either lifted up toward heaven (Psa 63:4; 1Ti 2:8), or outspread (Exo 9:29; Ezr 9:5; Isa 1:15), or both (1Ki 8:54).
5. Kiss of Adoration
The heathen practice of kissing hands to the heavenly bodies as a sign of adoration is referred to in Job 31:27, and of kissing the idol in 1Ki 19:18; Hos 13:2. The kiss of homage is mentioned in Psa 2:12, if the text there be correct. Kissing hands to the object of adoration was customary among the Romans (Pliny xxviii.5). The New Testament word for worship (proskuneo) literally means to kiss (the hand) to (one). See also ATTITUDES.
IV. Objects of Adoration
The only adequate object of adoration is the Supreme Being. He only who is the sum of all perfections can fully satisfy man’s instincts of reverence, and elicit the complete homage of his soul.
1. Fellow-Creatures
Yet, as already suggested, the crude beginnings of religious adoration are to be found in the respect paid to created beings regarded as possessing superior claims and powers, especially to kings and rulers. As instances we may mention the woman of Tekoa falling on her face to do obeisance to king David (2Sa 14:4), and the king’s servants bowing down to do reverence to Haman (Est 3:2). Compare Rth 2:10; 1Sa 20:41; 2Sa 1:2; 2Sa 14:22.
2. Material Objects
On a higher plane, as involving some recognition of divinity, is the homage paid to august and mysterious objects in Nature, or to phenomena in the physical world which were supposed to have some divine significance. To give reverence to material objects themselves is condemned as idolatry throughout the Old Testament. Such an example is the case with the worship of the host of heaven (the heavenly bodies) sometimes practiced by the Hebrews (2Ki 17:16; 2Ki 21:3, 2Ki 21:5). So Job protests that he never proved false to God by kissing hands to the sun and moon in token of adoration (Job 31:26-28). We have reference in the Old Testament to acts of homage paid to an idol or an image, such as falling down before it (Isa 44:15, Isa 44:17, Isa 44:19; Dan 3:7), or kissing it (1Ki 19:18; Hos 13:2). All such practices are condemned in uncompromising terms. But when material things produce a reverential attitude, not to themselves, but to the Deity whose presence they symbolize, then they are regarded as legitimate aids to devotion; e.g. fire as a manifestation of the Divine presence is described as causing the spectator to perform acts of reverence (e.g. Exo 3:2, Exo 3:5; Lev 9:24; 1Ki 18:38). In these instances, it was Yahweh Himself that was worshipped, not the fire which revealed Him. The sacred writers are moved to religious adoration by the contemplation of the glories of Nature. To them, the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth his handiwork. (Compare especially the nature Psalms Psa 8:1-9; Psa 19:1-14; Psa 29:1-11; 104.)
3. Angels
On a still higher plane is the adoration practiced in the presence of supernatural agents of the Divine will. When an angel of God appeared, men fell instinctively before him in reverence and awe (e.g. Gen 18:2; Gen 19:1; Num 22:31; Jdg 13:20; Luk 24:4, Luk 24:5). This was not to worship the creature instead of the Creator, for the angel was regarded, not as a distract individual having an existence and character of his own, but as a theophany, a self-manifestation of God.
4. The Deity
The highest form of adoration is that which is directed immediately to God Himself, His kingly attributes and spiritual excellencies being so apprehended by the soul that it is filled with rapture and praise, and is moved to do Him reverence. A classical instance is the vision that initiated Isaiah into the prophetic office, when he was so possessed with the sovereignty and sublimity of God that he was filled with wonder and self-abasement (Isa 6:1-5). In the Old Testament, the literature of adoration reaches its high-water mark in the Psalms (compare especially the group Psalms 95 through 100), where the ineffable majesty, power and holiness of God are set forth in lofty strains. In the New Testament, adoration of the Deity finds its most rapturous expression in Rev, where the vision of God calls forth a chorus of praise addressed to the thrice-holy God (Psa 4:8 -11; Psa 7:11, Psa 7:12), with whom is associated the Redeemer-Lamb.
5. Jesus Christ
How far is Jesus regarded in the New Testament as an object of adoration, seeing that adoration is befitting only to God? During our Lord’s lifetime He was often the object of worship (Mat 2:11; Mat 8:2; Mat 9:18; Mat 14:33; Mat 15:25; Mat 20:20; Mat 28:9, Mat 28:17; Mar 5:6; Joh 9:38). Some ambiguity, however, belongs to the Greek word proskunen, for while it is the usual word for worshipping God (e.g. Joh 4:24), in some contexts it means no more than paying homage to a person of superior rank by kneeling or prostration, just as the unmerciful servant is said to have ‘fallen down and worshipped’ his master the king (Mat 18:26), and as Josephus speaks of the Jewish high priests as proskunoumenoi (BJ, IV, v, 2). On the other hand, it certainly implies a consciousness, on the part of those who paid this respect to Jesus, and of Jesus Himself, of a very exceptional superiority in His person, for the same homage was refused by Peter, when offered to him by Cornelius, on the ground that he himself also was a man (Act 10:25), and even by the angel before whom John prostrated himself, on the ground that God alone was to be worshipped (Rev 22:8, Rev 22:9). Yet Jesus never repudiated such tokens of respect. But whatever about the days of His flesh, there is no doubt that after the ascension Christ became to the church the object of adoration as Divine, and the homage paid to Him was indistinguishable in character from that paid to God. This is proved not only by isolated passages, but still more by the whole tone of the Acts and epistles in relation to Him. This adoration reaches its highest expression in Rev 5:9-14, where the Redeemer-Lamb who shares the throne of God is the subject of an outburst of adoring praise on the part of the angelic hosts. In Rev 4:8-11 the hymn of adoration is addressed to the Lord God Almighty, the Creator; here it is addressed to the Lamb on the ground of His redeeming work. In Rev the adoration of Him who sitteth on the throne and that of the Lamb flow together into one stream of ecstatic praise (compare Rev 7:9-11).
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Adoration
Fig. 7Adoration by hand upon mouth
This word is compounded of ad ‘to,’ and os, oris, ‘the mouth,’ and literally signifies to apply the hand to the mouth, that is, ‘to kiss the hand.’ The act is described in Scripture as one of worship (Job 31:26-27). And this very clearly intimates that kissing the hand was considered an overt act of worship in the East.
Fig. 8Adoration
The same act was used as a mark of respect in the presence of kings and persons high in office or station. Or rather, perhaps, the hand was not merely kissed and then withdrawn from the mouth, but held continuously before or upon the mouth, to which allusion is made in such texts as Jdg 18:19; Job 21:5; Job 29:9; Job 40:4; Psa 39:9. In one of the sculptures at Persepolis a king is seated on his throne, and before him a person standing in a bent posture, with his hand laid upon his mouth as he addresses the sovereign (fig. 7). Exactly the same attitude is observed in the sculptures at Thebes, where one person, among several (in various postures of respect) who appear before the scribes to be registered, has his hand placed thus submissively upon his mouth (fig. 8).
Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature
Adoration
This word does not occur in the Authorised Version, but there are several attitudes described that form part of the outward acts of adoration which may be well considered under this title, leaving inward adoration to the article on WORSHIP. The homage given may be to God, to the Lord Jesus, to an idol, or by one man to another.
1. Bowing, bowing down. “O come, let us worship and bow down.” Psa 95:6. It was forbidden to be paid to images, Exo 20:5, but was often done. Num 25:2. Joseph’s brethren bowed down before him. Gen 42:6.
2. Kneeling, bowing the knee. To God. Isa 45:23; Eph 3:14. To the Lord Jesus every knee shall bow, even those under the earth. Php 2:10: it was done in mockery, Mar 15:19; and in sincerity, Mat 17:14. To Joseph, Gen 41:43.
3. Falling down before. Demanded by Nebuchadnezzar in honour of his image, Dan 3:5; requested by Satan, at the temptation of our Lord, Mat 4:9; paid to the Lord when an infant by the wise men, and often in the Gospels, Mat 2:11; Mar 5:33; Luk 5:8; Joh 11:32; and in heaven by the elders to God and the Lord Jesus, Rev 4:10; Rev 5:8; Rev 5:14; Rev 19:4.
4. Kissing . In idolatry, 1Ki 19:18; Hos 13:2. To the sun and moon by kissing the hand, Job 31:26-27. (Tacitus, Hist. iii. 24, says that in Syria they salute the rising sun; and that this was done by kissing the hand.) All the above actions are portrayed on ancient monuments. The word ‘worship’ in the Authorised Version of the N.T. often signifies ‘homage,’ such as one man gives to another in authority, or to one he wishes to honour, rather than ‘worship’ in the sense which that word now conveys.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Adoration
Adoration. The acts and postures by which the Hebrews expressed adoration bear a great similarity to those still in use among Oriental nations. To rise up and suddenly prostrate the body was the most simple method; but, generally speaking, the prostration was conducted in a more formal manner, the person falling upon the knee and then gradually inclining the body until the forehead touched the ground.
Such prostration was usual in the worship of Jehovah, Gen 17:3; Psa 95:6, it was the formal mode of receiving visitors, Gen 18:2, of doing obeisance to one of superior station, 2Sa 14:4, and of showing respect to equals. 1Ki 2:19.
It was accompanied by such acts as a kiss, Exo 18:7, laying hold of the knees or feet of the person to whom the adoration was paid, Mat 28:9, and kissing the ground on which he stood. Psa 72:9; Mic 7:17.
Similar adoration was paid to idols, 1Ki 19:18, sometimes, however, the act consisted simply in kissing the hand to the object of reverence, Job 31:27, and in kissing the statue itself. Hos 13:2.
Fuente: Smith’s Bible Dictionary
Adoration
the act of rendering divine honours; or of addressing God or any other being as supposing it to be God. (See Worship.) The word is compounded of ad, to, and os, mouth; and literally signifies to apply the hand to the mouth; manum ad os admovere, to kiss the hand; this being in eastern countries one of the great marks of respect and submission. To this mode of idolatrous worship Job refers, Job 31:26-27. See also 1Ki 19:18.
The Jewish manner of adoration was by prostration, bowing, and kneeling. The Christians adopted the Grecian, rather than the Roman, method, and always adored uncovered. The ordinary posture of the ancient Christians was kneeling; but on Sundays, standing.
ADORATION is also used for certain extraordinary acts of civil honour, which resemble those paid to the Deity, yet are given to men.
We read of adorations paid to kings, princes, emperors, popes, bishops, abbots, &c., by kneeling, falling prostrate, kissing the feet, hands, garments, &c.
The Persian manner of adoration, introduced by Cyrus, was by bending the knee, and falling on the face at the prince’s feet, striking the earth with the forehead, and kissing the ground. This was an indispensable condition on the part of foreign ministers and ambassadors, as well as the king’s own vassals, of being admitted to audience, and of obtaining any favour. This token of reverence was ordered to be paid to their favourites as well as to themselves, as we learn from the history of Haman and Mordecai, in the book of Esther; and even to their statues and images; for Philostratus informs us that, in the time of Apollonius, a golden statue of the king was exposed to all who entered Babylon, and none but those who adored it were admitted within the gates. The ceremony, which the Greeks called , Conon refused to perform to Artaxerxes, and Callisthenes to Alexander the Great, as reputing it impious and unlawful.
The adoration performed to the Roman and Grecian emperors consisted in bowing or kneeling at the prince’s feet, laying hold of his purple robe, and then bringing the hand to the lips. Some attribute the origin of this practice to Constantius. They were only persons of rank or dignity that were entitled to the honour. Bare kneeling before the emperor to deliver a petition, was also called adoration.
It is particularly said of Dioclesian, that he had gems fastened to his shoes, that divine honours might be more willingly paid him, by kissing his feet. And this mode of adoration was continued till the last age of the Greek monarchy. When any one pays his respects to the king of Achen in Sumatra, he first takes off his shoes and stockings, and leaves them at the door.
The practice of adoration may be said to be still subsisting in England, in the custom of kissing the king’s or queen’s hand.
Adoration is also used in the court of Rome, in the ceremony of kissing the pope’s feet. It is not certain at what period this practice was introduced into the church: but it was probably borrowed from the Byzantine court, and accompanied the temporal power. Dr. Maclaine, in the chronological table which he has subjoined to his translation of Mosheim’s Ecclesiastical History, places its introduction in the eighth century, immediately after the grant of Pepin and Charlemagne. Baronius traces it to a much higher antiquity, and pretends that examples of this homage to the vicars of Christ occur so early as the year 204. These prelates finding a vehement disposition in the people to fall down before them, and kiss their feet, procured crucifixes to be fastened on their slippers; by which stratagem, the adoration intended for the pope’s person is supposed to be transferred to Christ. Divers acts of this adoration we find offered even by princes to the pope; and Gregory XIII, claims this act of homage as a duty.
Adoration properly is paid only to the pope when placed on the altar, in which posture the cardinals, conclavists, alone are admitted to kiss his feet. The people are afterward admitted to do the like at St. Peter’s church; the ceremony is described at large by Guicciardin.
Adoration is more particularly used for kissing one’s hand in presence of another as a token of reverence. The Jews adored by kissing their hands, and bowing down their heads; whence in their language kissing is properly used for adoration. This illustrates a passage in Psalm it, Kiss the Son lest he be angry;that is, pay him homage and worship. It was the practice among the Greek Christians to worship with the head uncovered, 1 Corinthians xi; but in the east the ancient custom of worshipping with the head covered was retained.