Short answer
No. In these verses the English word "worship" stands for the Greek word proskuneo. It means to bow down or kneel before someone. People did this for kings and honoured men, not only for God (﷾). In one of Jesus' parables, a servant "worshipped" a king he owed money to. In Revelation, the last book of the Bible, Jesus says enemies of a church will "worship" before its members' feet. No one thinks that king or those Christians were God. After the disciples bowed to Jesus, Luke says they went to the temple "praising and blessing God". None of the scenes Christians cite records a prayer to Jesus. Jesus himself said God (﷾) alone is to be served. Islam teaches the same: the Qur'an records Jesus telling people to worship Allah (﷾), his Lord and theirs.
Full explanation
The verses Christians rely on
Christians point to four scenes. On the morning Christians call the resurrection, the women held Jesus by the feet. The disciples met him on the mountain. The man born blind bowed to him. And the letter to the Hebrews, a book of the New Testament, tells the angels to worship the Son. Christians read each as the worship owed only to God (﷾), given to Jesus and accepted by him.
“And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.”
“And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.”
“And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.”
“And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.”
What the Greek word means
The verb in every one of these verses is proskuneo. Strong's dictionary, a Bible word list made by James Strong, a nineteenth-century American scholar, defines it as crouching before someone, or prostrating oneself in homage. Jesus uses the same word in a parable about a servant and a king. The World English Bible, a modern English translation, renders it there as "knelt before him". Revelation uses it again for enemies who will bow at the feet of faithful Christians. So the word has two uses. One is the bow of honour given to kings and men. The other is the bow of worship given to God (﷾). Which one is meant depends on who receives it and why.
Defines proskuneo, the verb the KJV renders "worship", as to fawn or crouch to someone, that is, to prostrate oneself in homage: to do reverence to, or adore.
“The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.”
“The servant therefore fell down and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, have patience with me, and I will repay you all!’”
“Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.”
The same act given to kings
In 1 Chronicles all Israel bowed down to the LORD and to King David in one breath. The King James Bible says they "worshipped the Lord, and the king". The New Revised Standard Version is a modern scholarly translation. In it, the wise men who bowed to the infant Jesus knelt down and paid him homage.
“And David said to all the congregation, Now bless the Lord your God. And all the congregation blessed the Lord God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads, and worshipped the Lord, and the king.”
“And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.”
The NRSV translates the wise men's act in Matthew 2:11 as kneeling down and paying the child homage, not as worship.
| Verse | Who bows | To whom |
|---|---|---|
| Matthew 18:26 | A servant in Jesus' parable | A king he owed money to |
| Revelation 3:9 | Enemies of the church in Philadelphia | Its Christians: they will “worship before thy feet” |
| Matthew 2:11 | The wise men | The infant Jesus. The New Revised Standard Version says they “knelt down and paid him homage”. |
| Luke 24:52-53 | The disciples | Jesus. Then they were in the temple “praising and blessing God”. |
Proskuneo, the Greek word behind “worship” here, means to bow down or kneel. No one thinks that king or those Christians were God.
What the witnesses did next
Luke's account of the scene ends with the disciples in the temple praising and blessing God (﷾), not Jesus. Three verses after Hebrews tells the angels to bow to the Son, it tells the Son that God (﷾) is his God, who anointed him. And the man born blind had earlier called him a prophet.
“And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy: And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.”
“But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.”
“They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet.”
Whom Jesus said to worship
Jesus told Satan, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." The word for "serve" there is latreuo, the Greek word for religious service. In the four Gospels it is used only of serving God (﷾), and never of serving Jesus. In John's Gospel, on the morning Christians call the resurrection, he calls God "my God". Speaking from heaven in Revelation, he says it again. Jesus counted himself among the worshippers: "we know what we worship". The Qur'an says that on the Day of Judgement Jesus will testify that he only ever told people to worship Allah (﷾), his Lord and theirs.
“Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”
Defines latreuo, the verb the KJV renders "serve" in "him only shalt thou serve", as to minister to God, that is, to render religious homage.
“That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,”
“And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.”
“And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”
“Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.”
“Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.”
“Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.”
“And behold! Allah will say: "O Jesus the son of Mary! Didst thou say unto men, worship me and my mother as gods in derogation of Allah'?" He will say: "Glory to Thee! never could I say what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing, thou wouldst indeed have known it. Thou knowest what is in my heart, Thou I know not what is in Thine. For Thou knowest in full all that is hidden. "Never said I to them aught except what Thou didst command me to say, to wit, 'worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord'; and I was a witness over them whilst I dwelt amongst them; when Thou didst take me up Thou wast the Watcher over them, and Thou art a witness to all things.”
Verse by verse
Hebrews 1:6 — Epistle to the Hebrews, chapter 1, verse 6
“And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.”
Cited for
God commands the angels to worship the Son, and only God may be worshipped, so the Son is God.
The response
The verb is proskuneo, which the Bible also uses for the bow a servant gives a king (Matthew 18:26). Three verses later the same passage says to the Son, "God, even thy God, hath anointed thee". Verse 8 does call the Son "God", but it quotes a psalm written for a king's wedding. The very next verse names God as that king's God (﷾). The same psalm tells his bride, "he is thy Lord; and worship thou him". The one bowed to has a God above him who anointed him.
Where it lands — Hebrews itself calls God the Son's God (﷾), so the angels' bow does not make the Son God.
John 9:38 — Gospel of John, chapter 9, verse 38
“And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.”
Cited for
The healed man believed in Jesus and worshipped him as God.
The response
The man bows after Jesus asks if he believes on the Son of God. In the Bible Adam too is called "the son of God", so the title does not by itself mean God (﷾). Earlier the man had called Jesus a prophet. He falls down before the one who healed him, as people fell before prophets and kings.
Where it lands — He bowed to the one he had called a prophet, in the same act given to kings. So the verse does not show that Jesus is God.
Revelation 22:8-9 — Revelation of John, chapter 22, verses 8-9
“And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.”
Cited for
An angel refused John's worship, while Jesus accepted worship, so Jesus is God.
The response
Accepting a bow does not make anyone God. Israel bowed to King David alongside the LORD, and Revelation has Jesus promise that people will bow at the feet of faithful Christians. John fell before a heavenly messenger as an act of religious worship, and the angel sent it to God (﷾): "worship God". Jesus himself sends worship to God (﷾), and gave Satan the same rule. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon about 600 years before Jesus, fell on his face and worshipped Daniel. The Bible records no refusal from Daniel, and no one takes Daniel for God. In none of the Gospel scenes Christians cite here does anyone pray to him.
Where it lands — Men accept the bow of honour in the Bible without being God. The worship the angel refused is the worship Jesus himself sent to God (﷾) alone.
Perspectives
Mainstream Christian
Jesus received worship that belongs to God alone and did not refuse it. An angel refused the same act from John, so Jesus accepting it shows he is God.
The women, the disciples and the healed man all worshipped Jesus, and he accepted it.
Rebuttal
The word is proskuneo, the bow a servant gives a king in Jesus' own parable. Israel bowed to King David alongside the LORD, and Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, worshipped Daniel; neither David nor Daniel was God. None of the scenes Christians cite records a prayer to Jesus, and Luke ends with the disciples praising God (﷾).
An angel refused John's worship and told him to worship God, so accepting it marks Jesus as divine.
Rebuttal
The angel said he was a fellow servant, so John's religious worship belonged to God (﷾). A bow of honour is different: David and Daniel received one, with no refusal recorded, and neither was God. Jesus himself sent all religious worship to God (﷾) alone.
Hebrews commands the angels themselves to worship the Son.
Rebuttal
The same word is used for a servant bowing to a king. Three verses later the letter says to the Son, "God, even thy God, hath anointed thee". Verse 8 does call him "O God", but it quotes a psalm for a king's wedding, and that king too has a God above him.
The Islamic perspective
The Bible's word is the bowing given to kings and men of honour. Jesus directed all worship to God (﷾), and the Qur'an records him saying so.
The Greek verb proskuneo means to bow down or do homage. It is used of people as well as of God (﷾).
In Jesus' own parable a servant does proskuneo to a king who is plainly not God.
Revelation has Jesus promise that enemies will do proskuneo at the feet of the Christians of Philadelphia.
Israel bowed down to the LORD and to King David in the same breath.
None of the scenes Christians cite records a prayer to Jesus, and Luke ends with the disciples praising God (﷾).
Jesus said that God (﷾) alone is to be worshipped and served.
In the four Gospels, latreuo is the verb for religious service. It is used only of serving God (﷾), never of serving Jesus.
The Qur'an teaches that Jesus never asked to be worshipped. He told people to worship Allah (﷾), his Lord and theirs.