Latreuo means `to serve for hire', and when related to God means

`to worship'.  It is used by Paul in Philippians 3:3.

Therapeuo is generally associated with medical service, and is

derived from therapeuein, `to wait on'.  It is from an old Sanskrit root

meaning `to maintain or support'.  It occurs but once, namely, in Acts 17:25,

`neither is worshipped with men's hands' which the R.V. translates `serve'.

Threskeia.  This word refers rather to ceremonial and ritual than

the inner meaning of worship.  It occurs in Colossians 2:18, where the word

is used of `the worshipping of angels' and, in combination with thelo, it

is found in Colossians 2:23, where it is translated `will -worship'.

The Old Testament uses three words, two of which need not detain us

long.  Segad is Chaldee, and is used in Daniel 3, where it means `to bow

down, do obeisance', and abad, which is Hebrew, and found translated

`worship' only in 2 Kings 10, where it speaks of the worship of Baal.  The

third word, shachah, is the equivalent of proskuneo.

Just as tubes of oil -paint do not produce on the mind the same effect

as a picture, so these words supply the material, but do not teach the true

meaning of worship.  It must be our delight as well as our duty to use these

materials, and under the guidance of the Spirit, to learn something of what

is meant by the worship of God.

The Hebrew words ebed, `a servant', and abad, `to serve', are familiar

in such names as Obadiah (`servant of Jah'), and Obed (`serving'), the son of

Ruth, and the father of Jesse.  The prophet Isaiah, also, has much to say of

Israel, the servant of the Lord, and of the Coming One, Who is called `My

Servant, Whom I uphold' (Isa. 42:1).  Ebed is the Hebrew equivalent of the

Greek doulos, a `bond -slave', as in Romans 1:1.

The word shachah, `worship', occurs upwards of one hundred and seventy

times in the Old Testament while abad occurs upwards of two hundred and

eighty times.  With numbers of this magnitude, the amount of labour involved

in determining the number of references in which `serve' and `worship' come

together can only be appreciated by those who have actually carried out

investigations of this kind.  We will not, therefore, be dogmatic, but so far

as we have investigated, it would seem that there is not a single passage in

the Old Testament where `serve' and `worship' come together when the context

is concerned with the worship of God.  On the other hand, there are nineteen

references where the two words come together in connection with the worship

of other gods.  We will not quote these nineteen passages in full, but the

reader may like to have the references:

Commands in the Law concerning `serving and worshipping' other gods

Exod. 20:5; Deut. 4:19; 5:9; 11:16; 17:3; 29:26; 30:17.

References to `serving and worshipping' other gods in the Prophets: 1

Kings 9:9; 16:31; 22:53; 2 Kings 21:3; 2 Chron. 7:22; 33:3; Jer. 13:10;

22:9; 25:6.

In one passage a discrimination is made between `worshippers' of Baal,

and `servants' of the Lord (2 Kings 10:23).  While these references were

being considered, we had at the back of our mind the well -known words, `thou

shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve'.  And yet

these words did not appear in any of the passages we had collected!  The

reader will hardly need to be reminded that the words concerned occur in