WORSHIP. Up to the 17th century, this word meant to give due honour or respect to

human beings as well as to God. "Then thou shalt have worship in the presence of them

that sit at meat with thee" (Luke 14: 10) just means "you will be honoured". In the

parable of the king and his servants recorded in Matt. 18: 23-35 we have "the servant

therefore fell down, and worshipped him (the king), saying . . . . .". This is equivalent to

the servant falling on his knees and imploring the king. Wyclif's version of John 12: 26

sounds strange today: "If any man serve Me, My Fadir schal worschip hym". The idea

of God worshipping a man is impossible in the modern meaning of the word. "My Father

will honour him" is what is really means.

In the N.T. proskuneo means to kneel in supplication to a human being in asking for a

favour, or to do this in worship of God. When referring to man it can be rendered "kneel

before" or "do obeisance". When used of God or the Lord Jesus Christ "worship" is the

normal translation. The context alone should decide. The older meaning is still retained

in such titles as "your worship" applied to mayors or magistrates.

WORTHY.  Not only does this word express worth or excellence, it is also used in

the A.V. in the sense of "deserving". "If the wicked man be worthy to be beaten"

(Deuteronomy 25: 2) means "deserves to be beaten". "Did commit things worthy of

stripes" (Luke 12: 48) would be rendered today "did what deserved a beating". When

Solomon said to Abiathar (I Kings 2: 26) ". . . . . thou art worthy of death", he meant,

"you deserve death". In Rev. 16: 6 in connection with the judgments of God on the

followers of the Beast, we read "For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and

Thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy". This means "they have their

due" or "as they deserve".

WREST.  This verb means to twist or pervert. "Thou shalt not wrest judgment"

means "you shall not pervert justice". Peter likewise talks of the opposers who "wrest"

or twist (the Scriptures) "to their own destruction" (II Pet. 3: 16). This is surely a

solemn warning to any who tamper with the Word of God.

YESTERNIGHT meaning last night occurs in Gen. 19: 34 and 31: 29. We still

retain "yesterday" but have dropped yestermorn, yesternoon and yesterweek.

In this series we have pointed out scores of English words used in our A.V. which are

obsolete or have completely changed their meaning since 1611. This is inevitable with

language which is always in a state of flux or change. Some words or expressions have

altered so much that they have now come to mean exactly the opposite to their usage in

the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. "By and by" is an example of this which today

means later on or presently. In 1611 it meant immediately, or at once.