Strange Story: Esther 3  Did the Jews bow down to a king?

There is ample evidence in the Bible that Jews did bow down before their king, who was supposed to be functioning under the authority of God, the King over all Kings. It appears that they also bowed down to kings of foreign nations.

There are 172 instances in which the Hebrew word for “bow down” are used in the Old Testament. Many of these refer to bowing down in worship to God, or to a foreign god. But some refer to bowing down to kings or rulers.

I think there were many times when people bowed down before a king, but it is not mentioned in the text because it would be stating the obvious. Why mention it, if everyone knows it is always expected?

TIMES WHEN A GOD-FEARING JEW BOWED DOWN BEFORE A GOD-FEARING AUTHORITY FIGURE

Gen 48:12 – Joseph bowed down before his father. This tells us that one should respect all the authority figures one has over him. Joseph was second only to the Pharaoh, yet he still respected his father as he was taught to do. That is good and proper.

II Samuel 18:28 – Ahimaaz bowed down before king David even as he praised God for divine deliverance.

II Sam 24:20 Araunah, from whom David bought the threshing floor on which to offer sacrifices, bowed down before David. Both of these were devout followers of God wanting to do the right thing. Araunah would not have bowed down to King David if it was wrong, and David would not have accepted it.

I Kings 1:23  Nathan, the prophet, bowed down before king David.

I Chronicles 29:20 – David commanded all the people to “Praise the Lord your God!” and they all bowed with their faces to the ground and paid homage to God and the king. This passage shows that the Jewish people understood how authority was supposed to function. The earthly king did have authority and did deserve honor, respect, submission and obedience, but that was because he was the arm and hand of God on this earth for governmental leadership in a specific geographical location.

TIMES WHEN A GOD-FEARING JEW BOWED DOWN BEFORE A REBELLIOUS JEWISH AUTHORITY FIGURE

Gen 33:3 Jacob bowed down 7 times before his brother Esau

I Samuel 24:8  David prostrated himself before King Saul who was trying to kill him – i.e. not following God.

There are probably others and I will add them as I find them.

TIMES WHEN A JEW BOWED DOWN TO A FOREGN AUTHORITY FIGURE

Gen 42:6,  43:26, 28, 44:14, Joseph’s brothers bowed before him thinking he was an Egyptian who was second in command after Pharaoh.

We are not told specifically that Jews bowed down to the king while they were in foreign countries, but it can be assumed that they did, or they would have been killed.

It is beyond the bounds of reason to assume that the Jews were able to get the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Seleucids, and Romans to grant them an exemption which made bowing down to the king something that was not required of them.

The next story segment is: Esther 3 Did Mordecai bow down before King Xerxes or just to God?