What Does Matthew 4:10 Mean?
Then Jesus said to him, Go away, Adversary, for it is written, You shall bow down to the LORD your God, and serve him alone.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
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.THE KEY
The verse binds the body’s bow to the life’s service: what receives your bow receives your labor.
THE MEANING
The Adversary’s claim meets a clear boundary: the LORD alone receives the bow and the service. Allegiance appears in both posture and action, not as a sacred gesture separated from the life that follows.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse dissolves the belief that you can bow to God in worship while giving your deepest service to a rival power and keep those allegiances separate.
THE ROOT
προσκυνήσεις
proskynēseis
GROWS FROM
προσκυν-
proskyn-
Bow down; prostrate oneself.
“bow down” in this verse is proskynēseis. The Greek verb translated “worship” names bowing down before someone. Jesus joins that bodily posture to service, making allegiance visible in both the body’s direction and the life it gives.
ALSO GROWS
proskyneō: To bow down; to prostrate oneself.
προσκυνέω
This is the verb’s dictionary form, sharing the προσκυν- (proskyn-) stem and making the posture in the verse concrete.
proskynēsis: Bowing down; prostration.
προσκύνησις
This noun shares the same προσκυν- (proskyn-) stem and names the act that the verse connects to service.
λατρεύσεις
latreuseis
GROWS FROM
λατρ-
latr-
Render service; serve.
“serve” in this verse is latreuseis. The verse does not leave allegiance at the moment of bowing: it carries into service. The same root names both the act of serving and the service rendered, linking devotion to the life put at its disposal.
ALSO GROWS
latreuō: To serve; render service.
λατρεύω
This is the verb’s dictionary form, sharing the λατρ- (latr-) stem with the verse’s word for serve.
latreia: Service; worshipful service.
λατρεία
This noun shares the λατρ- (latr-) stem and shows service as an ongoing practice, not only a gesture.
μόνῳ
monō
GROWS FROM
μον-
mon-
Alone; only; single.
The word “only” grammatically narrows the object of service to one: him alone. Exclusivity is part of the sentence’s structure, not merely an emphasis added by English.
ALSO GROWS
monos: Alone; only; single.
μόνος
This is the base form sharing the μον- (mon-) stem, which marks the one without a second.
monogenēs: Only; unique; only-begotten.
μονογενής
Its μονο- (mono-) element shares the “one, only” family and echoes the verse’s singular focus.
THE PATTERN
Allegiance becomes visible when the one who receives devotion also receives the service of the whole life.
You shall stand in awe of the LORD your God, and serve him, and swear by his nature.And if it seems evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you settle. As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.Therefore I urge you, brothers, through the compassions of God, to set your bodies beside God as a living sacrifice, set apart, well-pleasing to him, which is your true service.THE THREAD
But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true ones who bow down bow before the Father in breath and in truth, for the Father seeks such as these to bow before him.John uses the same Greek verb, προσκυνέω (proskyneō, “bow down”), that stands behind “worship” here. The shared root reveals worship as a posture directed toward the one who receives the life’s service.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
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