interesting you bring this up now flintface. I spent the better part of yesterday working on translating Chapter 22 of Genesis, and most of that contemplating how I should render verse 5, namely the very same word used in Psalm 96:9, which is usually translated as worship. The word in question in Gen 22:5 is נִשְׁתַּחֲוֶה nistahawe in psalm 96:9 the word is הִשְׁתַּחֲווּ histahawu, which is the same word, but in second person and masculine. So we are dealing with the same root. According to Logos the root is the root as חוה chawah or שָׁחָה Shachah. Chawah which is defined as bow down, prostrate oneself, i.e., take a stance of bowing low in an act. of respect or honor, but not necessarily worship of deity, and shachah which is defined as you have already pointed out as bow down. Chawah also being the name of the first woman and meaning life giver. I decided to render the verse as:
‘Abraham said to his young men (na’ar – young male children or teens, lost sheep who have strayed), ‘You stay (yasab - settle down and have a seat) here (poh) with (‘im) the donkey. The boy (na’ar) and I will walk (halak) up to (‘ad - and exist eternally) there and bow as a sign of honor and respect before the life giver [i.e. Yahuweh] (chawah ) and return restored (suwb - come back changed and renewed) to you.’
And I put in a foot note explaining why.
Yada had rendered the verse in the Mowriyah chapter as:
Abraham said to his young men(na’ar – wayward sheep), ‘You stay (yasab – settle down and have a seat) here(poh) with (‘im) the donkey. The boy (na’ar) and I will walk (halak) up to (‘ad – and exist eternally) there with our burdens (sahah – weighed down, anxious
and worried) and then return restored (suwb – come back changed and renewed) to you.’
When I emailed him and asked him about where and why he choose to use sahah he replied with a complete rewrite and commentary on that portion of the chapter.
The overriding message of this verse is that by walking with God, Abraham would walk forever, renewed and restored. “Abraham (‘Abraham – Merciful and Forgiving Father) said to his young men (na’ar – adolescent servants who are prone to being tossed to and fro), ‘You stay (yasab – settle down and have a seat) here (poh) with (‘im) the donkey (hamowr – male ass). The boy (na’ar) and I (‘any) will walk (halak) as far as (‘ad – until) there (koh), and we will show our respect and reverence (sahah – we will relinquish our arrogant self reliance) and then return restored (suwb – come back changed and renewed) to you.’” (Genesis 22:5)
Many translators want the verb sahah, vocalized by Strong’s (7812) as shachah, to be rendered in the highly uncommon hithtafel stem (as hawah or chawah), prompting them to ignore the shin at the beginning of the word. But sahah isn’t necessarily correct either because it ignores the waw in the midst of the verb. Unfortunately however, this dispute is hard to resolve because this passage isn’t extant in the Dead Sea Scrolls, leaving us with nothing older or better than the 11th century Masoretic Text.
While these verbs are related, and are used in Yasha’yahu to depict those who have opposed Yahweh ultimately “bowing down” before Him in judgment, that is not all they convey. And yet sahah is translated “worship” a total of seventy-eight times in English bibles. That of course is because in the hishtafel stem it means “to bow down or to prostrate oneself,” and religious clerics see these things as being synonymous. But it is clear from this text that neither Abraham nor Yishaq worshiped, bowed down, or prostrated themselves on Mount Mowriyah. And since the word also conveys the notion of “demonstrating one’s respect and reverence,” as well as “relinquishing an arrogant and self-reliant attitude,” I have rendered it as such because these characteristics fit the narrative.
Further, considering chawah, we discover that it also means “to honor, to show respect and reverence,” in addition to “bowing down and prostrating oneself,” providing us with the same translational options available with sahah. Our lexicons tell us that chawah is invocative of “showing one’s allegiance by demonstrating that you see them as being worthy of respect.” As such, chawah helps illuminate the meaning behind Yahweh’s Commandment “to honor our Heavenly Father and Spiritual Mother.”
But that is not all. A chawah is a “tent settlement and a protective enclosure where families live permanently,” and thus it is invocative of Sukah—of camping out forever with Yahweh around this very same mountain. And Chawah, meaning “source of life,” is the name Yahweh gave to Adam’s wife in the protected and enclosed Garden in Eden, demonstrating that this story is focused on “the Source of Life,” and being born anew by way of our Spiritual Mother. Moreover, as a verb, chawah means: “to announce, to display, and to explain something using words.” The word picture Yahweh is painting in this account of Abraham (the Merciful Father) on Mount Mowryah (to Revere Yah) explains the purpose and timing of Pesach – Passover, whereby our Merciful Father provided the doorway to eternal life for those who revere Him and respect His Way.
Before we press on, please pause long enough to ponder the full import of suwb, translated above as “return restored.” It affirms the most appropriate designation of sahah, and the full and primary meaning of chawah. Those who come to revere and respect the provision Yahweh, as our Merciful Father, is providing on Mount Mowryah will “suwb – return,” “suwb – restored and renewed.” And that is because they “suwb – change their direction, change their perspective, change their thinking and attitude.”
So there is a long answer. A Short answer is since the word can simply mean bow in honor and respect, and can have nothing to do with worship, I have no issue with it, and worship is really an inappropriate way to translate it.
I'm with Rob on this as well, I don't know about you, but if I see Yahuweh i'm probably going to bow down before him, and then as soon as he tells me not to, I'm going to stand up and run into his arms to give him a hug.
