In Western society, with the exception of religious rites, there isn’t too much bowing going on. In biblical times, however, there was plenty, generating several terms for it: notably לקוד

– to take a bow, לכרוע ברך

– to kneel, and להשתחוות

– to prostrate or bow down with one’s body stretched on the floor.

Then there’s לסגוד

, also appearing in the Bible but there only with the negative connotation of bowing down to idols. This inspires Modern Hebrew’s use of the word, for example:

הם סוגדים לכסף.

They bow down to money.

The root of לסגוד

, the letters ס.ג.ד

, appears across Semitic languages such as Aramaic, Arabic (مسجد – “masjid” means “mosque”), and Amharic (as in the Ethiopian-Jewish holiday – celebrated today – ስግድ – “Sigd” – meaning “bowing down”).