What the Bible is Not Confused About: Worship is Prostration

(1) It is our obligation to praise the Master of all... But we bow, prostrate ourselves, and offer thanks...

(3) All the Israelites witnessed the descent of the fire and the glory of the LORD on the House; they knelt with their faces to the ground and prostrated themselves, praising the LORD, “For He is good, for His steadfast love is eternal.”

(54) When Solomon finished offering to GOD all this prayer and supplication, he rose from where he had been kneeling, in front of the altar of GOD, his hands spread out toward heaven.

(5) At the time of the evening offering I ended my self-affliction; still in my torn garment and robe, I got down on my knees and spread out my hands to the LORD my God,

(1) A person who prays must be careful to tend to [the following] eight matters. [However,] if he is pressured, confronted by circumstances beyond his control, or transgresses and does not attend to one them, they are not of absolute necessity. They are: 1) standing; 2) facing the Temple; 3) preparation of his body; 4) proper clothing; 5) proper place; 6) control of his voice; 7) bowing; and 8) prostration.

Bowing: What is implied?
One praying bows five times in each and every Amidah:
In the first blessing, at the beginning and at the end;
in the blessing of thanks, at the beginning and at the end; and
upon completing the Amidah, one bows and takes three steps backwards while bowing. He takes leave from his left and afterwards, from his right. Then, he lifts his head up from the bowed position.
When he bows the [other] four times, he does so at [the utterance of the word] "Blessed" and straightens up when [reciting] G‑d's name.

(12) All these bows require that one bow until the vertebrae in his spine protrude and he makes himself like a bow. However, if one bows slightly [to the extent that] it causes him pain and he appears to have bowed with all of his power, he need not worry.

"Kneeling" always refers to [falling to] one's knees;

According to the Kabbalah/Sod, one should bend his knees as he says Baruch, and when he says Atah he should bow until all his vertebrae are extended.

† כָּרַע bow down (NH id.; Aramaic כְּרַע; Arabic كَرَعَput one’s mouth into water, or water-vessel; i.e. kneel to drink? denom. from foll.?);—Qal Pf. 3 m. כ׳Gn 49:6 + 6 times; 3 mpl. כָּֽרְעוּJu 7:6 + 4 times; Impf. יִכְרַעJu 7:5 + 3 times; 1 s. וָאֶכְרְעָהEzr 9:5; 3 mpl. יִכְרְעוּןJb 31:10; 2 mpl. תִּכְרָ֑עוּIs 65:12; 1 pl. וְנִכְרָ֑עָהψ 95:6 + 6 times Impf.; Inf. cstr. כְּרֹעַ1 K 8:54; Pt. כֹּרֵעַEst 3:5; pl. כֹּרְעִיםEst 3:2; f. כֹּרְעוֹתJb 4:4.—
1.bowעל ברכים to drink Ju 7:5, 6, in supplication to Elijah 2 K 1:13; in the worship of God 1 K 8:54; Ezr 9:5; c. ברכים subj. and ל of God 1 K 19:18; Is 45:23; without ברכים c. לִפְנֵיψ 22:30; 72:9; ‖ השׁתחוה2 Ch 7:3; 29:29ψ 95:6, worship of God, but Est 3:2^(×2), 5 in obeisance to Haman. 2.bow down, of the couching lion Gn 49:9; Nu 24:9 (both poetry). 3. preg. c. על, bow down over (in order to lie with) a woman Jb 31:10. 4.bow down, of a woman in childbirth 1 S 4:19, so of animals Jb 39:3; idols, removed by enemies Is 46:1, 2; בִּרְכַּיִם כֹּרְעוֹתJb 4:4

(19) His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was with child, about to give birth. When she heard the report that the Ark of God was captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she was seized with labor pains, and she crouched down and gave birth.

(2) GOD said to Gideon, “You have too many troops with you for Me to deliver Midian into their hands; Israel might claim for themselves the glory due to Me, thinking, ‘Our own hand has brought us victory.’ (3) Therefore, announce to the men, ‘Let anybody who is timid and fearful turn back, as a bird flies from Mount Gilead.’” Thereupon, 22,000 of the troops turned back and 10,000 remained. (4) “There are still too many troops,” GOD said to Gideon. “Take them down to the water and I will sift them for you there. Anyone of whom I tell you, ‘This one is to go with you,’ that one shall go with you; and anyone of whom I tell you, ‘This one is not to go with you,’ that one shall not go.” (5) So he took the troops down to the water. Then GOD said to Gideon, “Set apart all those who lap up the water with their tongues like dogs from all those who get down on their knees to drink.” (6) Now those who “lapped” the water into their mouths by hand numbered three hundred; all the rest of the troops got down on their knees to drink. (7) Then GOD said to Gideon, “I will deliver you and I will put Midian into your hands through the three hundred ‘lappers’; let the rest of the troops go home.”

Synagogues and houses of study should be treated with respect. They should be swept clean and mopped.
All the Jews in Spain, the west, Babylonia, and Eretz Yisrael, are accustomed to light lamps in the synagogue and spread mats over the floor to sit on. In European communities, they sit on chairs.

Prostration, what is implied?
After one lifts his head from the fifth [Amidah] bow, he sits on the ground, falls with his face towards the earth, and utters all the supplications that he desires..
Prostration is stretching out on one's hands and feet until he is flat with his face on the ground.

All this [wood] serves a mortal for fuel: He takes some to warm himself, And he builds a fire and bakes bread. He also makes a god of it and worships it, Fashions an idol and bows down to it!

And he [Jacob] passed over before them, and prostrated himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother [Esau].

He went ahead of them, and he prostrated himself to the earth seven times, until he approached his brother.

Composed: c.918 – c.942 CE

Translation and commentary on the Torah by Saadia Gaon. ("Tafsir" is an Arabic term meaning 'Biblical commentary').

(3) They combined against Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! For all the community are holy, all of them, and ה׳ is in their midst. Why then do you raise yourselves above ה׳’s congregation?” (4) When Moses heard this, he fell on his face. (5) Then he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, “Come morning, ה׳ will make known who is [God’s] and who is holy by granting direct access; the one whom [God] has chosen will be granted access.

Because of the dispute. You might ask: Surely above regarding the incident of the spies it is also written “Moshe and Aharon fell upon their faces” (Bamidbar 14:5)? The answer is that above one can answer that they fell upon their faces to pray. Since it is not written there that they said anything, one may say that they prayed. However here it is written “Moshe spoke to Korach,” which implies that while he fell upon his face he spoke to them, rather than pray. If so why did he fall upon his face? [It must be] “Because of the dispute.”

And Avraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, to the children of Ḥet.

Avraham rose and bowed to the people of the land, the sons of Cheis.

(2) All the king’s courtiers in the palace gate knelt and bowed low to Haman, for such was the king’s order concerning him; but Mordecai would not kneel or bow low.

Abaye attempts to cite another proof for his opinion. He said: From where do I say that one who worships idols due to love or fear is liable? As it is taught in a baraita with regard to the verse: “You shall not bow to them nor worship them” (Exodus 20:5): “To them,” to idols, you may not bow, but you may bow to a person like yourself; bowing to a person is merely the acceptance of authority. One might have thought that it is permitted to bow even to a person who is worshipped like a god, like Haman; therefore, the verse states: “Nor worship them,” i.e., any form of pagan worship is prohibited. Abaye concludes: And wasn’t Haman worshipped due to fear, and not because the people considered him a god? Evidently, one who engages in idol worship due to fear is liable.

The Gemara cited an incident involving Rav, and now it returns to examine the matter itself. Rav once happened to come to Babylonia on a public fast. He stood and read from a Torah scroll. When he began to read, he recited a blessing, but when he concluded, he did not recite a blessing. Everyone else fell on their faces, i.e., bowed down on the floor, during the taḥanun supplication, as was the custom, but Rav did not fall on his face. The Gemara asks: What is the reason that Rav did not fall on his face?The Gemara answers: It was a stone floor, and it was taught in a baraita with regard to the verse: “Nor shall you install any figured stone in your land, to bow down upon it” (Leviticus 26:1), that, upon it, i.e., any type of figured stone, you shall not bow down in your land, i.e., anywhere in your land other than in the Temple; but you shall bow down upon the stones of the Temple. This is in accordance with the opinion of Ulla, as Ulla said: The Torah prohibited bowing down only upon a stone floor.

“A distinguished person is not permitted to present himself before the public as a pious man to such an extent that he falls upon his face before them, or makes himself the leader in their prayers, or clothes himself in sackcloth, or tears his garments, or does similar acts — unless he knows within himself that he is worthy to be answered, and that people’s hearts do not harbor suspicions about him. For there is no trait more noble than humility, and none more disgraceful than assuming authority that one does not deserve. But if he does this with the consent of the entire community, he is permitted, and it is good for him to do so. And in Tractate Megillah this matter will be explained further. And the chapter is concluded — praise be to God.”