Proverbs 14:19

14:19 Those who are evil will bow ¹  before those who are good,

and the wicked will bow ²  at the gates ³  of the righteous.

Isaiah 60:14

60:14 The children of your oppressors will come bowing to you;

all who treated you with disrespect will bow down at your feet.

They will call you, ‘The City of the Lord,

Zion of the Holy One of Israel.’ ⁴ 

Revelation 3:9

3:9 Listen! ⁵  I am going to make those people from the synagogue ⁶  of Satan – who say they are Jews yet ⁷  are not, but are lying – Look, I will make ⁸  them come and bow down ⁹  at your feet and acknowledge ¹⁰  that I have loved you.

¹ tn Many versions nuance the perfect tense verb שָׁחַח (shakhakh) as a characteristic perfect. But the proverb suggests that the reality lies in the future. So the verb is best classified as a prophetic perfect (cf. NASB, NIV, CEV, NLT): Ultimately the wicked will acknowledge and serve the righteous – a point the prophets make.

² tn The phrase “will bow” does not appear in this line but is implied by the parallelism; it is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.

³ sn J. H. Greenstone suggests that this means that they are begging for favors (Proverbs, 154).

⁴ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

⁵ tn Grk “behold” (L&N 91.13).

⁶ sn See the note on synagogue in 2:9.

⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to indicate the contrast between what these people claimed and what they were.

⁸ tn The verb here is ποιέω (poiew), but in this context it has virtually the same meaning as δίδωμι (didwmi) used at the beginning of the verse. Stylistic variation like this is typical of Johannine literature.

⁹ tn The verb here is προσκυνήσουσιν (proskunhsousin), normally used to refer to worship.

¹⁰ tn Or “and know,” “and recognize.”