Real Worship: Part 3: Latreuo and Latreia

Latreuo in the Old Testament

Latreuo is sometimes translated “service” and sometimes “worship.” It has its own interesting story.

We first see the word when God calls Moses —

(Exo 3:12 ESV) 12 He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

Then God tells Moses to speak to Pharaoh —

(Exo 4:22-23 ESV) 22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son, 23 and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.'”

Several times thereafter, God tells Pharaoh to let his people go so they can serve (or worship) him.

Then in the Law of Moses, the Israelites are repeatedly warned not to “serve” other gods, but to —

(Deu 11:13 ESV) 13 “And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,

Just so, Joshua commanded —

(Jos 22:5 ESV) 5 Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

(Jos 24:15 ESV) 15 “And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

The idea of latreuo in the Law seems to mean “be loyal to” — that is, the word is used repeatedly of serving God rather than false gods. You have to pick: serve God or serve idols. You can’t do both.

Latreuo in the New Testament

In the New Testament, we find the same use —

(Act 24:14-15 ESV) 14 But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets, 15 having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust.

Here, before Felix, Paul is declaring his loyalty to the God of the Jews. However, later in the New Testament, the sense seems to shift —

(Phi 3:3 ESV) 3 For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh–

Translations disagree as to whether Paul says worship by the Spirit or in the Spirit. In fact, there is no preposition in the Greek. Thus, Lenski translates “worship the Spirit of God.” I think the correct interpretation is “are loyal to the Spirit of God” or “serve the Spirit of God” or, perhaps best yet, “are servants of the Spirit of God.” That fits the use of the verb in the Septuagint — and either sense is perfectly orthodox when we don’t read “worship” unnecessarily into the Greek. You’ll notice that every use of latreuo above could be translated “be loyal to.”

You see, in secular Greek latreuo means to “serve for hire” as a servant or slave. We might say that to “serve” God is to submit to God as your master. Thus, Paul declares that we submit to the Spirit of God — not his rivals.

This brings us to —

(Heb 12:28-29 ESV) 28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire.

Some translations prefer “acceptable service.” The literal translation would be “we should serve/be loyal/submit acceptably to God, with awe and reverence.” The passage isn’t about the assembly but to whom we are loyal. After all, the Hebrews writer had just warned the readers that much of the world would be destroyed (shaken) but the Kingdom would last forever. Therefore, he says, serve the right Lord — and do so acceptably, meaning by doing what he describes in chapter 13 —

(Heb 13:1-4 ESV) Let brotherly love continue. 2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. 3 Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. 4 Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

The way we serve God rather than idols, and do so acceptably, is by doing such things. This is not a command to meditate quietly while waiting on the assembly to begin! It’s about how to live as a loyal servant of the Most High God. And we do that through loyal submission.

Latreia in the Old and New Testaments

Latreia is a very similar word, but has a slightly different history. This word was originally used of the Passover —

(Exo 12:25-27 ESV) 25 And when you come to the land that the LORD will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. 26 And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ 27 you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.'” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped [proskuneo].

But it is also used of the rituals of the Tabernacle in Joshua 22:27 and 1 Chr 28:13.

In the New Testament, it’s used just a handful of times. Usually it’s an allusion to the Temple service —

(Rom 9:4 ESV) 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.

(Heb 9:1 ESV) Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness.

(Heb 9:6 ESV) 6 These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties,

— which brings us to —

(Rom 12:1 ESV) I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

In the Old Testament, latreia is ritualized service to God — the Passover and the duties of the priests in the Tabernacle and Temple. But to Paul, Christians latreia by offering their bodies as living sacrifices.

Again, we see a dramatic contrast. A word long associated with Mosaic rituals is re-defined by Paul to refer to Christian living. And as we’ve seen before, a word that once only referred to specified rituals is transformed by Paul to refer to daily sacrificial living by a Christian. The equivalent of Mosaic ritual today is the sacrifice of self through daily submission to others. It’s still sacrifice, but sacrifice of a radically different kind.