Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898)
WOR'SHIP. This word, as used in our Bible, has various significations. In most instances it means simply an act of respect, Matt 9:18; Acts 10:25, and does not imply any religious emotion. Where the act respects the divine Being, the only proper object of religious worship, the connection shows it. John 4:24; Heb 1:6; Rev 22:9. It becomes idolatry when tendered to any other person or thing. Dan 3:5, Jud 4:12, 2 Kgs 22:14; Acts 19:27.