To bow the knee is to perform an act of worship (1 Kings xix, 18), and in this sense it is used in the Heb. in Isa. Ixvi, 3 ; "He that worships idols" is, literally, "He that bows the knee" to them. See Worship.
Tliat kneeling was the posture of prayer ^ve learn from 2 Chron. vi, 13 ; Dan. vi, 10 ; Luke xxii, 41 ; Acts vii, 60 ; Eph. 3, 14. See Prayer.
Knees are sometimes put symbolically for persons, as in Job iv, 4; Heb. xii, 12 (Wemyss). See Kneel.
For the peculiar terra in Gen. xii, 43 (see IJeinecciiis, Be nomine Ti1|inX,Weissenf. 1726), see Abeech.
Kneel (TI'^3, to bend the knee [q. v.], yovvTrsrUo), the act of reverence and worship (Psa. xcv, 6 ; Dan. vi, 10 ; Acts Ix, 40 ; xxi, 5). See Attitlde.
Kueelers. See Genuflectentes ; Catechu- mens.
Kneeling, the act of bending the knee in devotion- al exercises, is a practice of great antiquity. Reference to it is made in all parts of the Scriptures, both of the O.-T. and N.-T. writings, as in Isaac's blessing on Jacob (Gen. xxvii, 29), compared with his brother's subsequent conduct (xlii, G), and with an edict of Pharaoh, "Bow the knee'' (xii, 43), and again in the second command- ment (Exod. XX, 5). Then we find David exclaiming, "Let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our maker" (Psa. xcv, 6); "We will go into his tabernacle, and fall low on our knees before his footstool" (cxxxii, 7). Solomon " kneeled on his knees" before the altar of the Lord, with his hands spread up to heaven (1 Kings viii, 54) ; Ezra fell upon his knees, and spread out his hands unto God, and made his confession (Ezra ix, 5-15); Daniel "kneeled upon his knees three times a day," .and ])rayed "as he did aforetime" (Dan. vi, 10); the holy martyr Stephen " kneeled down, and cried with
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a loud voice," praying for his murderers (Acts vii, CO) ; Peter likewise '• kneeled down and prayed" (Acts ix, 40) ; Paul also (Acts xx, 3G ; xxi, 5). That the posture was a customarj' one may be inferred from the conduct of the man beseeching Christ to heal his son (Matt, xvii, 14), and of the rich j'oung man (Mark x, 17), as also of the lei)or (Mark i, 40) ; yea, we have even the example of Christ himselt^ who, according to Luke (xxii, 14), '• kneeled ilown" when he prayed. That the practice was general among the early Christians is plain from the Shepherd of Hermas, from Eusebius's IJistor;/ (ii, 33), and from numberless other authorities, and especially from the solemn proclamation made by the deacon to tlie people in all the liturgies, " Flectamus genua" (Let us bend our knees), whereupon the people knelt till, at the close of the prayer, they received a corresponding summons, '• Levate" (Arise), and from the fact that prayer itself was termed icXhig yovarwv, bending the knees.
In the days of Irenanis, and for some time after, four postures were in use among Christians, namely, stand- ing (for which see reason below), prostration (as a sign of deep and extraordinary humiliation), bowing, and kneeling. The posture of sitting during the time of public prayer, of modem days, seems to have been un- known to the early Christians. Kneeling at public de- votions was the common practice during the six work- ing days, and was understood by the early Church to denote humility of mind before God, and "as a symbol of our fill by sin." A standing posture in worship (ex- plained as being emblematic of Christ's resurrection from the dead, and the forgiveness of sins, and also as being a sign of the Christian's hope and expectation of heaven) was assumed by the early Christian worshippers (ex- cept penitents) on Suntlays and during the tifty days between Easter and Whitsuntide, "as a symbol of the resurrection, whereby, through the grace of Christ, we rise again from our fall." Cassian says of the Egyptian churches that from Saturday night to Sunday night, and all the days of Pentecost, they neither knelt nor fast- ed. The Apostolical Constitutions order that Christians should pray three times on the Lord's day, standing, in honor of him who rose the third day from the dead, and in the writings of Chrysostora we meet with frequent allusions to the same practice, especially in the oft-re- peated form by which the deacon called upon the people to pray, " Let us stand upright with reverence and de- cency." TertiUlian says, " Wc count it unlawful to fast, or to worship kneeling, on the Lord's day, and we enjoy the same immunity from Easter to Pentecost." This practice was confirmed by the Council of Nice, for the sake of uniformity, and it is from this circumstance, probably, that the Ethiopic and Muscovitish churches adopted the attitude of standing generally, a custom which they continue to this day. From Cyril's writ- ings it wotdd appear that also at the celebration of the Eucharist a standing attitude was assumed by the earlj' Christians. He saj's " it was with silence and downcast eyes, bowing themselves in the posture of worship and adoration." Tlie exact perioil when hieelinf/ at the Lord's Suii[)er became general cannot be ascertained, but it has prevailed for many centuries, and it is now gener- ally, though not altogether, practiced as the proper pos- ture for communicants.