sha.chah denotes lowering oneself before the LORD, other gods, or human authorities in worship, homage, or submission.

The verb most often marks people lowering themselves before the LORD in acts of worship, whether alongside offerings, prayerful approach, or communal praise. It also describes homage before kings and other persons, and it can mark the prohibited or condemned act of lowering oneself before other gods and images.

1. Lowering oneself before the LORD in worship · dominant

   The term marks worship directed to the LORD: in 1 Samuel 1:19 the sequential imperfect follows the people’s rising early and precedes their return home, while in 2 Chronicles 29:29 the same form follows the completion of the offering. In 1 Chronicles 16:29, the imperative addresses a plural audience in the clause that calls them to come before the LORD with an offering; the APB renders the clause “worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.”

   1 Chronicles 16:291 Samuel 1:191 Samuel 1:32 Chronicles 29:29Deuteronomy 26:10Genesis 24:48
2. Homage or submission before a person · common

   The verb can describe a bodily act before a human superior or another person. In 1 Chronicles 21:21, the sequential imperfect occurs when Ornan comes out to David, and the APB renders that he “bowed down to David with his face to the ground”; in Esther 3:2, plural participial forms describe the king’s servants’ commanded response to Haman, which Mordecai refuses.

   1 Chronicles 21:211 Kings 1:161 Kings 1:231 Kings 1:53Esther 3:2Genesis 27:29
3. Lowering oneself before other gods or images · common

   In prohibitions and accounts of unfaithfulness, the term identifies the act directed toward other gods or crafted objects. The second-person imperfect in Exodus 20:5 forbids this act toward them alongside serving them, while 2 Chronicles 25:14 places it before the gods Amaziah set up and alongside burning incense; the APB renders the latter, “before them he bowed down.”

   Exodus 20:5Deuteronomy 5:91 Kings 11:332 Chronicles 25:142 Kings 17:35Isaiah 2:8

In the Anselm Project Bible: Across these verses, the APB variously uses “bowed down,” “bowed,” “paid homage,” and “worshiped.” These renderings reflect the verse-level contexts of worship, idolatry, and human homage, though the translation does not isolate a fixed English equivalent for the Hebrew form.