action
bowing
At a glance
In short
The Gemara (Megillah 22b, Berachos 34b) teaches that three words for bowing name three different acts: kidah is bowing the face, kriah is kneeling, and hishtachavaah is full prostration with hands and feet stretched out. Maharsha explains that all three involve bowing the head, and some involve more: in kidah the body otherwise stays erect, in kriah one is on the knees, and in hishtachavaah one is stretched out on the floor. Radak holds that segidah is the Aramaic for hishtachavaah; Malbim holds that the act may be the same but the purpose differs.
Distinctions
The Gemara (Megillah 22b, Berachos 34b) says the three words denote three different kinds of bowing. Maharsha (Rabbi Shmuel Eidels, 1555 to 1631) explains that all three involve bowing the head, and some involve more than that.
Kidah (קידה)
The Gemara learns that kidah is bowing the face from "and Bas Sheva bowed (vatikod) her face to the ground" (Melachim I 1:31). Tosafos point out that "face" appears with hishtachavaah as well (Yeshayahu 49:23), and conclude that the Gemara's definition of kidah as bowing the face rests on a tradition, not on derivation from the verse.
Maharsha: in kidah only the head bows, to the ground, while one otherwise stands erect, without bending the knees. The Gemara (Sukkah 53a) relates that few could do this, but Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel would perform kidah in the Beis HaMikdash courtyard, supporting himself on his two thumbs, his face to the ground, kissing the floor, and standing straight again; and that Levi once demonstrated kidah before Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi and was left paralyzed.
- Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim of Breslau (1740 to 1814) and Malbim (1809 to 1879) derive kidah from kadkod, the skull, since one tilts the top of the head downward.
- Linguists relate kidah to the Akkadian qadadu, to incline.
Kriah (כריעה)
Kneeling, as Shlomo HaMelech is described "kneeling (kore'a) on his knees" (Melachim I 8:54). The word kera refers to the leg or knee of living creatures and of objects such as tables and chairs. Maharsha: kriah is a bit easier than kidah: one bends the knees to the floor and then bows the face to the ground.
Hishtachavaah (השתחוויה)
Prostrating oneself on the floor with hands and feet stretched out. Maharsha: one goes down on the knees, bows the head to the ground, and then stretches out hands and feet on the floor. It is the word for Avraham's bowing before the children of Ches (Bereishis 23:7, 23:12) and for his servant's bowing in thanks to Hashem (Bereishis 24:26, 24:48, 24:52); at 24:26 the Torah adds kidah to it.
Rav Hirsch (1808 to 1888) explains the symbolism of kidah against hishtachavaah; he does not discuss kriah. Both are signs of submission, but they express it differently. Kidah moves the head, the seat of the intellect, and so denotes submitting one's intellect or will to the inclinations of another. Hishtachavaah prostrates the whole body, and so symbolizes dedicating every faculty of one's physical existence to a cause. As one is willing to bend his posture for another, so is he willing to break his will and submit to another's wishes.
Segidah (סגידה)
Sagad or segidah appears only four times in Tanach, all in Yeshayahu 44 to
- On whether it differs from hishtachavaah, see above. The Modern Hebrew
misgad, a mosque, is related to it; its more direct ancestor is the Arabic masjid, of which English "mosque" is a corruption.
Where the authorities disagree
Is segidah just the Aramaic for hishtachavaah?
- Radak (Sefer HaShorashim): segidah is Aramaic for hishtachavaah. The Targum generally renders hishtachavaah as sagid (Bereishis 18:2, 23:7, 23:12, 24:26 and more).
- Against that, Yeshayahu 44:17 uses hishtachavaah and segidah side by side, which suggests, in Rabbi Klein's view, that they are not synonyms from two languages.
- Malbim: the physical act of the two may be the same, and the difference lies in the motive. Hishtachavaah is bowing as a means of giving honor to that toward which one bows. Segidah is bowing done as a religious rite said to bring special benefits from Above, rather than to give honor as such.
Radak on these roots
Sefer HaShorashim
כ-ר-ע
To kneel or crouch, and to bring another low; from this, כְּרָעַיִם, a beast's legs, named for their bending in kneeling.
Crouching and kneeling
כָּרַע רָבַץ כְּאַרְיֵה (Bereishis 49:9), he crouched, he lay down like a lion; כָּֽרְעוּ עַל־בִּרְכֵיהֶם (Shoftim 7:6), they knelt on their knees; מִכְּרֹעַ עַל־בִּרְכָּיו (Melachim I 8:54), from kneeling on his knees; וּבִרְכַּיִם כֹּֽרְעוֹת תְּאַמֵּֽץ (Iyov 4:4), you strengthened the buckling knees; and וְכֻלְּכֶם לַטֶּבַח תִּכְרָעוּ (Yeshayahu 65:12), and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter.
A pasuk read two ways
בִּלְתִּי כָרַע תַּחַת אַסִּיר (Yeshayahu 10:4), without bowing under the prisoner. Ibn Ezra explains that none escapes except one who bows and hides himself beneath a prisoner, and beneath the slain they fall so as to escape. Radak's brother Rabbi Moshe explains it otherwise: apart from this bowing they now have in their own land, where the nations bring them low, they shall go as prisoners and fall as slain; and תַּחַת here means in the place of, as in שְׁבוּ אִישׁ תַּחְתָּיו (Shemos 16:29), let every man stay in his place.
Bringing another low
וּבַחוּרֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הִכְרִֽיעַ (Tehillim 78:31), and He brought low the young men of Yisrael; תַּכְרִיעַ קָמַי תַּחְתָּֽי (Tehillim 18:40), You bring low beneath me those who rise against me; and הַכְרֵעַ הִכְרַעְתִּנִי (Shoftim 11:35), you have brought me very low. Their sense is humbling.
The legs of an animal
From this the legs of a beast are called כרעים, because they bend in kneeling: שְׁתֵּי כְרָעַיִם אוֹ בְדַל־אֹזֶן (Amos 3:12), two legs or a piece of an ear, and וְהַקֶּרֶב וְהַכְּרָעַיִם יִרְחַץ בַּמָּיִם (Vayikra 1:13), and the innards and the legs he washes in water.
The locust's כְּרָעַיִם
But כְרָעַיִם מִמַּעַל לְרַגְלָיו (Vayikra 11:21), כרעים above its legs, are the extra digits of the legs, above the four legs that the locust has near its head, with which it braces itself when it wants to spring; and that is what the pasuk means by לְנַתֵּר בָּהֵן עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ, to leap with them upon the ground.
כָּרַע רָבַץ כְּאַרְיֵה (בראשית מט, ט), בִּלְתִּי כָרַע תַּחַת אַסִּיר (ישעיה י, ד), פירש החכם רבינו אברהם אבן עזרא ז"ל לא ימלט אלא אותו שיכרע ויטמן תחת אסיר ותחת הרוגים יפולו להמלט. ורבי אחי רבי משה ז"ל פירש זולתי זאת הכריעה שיש להם בארצם עתה שהאומות מכניעים אותם אסירים ילכו והרוגים יפולו, ותחת הוא בַּמָּקוֹם כמו שְׁבוּ אִישׁ תַּחְתָּיו (שמות טז, כט). כָּֽרְעוּ עַל־בִּרְכֵיהֶם (שופטים ז, ו), מִכְּרֹעַ עַל־בִּרְכָּיו (מלכים א' ח, נד), וּבִרְכַּיִם כֹּֽרְעוֹת תְּאַמֵּֽץ (איוב ד, ד), וְכֻלְּכֶם לַטֶּבַח תִּכְרָעוּ (ישעיה סה, יב). והפעל הכבד [הִפְעִיל] וּבַחוּרֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הִכְרִֽיעַ (תהלים עח, לא), תַּכְרִיעַ קָמַי תַּחְתָּֽי (תהלים יח, מ), הַכְרֵעַ הִכְרַעְתִּנִי (שופטים יא, לה), ענינם ענין הכנעה. ומזה נקראו רגלי הבהמה כרעים לפי שהם כורעות בכריעה הכרכים שְׁתֵּי כְרָעַיִם אוֹ בְדַל־אֹזֶן (עמוס ג, יב), וְהַקֶּרֶב וְהַכְּרָעַיִם יִרְחַץ בַּמָּיִם (ויקרא א, יג). אבל אֲשֶׁר־לֹא [לוֹ] כְרָעַיִם מִמַּעַל לְרַגְלָיו (ויקרא יא, כא), הם אצבעות הרגלים היתרות ממעל לארבע רגלים שיש לחגב סמוך לראשו ובהם הוא מתחזק כשרוצה לקפוץ, וזהו שאמר לְנַתֵּר בָּהֵן עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ (שם).
ס-ג-ד
To bow down. His entry gives no gloss of its own: two pesukim, and the Targum's use of the word for bowing oneself down.
All his entry holds
יִסְגָּד ־לוֹ וְיִשְׁתַּחוּ (Yeshayahu 44:17), he bows to it and prostrates himself, and לְבוּל עֵץ אֶסְגּֽוֹד (Yeshayahu 44:19), shall I bow down to a block of wood. The Targum renders וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ (Bereishis 18:2), and he bowed himself, with וּסְגִיד, and he bowed. That is the whole of the entry.
יִסְגָּוד [יִסְגָּד] ־לוֹ וְיִשְׁתַּחוּ (ישעיה מד, יז), לְבוּל עֵץ אֶסְגּֽוֹד (ישעיה מד, יט). תרגום וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ (בראשית יח, ב) וּסְגִיד.
ק-ד-ד
Bowing: the lowering and bending of the קָדְקֹד, the crown of the head, a word of this root with its first letter doubled. Also the spice קִדָּה.
Bowing the head
וַיִּקֹּד דָּוִד אַפַּיִם (Shmuel I 24:8 in his edition), and David bowed his face, and וַֽיִּקְּדוּ וַיִּֽשְׁתַּֽחֲוֻֽ (Bereishis 43:28), and they bowed and prostrated themselves. Their sense is the lowering and bending of the crown of the head.
The crown of the head
קדקד is from the root קָדַד with its first letter doubled: וְטָרַף זְרוֹעַ אַף־קָדְקֹֽד (Devarim 33:20), and he tears the arm, yes, the crown of the head; וּלְקָדְקֹד נְזִיר אֶחָֽיו (Bereishis 49:26), and on the crown of the head of him who was set apart from his brothers; וְעַֽל־קָדְקֳדוֹ חֲמָסוֹ יֵרֵֽד (Tehillim 7:17), and his violence comes down on his own crown; and וְעַד קָדְקֳדֶֽךָ (Devarim 28:35), and to the crown of your head. קָדְקֹד שֵׂעָר (Tehillim 68:22) is the crown of hair, for at the crown the hair of the head divides, half to the right and half to the left.
The spice
וְקִדָּה חֲמֵשׁ מֵאוֹת (Shemos 30:24), and of kidah five hundred, Onkelos renders וּקְצִיעֲתָא, cassia. So it is named in the words of Chazal (Kerisos 6a) in the compounding of the ketores, myrrh and cassia; and so it is called in Arabic and in Greek, קציעה. Rav Saadiah Gaon wrote that it is costus.
וַיִּקֹּד דָּוִד אַפַּיִם (שמואל א' כד, ח), וַֽיִּקְּדוּ וַיִּֽשְׁתַּֽחֲוֻֽ [וַיִּֽשְׁתַּחֲוּֽוּ] (בראשית מג, כח). ענינם הכנעת הקדקד ושחותו, כי קדקד משרש קָדַד אלא שנכפלה בו הפ"א. וְטָרַף זְרוֹעַ אַף־קָדְקֹֽד (דברים לג, כ), וּלְקָדְקֹד נְזִיר אֶחָֽיו (בראשית מט, כו), וְעַֽל־קָדְקֳדוֹ חֲמָסוֹ יֵרֵֽד (תהלים ז, יז). קָדְקֹד שֵׂעָר (תהלים סח, כב), כי בקדקד יחלק שער הראש חציו לימין וחציו לשמאל. וְעַד קָדְקֳדֶֽךָ (דברים כח, לה). ועוד נכתבנו עם בני ארבע אותיות. וְקִדָּה חֲמֵשׁ מֵאוֹת (שמות ל, כד) תרגם אנקלוס וּקְצִיעֲתָא. וכן נזכרה בדברי רבותינו ז"ל (כריתות ו, ע"א) בפיטום הקטרת מר וקציעה. וכן נקראת בלשון ערבי ובלשון יון קציעה ועוד נכתבנו בשרשו, ורבינו סעדיה כתב כי הוא הקושט.
Radak, Sefer HaShorashim, Berlin 1847. Public domain, digitised by Sefaria from the National Library of Israel.
Sources
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Take a Bow," What's in a Word?, 1 November 2018.
Cited in the essay: Bereishis 18:2, 23:7, 23:12, 24:26, 24:48, 24:52 (and Targum); Melachim I 1:31, 8:54; Yeshayahu 44 to 46, 44:17, 49:23; Megillah 22b; Berachos 34b; Sukkah 53a; Tosafos; Maharsha; Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim, Cheshek Shlomo s.v. קד, and Yerios Shlomo (חוברת ג', יריעה ח'); Malbim, Sefer HaCarmel s.v. ראש קדקדק מצח and סגד; Rav Hirsch; Radak, Sefer HaShorashim.