Original Word: סָגַד
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: cagad
Pronunciation: sah-gad'
Phonetic Spelling: (saw-gad')
KJV: fall down
NASB: falls down, bow down, fall down
Word Origin: [a primitive root]

1. to prostrate oneself (in homage)

fall down

A primitive root; to prostrate oneself (in homage) -- fall down.

Word Origin
a prim. root
Definition
to prostrate oneself (in worship)
NASB Translation
bow down (1), fall down (1), falls down (2).

[סָגַד] verb prostrate oneself in worship (only Isaiah 44:46) (perhaps Aramaic loan-word in Hebrew, compare Nö^{ZMG xli (1887), 719}; Aramaic סְגֵב, , so Old Aramaic סגד, (Sachau) Lzb³²⁸; Ethiopic all id.; Arabic be lowly, submissive, prostrate oneself in prayer, etc., mosque, Nabataean מסגדא shrine (?) Lzb^{152. 328}, Syriac = Arabic; compare We^{Skizzen iii. 165}; Heid. 141); —

Qal Imperfect3masculine singular יִסְגּוֺד לוֺ Isaiah 44:17 Kt he prostrateth himself to it (an idol; Qr יִסְגָּדלֿוֺ; + יִשְׁתַּחוּ, יִתְמַּלֵּל); וַיִּסְגָּדלָֿ֑מוֺ Isaiah 44:15 ("" וַיִּשְׁתָּ֑חוּ); 1 singular לְבוּל עֵץ אֶסְגּוֺד Isaiah 44:19; 3masculine plural יִסְגְּדוּ אַףיִֿשְׁתַּחֲווּ Isaiah 46:6 (absolute). — compare Biblical Aramaic סְגִד.

סִגִים, סִגִּים see סִיג below I. סוג.

סגל (√ of following; compare Late Hebrew סְגוּלָּה as Biblical Hebrew; סִגֵּל acquire property; Aramaic סְגוּלָא, , bunch of grapes, Assyrian sugullâtê, herds; also Arabic [a full bucket, bucketful], share, portion).

Semantic Range and Old Testament Setting

Sāgad depicts a full bodily prostration that acknowledges superior authority. While bodily bowing can be offered either to the living God or to men of rank, every instance of the Hebrew verb (five times) occurs within Isaiah’s satire of idol–making, so the Spirit-led focus is upon false worship.

Occurrences in Isaiah’s Anti-Idolatry Discourse

1. Isaiah 44:15 – A craftsman burns part of a tree for warmth and cooking, “but he also fashions it into a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and bows down to it.”
2. Isaiah 44:17 – “From the rest he makes a god… he bows down to it and worships it.”
3. Isaiah 44:19 – The idolater admits, “From the rest I made this detestable thing into an idol; I bow down to a block of wood!”
4. Isaiah 46:6 – Wealthy patrons commission a goldsmith; when the image is finished, “they bow down and worship it.”

(The doubled reference in Isaiah 44:17 reflects the Masoretic pointing.)

Literary Purpose in Isaiah Forty-Four to Forty-Six

Isaiah stages a courtroom drama that contrasts the LORD’s creatorial sovereignty with the absurdity of idols. Sāgad underlines that the very posture designed for covenant worship has been hijacked. The prophet forces the audience to picture bowing before the residue of a cooking fire, thereby exposing the irrationality of sin.

Theological Implications

• True worship is exclusive. A posture of prostration that belongs to the LORD alone (Exodus 20:5) becomes blasphemous when transferred to wood or metal.
• Idolatry reverses creation order. Humans, made to reflect God’s image, instead make gods in their own image and bow to them.
• Sāgad in Isaiah is never neutral; it is always set in parallel with ḥāwâ (“to worship”) to intensify the moral repugnance of the act.

Historical Background

The Babylonian period was marked by elaborate idol processions. Isaiah anticipates the exile and unmasks the cultic practice his hearers would witness in Mesopotamia. The term sāgad may reflect linguistic contact with Akkadian and Aramaic (cf. the Aramaic cognate in Daniel 3), reinforcing the prophet’s international outlook: all man-made worship, regardless of cultural sophistication, is vanity.

Ministry Significance for Today

1. Discernment: Modern believers confront sophisticated idols—materialism, ideology, self-exaltation. The vivid imagery surrounding sāgad equips pastors to expose contemporary parallels.
2. Evangelism: Isaiah’s mockery of idol procession can serve as a gentle apologetic, showing that Scripture anticipated every rival to the gospel.
3. Liturgical Integrity: Bowing or kneeling in corporate prayer gains fresh meaning when contrasted with the counterfeit illustrated by sāgad. Physical posture must correspond to spiritual truth.

Christological and Eschatological Reflection

Philippians 2:10 speaks of every knee bowing to Jesus Christ. The voluntary bowing of faith now pre-empts the compulsory bowing of judgment then. The negative portrait of sāgad heightens the glory of the future scene where all prostration will be directed to the rightful King.

Relation to New Testament Vocabulary

The Septuagint renders sāgad with proskuneō, the dominant Greek verb for worship. This bridge shows canonical continuity: the posture rejected in Isaiah when aimed at idols is welcomed in Revelation 5:14 when directed to the Lamb.

Summary

Sāgad is a razor-sharp term that exposes the folly of idolatry by depicting worship gone awry. Its restricted use in Isaiah amplifies the prophetic message: to bend the knee before anything less than the Creator is spiritual insanity. That same truth calls the church to exclusive, undiluted devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ, before whom alone it is fitting to “bow down and worship.”

אֶסְגּֽוֹד׃ אסגוד׃ וַיִּסְגָּד־ ויסגד־ יִסְגְּד֖וּ יִסְגָּד־ יסגד־ יסגדו ל֤וֹ לו ’es·gō·wḏ ’esgōwḏ esGod lo lōw vaiyisgod way·yis·gāḏ- wayyisgāḏ- yis·gāḏ- yis·gə·ḏū yisgāḏ- yisgeDu yisgəḏū yisgodInterlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts