When the gods Bow Down

ז) יֵבֹשׁוּ כָּל עֹבְדֵי פֶסֶל הַמִּתְהַלְלִים בָּאֱלִילִים הִשְׁתַּחֲווּ לוֹ כָּל אֱלֹהִים:

All worshippers of graven images will be ashamed, yea those who boast of idols; all gods, prostrate yourselves before Him.

The Radak explains the simple meaning of this pasuk as saying that those who say that their success has come through idols or other powers will be ashamed when their see the full impact of Hashem’s judgement. They will see that there is no other power other than Hashem and feel a very real sense of shame when they come face to face with their mistakes.

He explains that the term השתחוו לו כל אלהים refers to the heavenly bodies such as the sun, moon and stars which themselves are worshipped by mankind. When they (the sun, moon and stars) so to speak, see Hashem’s judgement of those who worship them, they will thank and ‘bow down’ to Hashem for meting out justice to those who worshipped them.

The Seforno (and Ibn Ezra) say that the term  אלהים refers to the Angels who will bow down in subservience to Hashem and in thanks that the fallacy of idol worship has once and for all been shown to be a sham.  The essence of this pasuk according to them, is that the euphoria of Hashem’s revelation at the end of days will extend to the spiritual forces in the world as they take pleasure in seeing man been brought to the path of truth


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