Jacob BOWED down to the ground seven times as he approached Esau

[tonychanyt]

Jacob Genesis 33:

3 He himself went on ahead and bowed [H7812] down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.

H7812 is a common word with 172 occurrences. It has three meanings. Brown-Driver-Briggs:

1. bow down, prostrate oneself, before a monarch or superior, in homage
2. before God, in worship
3. before other gods

Jacob treated Esau as his superior by bowing before him. Bowing down before a human was okay as long as he did not serve him as a god.

Elsewhere in Ex 20, Moses commanded the Israelites:

4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5a You shall not bow [H7812] down to them or serve them

The same word in these two verses carries different meanings. Bow down before a man to pay respect is okay but we are not to bow down before demons.