Kiss

The kiss in the biblical world carried a range of social and religious meanings quite different from modern Western conventions. Kissing expressed familial affection (Genesis 29:13; Luke 15:20), reconciliation (Genesis 33:4; Luke 15:20 of the father embracing the prodigal), farewell (Ruth 1:14), and reverence or homage—Kiss the Son, lest he be angry (Psalm 2:12) uses the kiss as an act of submission to royal authority. Worshippers kissing the calves of Baal (1 Kings 19:18; Hosea 13:2) represented the act of religious devotion.

In the New Testament, the holy kiss or kiss of love became a distinctive mark of Christian community, commanded by Paul in Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:20, 2 Corinthians 13:12, and 1 Thessalonians 5:26, and by Peter in 1 Peter 5:14. This ritual greeting expressed the equality and brotherhood of all believers across social distinctions. Judas's betrayal of Jesus with a kiss (Matthew 26:48–49) made the greeting an instrument of treachery, giving the kiss of Judas its permanent place in the language of betrayal. The woman who anointed Jesus's feet with her tears and kissed them (Luke 7:38, 45) expressed the grateful devotion that Jesus contrasted with his host Simon's withholding of the customary guest kiss.