This common mode of salutation among relatives is sanctified by its adoption in the church. Five of the Epistles close with the exhortation to greet one another with a holy kiss, or kiss of love. Romans 16:16; 1 Corinthians 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:26; 1 Peter 5:14 . When Paul said farewell to the elders of Ephesus, they wept sore, and fell on his neck and kissed him. Permission to kiss the hand of a superior is a mark of honour. The heathen kissed their gods. 1 Kings 19:18; Hosea 13:2 . In the case of distant objects of worship, like the sun and moon, they kissed the hand (Job 31:26,27 ), hence the most usual word for worship in the N.T. is προσκυνέω, from κυνέω, to kiss. Kings and judges of the earth are exhorted to kiss the Son when He comes to reign, lest He be angry, and they perish. Psalm 2:12 .