Scholars agree that this command could not have meant worship, since prostration in worship belongs to Allah alone; al-Qurtubi notes that they differed only over its form. It was instead a gesture of honor and acknowledgment directed at Adam, whom Allah also honored with knowledge, as told in what Allah taught Adam. The form this prostration took is explained in what kind of prostration Allah commanded the angels to perform.

اتفق العلماء على أن هذا الأمر لا يمكن أن يعني العبادة، إذ السجود عبادةً لا يكون إلا لله وحده، وينبه القرطبي إلى أنهم اختلفوا في كيفيته فقط. بل كان إيماءة تكريمٍ واعترافٍ وُجِّهت لآدم، الذي أكرمه الله كذلك بالعلم.

The same ayah records that the angels prostrated, but Iblis "refused and acted arrogantly, becoming unfaithful" (2:34); elsewhere the Quran states that he was one of the jinn (18:50). What followed for Adam and his wife is told in what happened to Adam and his wife when they ate from the forbidden tree, and the full reasoning behind Iblis's refusal, and what it cost him, in why Iblis refused to prostrate before Adam.

تسجل الآية نفسها أن الملائكة سجدوا إلا إبليس "أبى واستكبر وكان من الكافرين" (البقرة 2: 34)، ويذكر القرآن في موضعٍ آخر أنه "كان من الجن" (الكهف 18: 50).