For , the identity for binomial coefficients
shows that divides . Since is a prime number and is not divisible by , cancellation modulo gives
The binomial theorem consequently gives as a coefficientwise polynomial modular congruence. Apply the same identity with replaced by and use mathematical induction to obtain
This is an iteration of the Frobenius endomorphism in characteristic . Comparing the intermediate coefficients gives the prime-power binomial divisibility result