Word study
Fear
15 Hebrew and 4 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: fear, feared, fears, fearing. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “fear” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- יָרֵא yârêfeartranslated this way 128 times of its 312 uses · Strong’s H3372Verb · Translated: afraid 109, fear 98, feared 23, awesome 21Full study and all 303 verses →
Genesis 32:7 In great fear and distress, Jacob divided his people into two camps, as well as the flocks and herds and camels.
Exodus 1:17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had instructed; they let the boys live.
- יָרֵא yârêfeartranslated this way 51 times of its 65 uses · Strong’s H3373Adjective · Translated: fear 33, fears 10, feared 5, afraid 4Full study and all 64 verses →
Genesis 22:12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him,” said the angel, “for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.”
Exodus 9:20 Those among Pharaoh’s officials who feared the word of the LORD hurried to bring their servants and livestock to shelter,
- יִרְאָה yirâhfeartranslated this way 37 times of its 43 uses · Strong’s H3374Noun · Translated: fear 34, reverence 4Full study and all 43 verses →
Genesis 20:11 Abraham replied, “I thought to myself, ‘Surely there is no fear of God in this place. They will kill me on account of my wife.’
Exodus 20:20 “Do not be afraid,” Moses replied. “For God has come to test you, so that the fear of Him may be before you, to keep you from sinning.”
- פַּחַד pachaddreadtranslated this way 15 times of its 49 uses · Strong’s H6343Noun · Translated: fear 15, terror 12, dread 10, panic 3Full study and all 48 verses →
Genesis 31:42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, surely by now you would have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, and last night He rendered judgment.”
Deuteronomy 11:25 No man will be able to stand against you; the LORD your God will put the fear and dread of you upon all the land, wherever you set foot, as He has promised you.
- פָּחַד pâchaddread, be in dread, in awetranslated this way 6 times of its 25 uses · Strong’s H6342Verb · Translated: afraid 4, fear 4, tremble 3, overwhelmed 2Full study and all 25 verses →
Job 3:25 For the thing I feared has overtaken me, and what I dreaded has befallen me.
Psalm 78:53 He led them safely, so they did not fear, but the sea engulfed their enemies.
- מוֹרָא môrâfeartranslated this way 5 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s H4172Noun · Translated: fear 3, terror 3, feared 2Full study and all 12 verses →
Genesis 9:2 The fear and dread of you will fall on every living creature on the earth, every bird of the air, every creature that crawls on the ground, and all the fish of the sea. They are delivered into your hand.
Psalm 76:11 Make and fulfill your vows to the LORD your God; let all the neighboring lands bring tribute to Him who is to be feared.
- פָּנִים pânîmface, beforetranslated this way 5 times of its 1,836 uses · Strong’s H6440Noun · Translated: before 448, face 222, presence 147, before you 123Full study and all 1,671 verses →
- חָרַד châradtremble, be terrifiedtranslated this way 4 times of its 39 uses · Strong’s H2729Verb · Translated: trembled 5, tremble 5, frighten 4, fear 3Full study and all 39 verses →
Leviticus 26:6 And I will give peace to the land, and you will lie down with nothing to fear. I will rid the land of dangerous animals, and no sword will pass through your land.
1 Samuel 13:7 Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan into the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul, however, remained at Gilgal, and all his troops were quaking in fear.
- אֵימָה êmâhterror, dreadtranslated this way 3 times of its 17 uses · Strong’s H367Noun · Translated: terror 7, terrors 3, fear 2Full study and all 17 verses →
Joshua 2:9 and said to them, “I know that the LORD has given you this land and that the fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who dwell in the land are melting in fear of you.
Ezra 3:3 They set up the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the LORD — both the morning and evening burnt offerings — even though they feared the people of the land.
- שָׂעַר sâarbristletranslated this way 2 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s H8175Verb · Translated: fear 1, sweeps 1, tempest 1, sweep them away 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Deuteronomy 32:17 They sacrificed to demons, not to God, to gods they had not known, to newly arrived gods, which your fathers did not fear.
Ezekiel 27:35 All the people of the coastlands are appalled over you. Their kings shudder with fear; their faces are contorted.
- מוּג mûgmelttranslated this way 2 times of its 17 uses · Strong’s H4127Verb · Translated: melt away 3, melting in fear 2, melts 2Full study and all 17 verses →
Joshua 2:9 and said to them, “I know that the LORD has given you this land and that the fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who dwell in the land are melting in fear of you.
Joshua 2:24 “The LORD has surely delivered the entire land into our hands,” they said to Joshua. “Indeed, all who dwell in the land are melting in fear of us.”
- רָאָה rââhseetranslated this way 2 times of its 1,266 uses · Strong’s H7200Verb · Translated: see 354, saw 285, seen 124, look 45Full study and all 1,181 verses →
- גּוּר gûrsojourntranslated this way 2 times of its 88 uses · Strong’s H1481Verb · Translated: residing 8, reside 6, living 6, dwell 6Full study and all 85 verses →
Job 19:29 then you should fear the sword yourselves, because wrath brings punishment by the sword, so that you may know there is a judgment.”
Hosea 10:5 The people of Samaria will fear for the calf of Beth-aven. Indeed, its people will mourn over it with its idolatrous priests — those who rejoiced in its glory — for it has been taken from them into exile.
- דְּחַל dechalfeartranslated this way 2 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s H1763Verb · Translated: fear 2, terrifying 2, awesome 1, frightened 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Daniel 5:19 Because of the greatness that He bestowed on him, the people of every nation and language trembled in fear before him. He killed whom he wished and kept alive whom he wished; he exalted whom he wished and humbled whom he wished.
Daniel 6:26 I hereby decree that in every part of my kingdom, men are to tremble in fear before the God of Daniel: For He is the living God, and He endures forever; His kingdom will never be destroyed, and His dominion will never end.
- עָרַץ âratscause to tremble, trembletranslated this way 2 times of its 15 uses · Strong’s H6206Verb · Translated: terrified 4, feared 2, shake 2Full study and all 15 verses →
Job 31:34 because I greatly feared the crowds and the contempt of the clans terrified me, so that I kept silent and would not go outside —
Psalm 89:7 In the council of the holy ones, God is greatly feared, and awesome above all who surround Him.
Greek words (New Testament)
- φοβέω phobéōI fear, am terrifiedtranslated this way 32 times of its 94 uses · Strong’s G5399Verb · Translated: afraid 47, fear 23, fearing 4, terrified 3Full study and all 91 verses →
Matthew 10:28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Mark 4:41 Overwhelmed with fear, they asked one another, “Who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”
- φόβος phóbosfear, terror, reverencetranslated this way 32 times of its 45 uses · Strong’s G5401Noun · Translated: fear 29, respect 5, awe 2, sense of awe 2Full study and all 42 verses →
Matthew 14:26 When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost!” they said, and cried out in fear.
Luke 1:12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and gripped with fear.
- ἀφόβως aphóbōsfearlesslytranslated this way 3 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G870Adverb · Translated: without fear 2, nothing to fear 1, shamelessly 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Luke 1:74 deliverance from hostile hands, that we may serve Him without fear,
1 Corinthians 16:10 If Timothy comes, see to it that he has nothing to fear while he is with you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, just as I am.
- ἵνα hínain order that, so thattranslated this way 2 times of its 584 uses · Strong’s G2443Conjunction · Translated: so that 226, to 162, that 95, order 23Full study and all 552 verses →
John 3:20 Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
What the Bible says about fear: passages by topic →
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.