Word study
Terror
15 Hebrew words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: terror, terrors. 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 “terror” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- פַּחַד pachaddreadtranslated this way 13 times of its 49 uses · Strong’s H6343Noun · Translated: fear 15, terror 12, dread 10, panic 3Full study and all 48 verses →
1 Samuel 11:7 He took a pair of oxen, cut them into pieces, and sent them by messengers throughout the land of Israel, proclaiming, “This is what will be done to the oxen of anyone who does not march behind Saul and Samuel.” Then the terror of the LORD fell upon the people, and they came out together as one man.
2 Chronicles 14:14 and attacked all the cities around Gerar, because the terror of the LORD had fallen upon them. They plundered all the cities, since there was much plunder there.
- אֵימָה êmâhterror, dreadtranslated this way 12 times of its 17 uses · Strong’s H367Noun · Translated: terror 7, terrors 3, fear 2Full study and all 17 verses →
Genesis 15:12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and suddenly great terror and darkness overwhelmed him.
Exodus 15:16 and terror and dread will fall on them. By the power of Your arm they will be as still as a stone until Your people pass by, O LORD, until the people You have bought pass by.
- חִתִּית chittîthterrortranslated this way 8 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s H2851Noun · Translated: terror 7, despite the terror 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Ezekiel 26:17 Then they will lament for you, saying, “How you have perished, O city of renown inhabited by seafaring men— she who was powerful on the sea, along with her people, who imposed terror on all peoples!
Ezekiel 32:23 Her graves are set in the depths of the Pit, and her company is all around her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword— those who once spread terror in the land of the living.
- מָגוֹר mâgôrfear, terrortranslated this way 7 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s H4032Noun · Translated: terror 6, fear 1, terrors 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Psalm 31:13 For I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side. They conspire against me and plot to take my life.
Jeremiah 6:25 Do not go out to the fields; do not walk the road. For the enemy has a sword; terror is on every side.
- בַּלָּהָה ballâhâhterror, dreadful event, calamity, destructiontranslated this way 7 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s H1091Noun · Translated: Terrors 6, horrible end 2, sudden terror 1, object of horror 1Full study and all 10 verses →
Job 18:11 Terrors frighten him on every side and harass his every step.
Psalm 73:19 How suddenly they are laid waste, completely swept away by terrors!
- מוֹרָא môrâfeartranslated this way 4 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s H4172Noun · Translated: fear 3, terror 3, feared 2Full study and all 12 verses →
Deuteronomy 4:34 Or has any god tried to take as his own a nation out of another nation — by trials, signs, wonders, and war, by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors — as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt, before your eyes?
Psalm 9:20 Lay terror upon them, O LORD; let the nations know they are but men. Selah
- בָּהַל bâhalalarm, dismaytranslated this way 3 times of its 37 uses · Strong’s H926Verb · Translated: terrified 8, dismayed 7, terror 3, rushed 2Full study and all 37 verses →
Job 21:6 When I remember, terror takes hold, and my body trembles in horror.
Psalm 48:5 They saw and were astounded; they fled in terror.
- מְחִתָּה mechittâhterror, destruction, ruintranslated this way 3 times of its 11 uses · Strong’s H4288Noun · Translated: ruin 3, terror 3, destruction 2, rubble 1Full study and all 11 verses →
Proverbs 21:15 Justice executed is a joy to the righteous, but a terror to the workers of iniquity.
Isaiah 54:14 In righteousness you will be established, far from oppression, for you will have no fear. Terror will be far removed, for it will not come near you.
- בֶּהָלָה behâlâhdismay, sudden terror or ruintranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H928Noun · Translated: sudden terror 2, doomed to disaster 1, dismay 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Leviticus 26:16 then this is what I will do to you: I will bring upon you sudden terror, wasting disease, and fever that will destroy your sight and drain your life. You will sow your seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it.
Psalm 78:33 So He ended their days in futility, and their years in sudden terror.
- זְוָעָה zevââha tremblingtranslated this way 2 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s H2113Noun · Translated: horror 4, object of terror 1, terror 1Full study and all 6 verses →
2 Chronicles 29:8 Therefore, the wrath of the LORD has fallen upon Judah and Jerusalem, and He has made them an object of terror, horror, and scorn, as you can see with your own eyes.
Isaiah 28:19 As often as it passes through, it will carry you away; it will sweep through morning after morning, by day and by night.” The understanding of this message will bring sheer terror.
- 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 →
Psalm 10:18 to vindicate the fatherless and oppressed, that the men of the earth may strike terror no more.
Isaiah 47:12 So take your stand with your spells and with your many sorceries, with which you have wearied yourself from your youth. Perhaps you will succeed; perhaps you will inspire terror!
- פָּחַד pâchaddread, be in dread, in awetranslated this way 2 times of its 25 uses · Strong’s H6342Verb · Translated: afraid 4, fear 4, tremble 3, overwhelmed 2Full study and all 25 verses →
Isaiah 44:11 Behold, all his companions will be put to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are only human. Let them all assemble and take their stand; they will all be brought to terror and shame.
Isaiah 51:13 But you have forgotten the LORD, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth. You live in terror all day long because of the fury of the oppressor who is bent on destruction. But where is the fury of the oppressor?
- בְּעָתָה beâthâhterror, dismaytranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H1205Noun · Translated: terror 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Jeremiah 8:15 We hoped for peace, but no good has come, for a time of healing, but there was only terror.
Jeremiah 14:19 Have You rejected Judah completely? Do You despise Zion? Why have You stricken us so that we are beyond healing? We hoped for peace, but no good has come, and for the time of healing, but there was only terror.
- חֲרָדָה chărâdâhtrembling, fear, anxietytranslated this way 2 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s H2731Noun · Translated: panic 3, terror 2, fear 1, horror 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Ezekiel 26:16 All the princes of the sea will descend from their thrones, remove their robes, and strip off their embroidered garments. Clothed with terror, they will sit on the ground, trembling every moment, appalled over you.
Daniel 10:7 Only I, Daniel, saw the vision; the men with me did not see it, but a great terror fell upon them, and they ran and hid themselves.
- בִּעוּתִים biûthîmterrors, alarmstranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H1161Noun · Translated: terrors 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Job 6:4 For the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me; my spirit drinks in their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
Psalm 88:16 Your wrath has swept over me; Your terrors have destroyed me.
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.
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.