Word study
Tremble
12 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: tremble, trembling, trembled, trembles. 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 “tremble” 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)
- רָגַז râgazbe agitated, quiver, quake, be excited, perturbedtranslated this way 18 times of its 41 uses · Strong’s H7264Verb · Translated: tremble 10, trembled 5, disturbed 3, shaken 2Full study and all 40 verses →
Exodus 15:14 The nations will hear and tremble; anguish will grip the dwellers of Philistia.
Deuteronomy 2:25 This very day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon all the nations under heaven. They will hear the reports of you and tremble in anguish because of you.”
- חָרַד châradtremble, be terrifiedtranslated this way 17 times of its 39 uses · Strong’s H2729Verb · Translated: trembled 5, tremble 5, frighten 4, fear 3Full study and all 39 verses →
Genesis 27:33 Isaac began to tremble violently and said, “Who was it, then, who hunted the game and brought it to me? Before you came in, I ate it all and blessed him — and indeed, he will be blessed!”
Exodus 19:16 On the third day, when morning came, there was thunder and lightning. A thick cloud was upon the mountain, and a very loud blast of the ram’s horn went out, so that all the people in the camp trembled.
- חוּל chûlwhirl, dance, writhetranslated this way 6 times of its 58 uses · Strong’s H2342Verb · Translated: brought forth 6, tremble 5, labor 3, waited 2Full study and all 55 verses →
1 Chronicles 16:30 tremble before Him, all the earth. The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.
Job 26:5 The dead tremble — those beneath the waters and those who dwell in them.
- חָרֵד chârêdtremblingtranslated this way 6 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s H2730Adjective · Translated: trembled 2, tremble 2, trembling 1, trembles 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Judges 7:3 Now, therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the men: ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand of them turned back, but ten thousand remained.
1 Samuel 4:13 When he arrived, there was Eli, sitting on his chair beside the road and watching, because his heart trembled for the ark of God. When the man entered the city to give a report, the whole city cried out.
- רַעַד raadtremblingtranslated this way 6 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s H7461Noun · Translated: trembling 6Full study and all 6 verses →
Exodus 15:15 Then the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed; trembling will seize the leaders of Moab; those who dwell in Canaan will melt away,
Job 4:14 fear and trembling came over me and made all my bones shudder.
- רָעַשׁ râashquake, shaketranslated this way 5 times of its 30 uses · Strong’s H7493Verb · Translated: quake 6, shake 6, tremble 4, quaked 3Full study and all 30 verses →
Judges 5:4 O LORD, when You went out from Seir, when You marched from the land of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens poured out rain, and the clouds poured down water.
Isaiah 14:16 Those who see you will stare; they will ponder your fate: “Is this the man who shook the earth and made the kingdoms tremble,
- פָּחַד pâchaddread, be in dread, in awetranslated this way 5 times of its 25 uses · Strong’s H6342Verb · Translated: afraid 4, fear 4, tremble 3, overwhelmed 2Full study and all 25 verses →
Isaiah 19:17 The land of Judah will bring terror to Egypt; whenever Judah is mentioned, Egypt will tremble over what the LORD of Hosts has planned against it.
Hosea 3:5 Afterward, the people of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to His goodness in the last days.
- נוּעַ nûaquiver, wave, waver, tremble, tottertranslated this way 4 times of its 38 uses · Strong’s H5128Verb · Translated: shake 5, sway 3, shakes 3, fugitive 2Full study and all 36 verses →
Exodus 20:18 When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sounding of the ram’s horn, and the mountain enveloped in smoke, they trembled and stood at a distance.
Isaiah 7:2 When it was reported to the house of David that Aram was in league with Ephraim, the hearts of Ahaz and his people trembled like trees in the forest shaken by the wind.
- רָעַד râadtremble, quaketranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s H7460Verb · Translated: trembling 2, trembles 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Ezra 10:9 So within the three days, all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled in Jerusalem, and on the twentieth day of the ninth month, all the people sat in the square at the house of God, trembling regarding this matter and because of the heavy rain.
Psalm 104:32 He looks on the earth, and it trembles; He touches the mountains, and they smolder.
- זוּעַ zûatremble, quaketranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s H2111Verb · Translated: tremble in fear 1, tremble 1, disturb 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Esther 5:9 That day Haman went out full of joy and glad of heart. At the king’s gate, however, he saw Mordecai, who did not rise or tremble in fear at his presence. And Haman was filled with rage toward Mordecai.
Ecclesiastes 12:3 on the day the keepers of the house tremble and the strong men stoop, when those grinding cease because they are few and those watching through windows see dimly,
- זוּעַ zûatrembletranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H2112Verb · Translated: trembled 1, tremble 1Full study and all 2 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.
- רַעַשׁ raashquaking, shakingtranslated this way 2 times of its 16 uses · Strong’s H7494Noun · Translated: earthquake 7, rumbling 3, Trembling 2Full study and all 15 verses →
Job 39:24 Trembling with excitement, he devours the distance; he cannot stand still when the ram’s horn sounds.
Ezekiel 12:18 “Son of man, eat your bread with trembling, and drink your water with quivering and anxiety.
Greek words (New Testament)
- τρόμος trómosa tremblingtranslated this way 4 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G5156Noun · Translated: trembling 4, fear 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Mark 16:8 So the women left the tomb and ran away, trembling and bewildered. And in their fear they did not say a word to anyone.
1 Corinthians 2:3 I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling.
- ἔντρομος éntromostrembling through feartranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G1790Adjective · Translated: trembling 2, trembled with fear 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Acts 7:32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.
Hebrews 12:21 The sight was so terrifying that even Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”
- τρέμω trémōI tremble, am afraidtranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G5141Verb · Translated: trembling 2, unafraid 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Mark 5:33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him trembling in fear, and she told Him the whole truth.
Luke 8:47 Then the woman, seeing that she could not escape notice, came trembling and fell down before Him. In the presence of all the people, she explained why she had touched Him and how she had immediately been healed.
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.