The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. His mercy extends to those who fear Him, and perfect love drives out fear. In Proverbs 9:10, the Hebrew word is yirah (H3374): fear, and, Strong’s adds, ‘morally, reverence’: deep respect, awe. Strong’s says it comes from yare (H3373), ‘fearing’, the word behind “those who fear Him” in Psalm 103:13,...
Get DeepWordWhat the original says
Behind the word “fear” in this verse is the Hebrew word yirah (said yir-AH).
It means fear, and, Strong’s adds, ‘morally, reverence’: deep respect, awe. Strong’s says it comes from yare (H3373), ‘fearing’, the word behind “those who fear Him” in Psalm 103:13, later in this question.
This form, yir’at, means ‘fear of’, joined to the next word: “The fear of the LORD”. Word for word the verse begins ‘The beginning of wisdom: the fear of the LORD’.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘fear’ 35 times and ‘reverence’ 4 times:
Word by word
| תְּחִלַּת | חָכְמָה | יִרְאַת | יְהוָה | וְדַעַת | קְדֹשִׁים | בִּינָה |
| beginning of | wisdom | fear of | the LORD | and · knowledge of | holy ones | understanding |
Original form
What this tells us
Proverbs 9 pictures Wisdom as a woman who builds a house and lays a feast: “Wisdom has built her house; she has carved out her seven pillars” (Proverbs 9:1). She calls to anyone who will listen, “Come, eat my bread and drink the wine I have mixed” (Proverbs 9:5). This verse is the heart of her invitation, and it repeats what the book said at its start: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7). The word for “fear” is yirah: fear, and also reverence, deep respect, awe. Here it is the starting point of wisdom, not its opposite. The second half of the verse says the same thing in other words: “knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” To fear the LORD, in this verse, is closely tied to knowing who he is. The same saying appears in the psalms: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts gain rich understanding” (Psalm 111:10). Think of the respect an apprentice has for a master craftsman. It is not terror, but it takes the master seriously, and that is where learning begins. If ‘the fear of God’ sounds to you like being scared of him, this verse offers another way in: taking him so seriously that you want to learn from him.
What the original says
Behind the words “be afraid” in this verse is the Hebrew word yare (said yah-RAY).
It means to be afraid, and also, Strong’s says, ‘morally, to revere’. The same verb covers being frightened and holding someone in awe.
This form, tira’u, has al, ‘not’, in front of it: “Do not be afraid”, said to the whole people. Later in the verse comes yir’ato, ‘his fear’: the noun you met in Proverbs 9:10, here “the fear of Him”.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘fear’ in some form 128 times, ‘afraid’ 110 times, and ‘awesome’ 20 times:
Word by word
| אַל | תִּירָאוּ | כִּי | לְבַעֲבוּר | נַסּוֹת | אֶתְכֶם | בָּא | הָאֱלֹהִים | וּבַעֲבוּר | תִּהְיֶה | יִרְאָתוֹ |
| not | you fear | for | for the sake of | testing | you | has come | God | and · so that | may be | fear · his |
Original form
What this tells us
God has just given the Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai. The people saw “the thunder and lightning, the sounding of the ram’s horn, and the mountain enveloped in smoke”, and “they trembled and stood at a distance” (Exodus 20:18). They begged Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen” (Exodus 20:19), because they were sure that hearing God would kill them. The word for “afraid” is yare: to be afraid, and also to revere. Moses uses the verb and its noun in one breath. “Do not be afraid,” he says, and then explains that God came “so that the fear of Him may be before you, to keep you from sinning.” One kind of fear is told to go; another is meant to stay. The difference is what the fear does. The fear that makes people run away and keep their distance is not what God is after; the fear that keeps them from sin is. The letter to the Hebrews describes the right kind as part of worship: “let us be filled with gratitude, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe” (Hebrews 12:28). Think of standing on the shore of the ocean: you are not afraid to be there, but you would never treat it lightly. You can hold both halves of this verse at once: do not be afraid of him, and keep him before your eyes.
What the original says
Behind the words “has compassion” in this verse is the Hebrew word racham (said rah-KHAM).
It means to love tenderly, to have compassion. Strong’s gives its first sense as ‘to fondle’, the way a parent holds a child.
This form, richam, means ‘he has compassion’. The verse uses the word twice: once for a father, once for the LORD. The last words, “those who fear Him”, are yare (H3373), ‘fearing’.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘compassion’ in some form 36 times and ‘mercy’ 5 times:
Word by word
| כְּרַחֵם | אָב | עַל | בָּנִים | רִחַם | יְהוָה | עַל | יְרֵאָיו |
| as · has compassion | a father | on | children | has compassion | the LORD | on | those fearing · him |
Original form
What this tells us
Psalm 103 has already said that the LORD is “slow to anger” (Psalm 103:8) and that he has removed our sins “As far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12). Now David reaches for the closest picture he has of what God is like: a father with his children. The word for “compassion” is racham: to love tenderly, to have compassion. Strong’s gives its first sense as ‘to fondle’, the way a parent holds a child. David uses it twice, once of the father and once of the LORD. And the ones who receive that compassion are “those who fear Him”. In this verse fear sits right beside tenderness. The next verse gives the reason: “For He knows our frame; He is mindful that we are dust” (Psalm 103:14). A good father does not expect a small child to carry what an adult carries. Isaiah gives a similar picture of God as a shepherd: “He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart” (Isaiah 40:11). And the psalm goes on, “from everlasting to everlasting the loving devotion of the LORD extends to those who fear Him” (Psalm 103:17). To fear the LORD, in this verse, is to be the child he has compassion on. When you picture his face turned toward you, do you see a father’s?
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Behind the word “confidence” in this verse is the Hebrew word mivtach (said miv-TAKH).
It means security: something safe to trust in. Strong’s says it comes from batach, ‘to trust’, the word in “Trust in the LORD with all your heart” (Proverbs 3:5).
This form, mivtach, is joined to the next word, oz, ‘strength’: word for word ‘confidence of strength’, which the Berean gives as “secure in confidence”.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘trust’ 6 times, ‘confidence’ 4 times, and ‘security’ 2 times:
Word by word
| בְּיִרְאַת | יְהוָה | מִבְטַח | עֹז | וּלְבָנָיו | יִהְיֶה | מַחְסֶה |
| in · fear of | the LORD | confidence of | strength | and · to · children · his | will be | a refuge |
Original form
What this tells us
This verse sits among sayings about wise and foolish living, and the very next one says, “The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death” (Proverbs 14:27). Together the two verses say that fearing God is not a cage but a place of life and safety. The word for “confidence” is mivtach: security, something safe to trust in. Strong’s says it comes from batach, ‘to trust’. The surprise is the pairing: “He who fears the LORD is secure in confidence”. Fear of God, in this verse, is the root of confidence, not of anxiety. The person who takes God most seriously is the one who can stand most securely. And it reaches the next generation: “his children shall have a place of refuge.” Proverbs uses a related picture elsewhere: “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe” (Proverbs 18:10). Think of a child caught in a storm who is safe because a parent knows where the shelter is and leads them there. The parent’s reverence becomes the child’s refuge. Who in your life might find refuge because you fear the LORD? This verse says that your reverence for him can become someone else’s shelter.
What the original says
Behind the word “forgiveness” in this verse is the Hebrew word selichah (said seh-lee-KHAH).
It means pardon, forgiveness. Strong’s says it comes from salach, ‘to forgive’.
This form, hasselichah, has ‘the’ (הַ) in front: ‘the forgiveness’. The last word, tivvare, is the verb yare: “You may be feared”.
It is found in only 3 verses of the Berean Standard Bible: “forgiveness” here, “a forgiving God” in Nehemiah 9:17, and “compassion and forgiveness” in Daniel 9:9:
Word by word
| כִּי | עִמְּךָ | הַסְּלִיחָה | לְמַעַן | תִּוָּרֵא |
| for | with · you | the · forgiveness | so that | you may be feared |
Original form
What this tells us
Psalm 130 begins at the bottom: “Out of the depths I cry to You, O LORD!” (Psalm 130:1). Then comes the question every guilty person has asked at some point: “If You, O LORD, kept track of iniquities, then who, O Lord, could stand?” (Psalm 130:3). No one could; the psalm does not even need to say so. The word for “forgiveness” is selichah: pardon, forgiveness. It comes from salach, ‘to forgive’, a verb the Old Testament uses only of God forgiving. The order of the verse matters: “But with You there is forgiveness, so that You may be feared.” Forgiveness comes first, and fear follows from it. That is the opposite of what many people expect. They assume fear keeps people in line, and forgiveness makes them careless. The psalm says that being forgiven is what makes a person stand in awe. The next verses turn to hope: “I wait for the LORD; my soul does wait, and in His word I put my hope” (Psalm 130:5), and “with the LORD is loving devotion, and with Him is redemption in abundance” (Psalm 130:7). If your fear of God is mostly fear of punishment, this verse points to a different fear: the awe of someone who knows they have been forgiven, and cannot get over it.
What the original says
Behind the word “fear” in this verse is the Greek word phobos (said FOB-os).
It means alarm, fright, fear. The English word ‘phobia’ comes from it.
This form, phobos, is a noun, and John uses it three times in this verse. He says why fear must go: “because fear involves punishment”; the word for punishment, kolasis, Strong’s defines as ‘penal infliction’.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘fear’ 31 times, ‘awe’ 4 times, and ‘respect’ 3 times:
Word by word
| φόβος | οὐκ | ἔστιν | ἐν | τῇ | ἀγάπῃ | ἀλλ’ | ἡ | τελεία | ἀγάπη | ἔξω | βάλλει | τὸν | φόβον |
| fear | not | is | in | the | love | but | the | perfect | love | out | casts | the | fear |
Original form
What this tells us
John has been writing about love all through this chapter: “God is love; whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16). He has just said that love lets us “have confidence on the day of judgment” (1 John 4:17). This verse explains how that can be. The word for “fear” is phobos: alarm, fright, the root of the English word ‘phobia’. John says which kind he means: the fear that “involves punishment”. That fear, he says, has no place beside God’s love, because “perfect love drives out fear”. It is not that the reader must work up courage; it is that love pushes the fear out. This is not the same as the fear of the LORD that Proverbs calls the beginning of wisdom. It is the fear of a slave waiting to be punished. Paul draws the same line between “a spirit of slavery that returns you to fear” and “the Spirit of sonship” (Romans 8:15). And John’s next words name the source of it all: “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). If you are afraid that God is waiting to punish you, this verse speaks straight to that fear. His love is meant to push it out, a little more each time you let yourself believe it.
What the original says
Behind the word “fear” in this verse is the Greek word phobeō (said fo-BEH-oh).
It is the verb from phobos. Strong’s says it can mean to be alarmed, and ‘by analogy, to be in awe of, i.e. revere’.
This form, phoboumenois, means ‘to those who fear’, in a form for people who keep on fearing him. The word for “mercy” is eleos.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘afraid’ 48 times and ‘fear’ in some form 33 times, as in “Do not be afraid, Mary” (Luke 1:30):
Word by word
| καὶ | τὸ | ἔλεος | αὐτοῦ | εἰς | γενεὰς | καὶ | γενεὰς | τοῖς | φοβουμένοις | αὐτόν |
| and | the | mercy | his | to | generations | and | generations | to those | fearing | him |
Original form
What this tells us
Mary has hurried to visit her relative Elizabeth, after the angel’s news that she will bear a son. The angel had first told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God” (Luke 1:30). Now, in Elizabeth’s home, Mary sings: “My soul magnifies the Lord” (Luke 1:46). This verse is part of her song. The word for “fear” is phobeō, the verb for being afraid and also for being in awe. Mary has just been told not to be afraid, and now she sings of those who fear him. She knows the difference: not terror, but awe at a God who “has done great things for me. Holy is His name” (Luke 1:49). Her song goes on to turn the world upside down: “He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has exalted the humble” (Luke 1:52), and “He has filled the hungry with good things” (Luke 1:53). The mercy she sings about is not for the proud but for those who take God seriously. It reaches “from generation to generation”, from the promise to Abraham, through Mary, and on to every generation after her. Mary feared God and was not afraid of him. You can hold both as well: awe at who he is, and trust in his mercy.
Behind "fear" are 38 different words
Your English Bible says "fear" 514 times. Behind it stand several Hebrew and Greek words:
Reflect
Read it as yours
Exodus 20:20 holds both kinds of fear in one breath. Read it slowly:
Name it
What are you afraid of right now? Write it down. Then read Psalm 103:13 beside it: “the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.”
Carry with you
Proverbs 14:26 says “He who fears the LORD is secure in confidence.” What would that confidence change for you this week?
A note
If fear or dread about God is weighing on you, you’re not alone. Talking with a pastor or counselor can help.