Words · Hebrew Words · Lesson 5, word 1 of 5
יִרְאָהyirah
Fear of God: awe, reverence and real trembling together.
Why this word is here. 'The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom' is the Old Testament's education motto; English readers split between 'terror' and 'respect' and both halves matter.
What it means
From the verb yare, to fear. The lexicon range: fear, terror, fearing; an awesome or terrifying thing; and the fear of God as respect, reverence and piety. The same word family covers Abraham on Mount Moriah, Israel trembling at Sinai, and the settled piety that Proverbs calls the beginning of wisdom.
Biblical God-fearing is a posture toward a real Person: he is holy, powerful and good, so the fear includes dread of his judgment and grateful reverence, in proportions set by each passage.
Where you meet it
“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.”
Genesis 22:12 (BSB)
On Moriah the angel stops Abraham: 'Now I know that you fear (yare) God.' Fear proven by obedience at the highest cost.
Fear the LORD your God, serve Him only, and take your oaths in His name.
Deuteronomy 6:13 (BSB)
'Fear the LORD (yirah's verb) your God, serve Him only.' From the chapter of the Shema; fear, love and obedience stand together.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
Proverbs 9:10 (BSB)
Anchor verse 'The fear of the LORD (yirah) is the beginning of wisdom.' Wisdom starts with taking God with ultimate seriousness.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts gain rich understanding. His praise endures forever!
Psalm 111:10 (BSB)
The same line opens a psalm of praise: fear of God as the foundation, and 'all who follow His precepts gain rich understanding'.
Why it matters
Yirah is the Old Testament's name for the sanity of creatures before their Creator: it produces obedience, humility, honesty and worship, and it expels the fear of people. The New Testament keeps it ('work out your salvation with fear and trembling'; the church in Acts 9:31 lives 'in the fear of the Lord').
Watch out
Two over-claims flatten the word. 'It just means reverence, never actual fear' cannot survive Sinai (Exodus 20:18-20, where Moses says the fear of God will keep them from sinning) or Genesis 22. 'It means being terrified of a dangerous God' cannot survive Deuteronomy, where fearing and loving God are commanded in the same breath (Deuteronomy 10:12). The lexicon holds terror and piety in one range, and the texts intend both.
In this lesson
- amen (אָמֵן): 'Truly, so be it', the word that stakes you to a statement.
- shabbat (שַׁבָּת): The Sabbath: the seventh day, blessed and made holy.
- tselem (צֶלֶם): An image or likeness, what humans are, of God.
- hineni (הִנְנִי (from הִנֵּה, hinneh)): 'Here I am', full availability to the one who calls.
Sources
- Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (BDB, 1906)
- Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible / STEP Hebrew data
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