Reference: Fear
Hastings
In the OT 'the fear of the Lord' is frequently a definition of piety. The purpose of the giving of the Law is the implanting of this fear in the hearts of men (De 4:10); it is the sum of religious duty (De 6:13) and prompts to obedient and loving service (De 10:12). 'Fear cannot be appraised without reference to the worth of the objects feared' (Martinean, Types of Ethical Theory, ii. 184); hence it is on the revelation of the Divine nature as 'holy and to be feared' (Ps 111:9) that this fundamental principle of religion rests: those who know His name have learnt that to fear Him is true wisdom (Ps 111:10) and true blessedness (Ps 112:1). In the NT mention is made of a fear which has high moral quality and religious value. 'The fear of the Lord' was the rule by which the early Christians walked (Ac 9:31), and when an uncircumcised foreigner became a devout worshipper of the God of Israel he was known as 'one that feareth God' (Ac 10:2; cf. 2Co 7:1; Php 2:12; 1Pe 1:17; 2:17; Re 14:7; 15:4; 19:5). Although the usual Gr. word for 'fear' is not used in Heb 5:7, the reference to the 'godly fear' of the perfect Son emphasizes the contrast between reverent awe and slavish terror.
The fear which 'hath punishment' (1Jo 4:18) is the result of sin (Ge 3:10). The sinner, under condemnation of the Law, is in 'bondage unto fear' (Ro 8:15), and inasmuch as 'the sting of death is sin' (1Co 15:56), he is also through fear of death
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He said, I heard the sound of You [walking] in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.
Especially how on the day that you stood before the Lord your God in Horeb, the Lord said to me, Gather the people together to Me and I will make them hear My words, that they may learn [reverently] to fear Me all the days they live upon the earth and that they may teach their children.
You shall [reverently] fear the Lord your God and serve Him and swear by His name [and presence].
And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you but [reverently] to fear the Lord your God, [that is] to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your [mind and] heart and with your entire being,
Transgression [like an oracle] speaks to the wicked deep in his heart. There is no fear or dread of God before his eyes.
He has sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant to be forever; holy is His name, inspiring awe, reverence, and godly fear. The reverent fear and worship of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom and skill [the preceding and the first essential, the prerequisite and the alphabet]; a good understanding, wisdom, and meaning have all those who do [the will of the Lord]. Their praise of Him endures forever.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!) Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who fears (reveres and worships) the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments.
Enter into the rock and hide yourself in the dust from before the terror of the Lord and from the glory of His majesty.
Then shall [the stricken, deprived of all in which they had trusted] go into the caves of the rocks and into the holes of the earth from before the terror and dread of the Lord and from before the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake mightily and terribly the earth.
To go into the caverns of the rocks and into the clefts of the ragged rocks from before the terror and dread of the Lord and from before the glory of His majesty, when He rises to shake mightily and terribly the earth.
And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; but rather be afraid of Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell (Gehenna).
So the church throughout the whole of Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was edified [growing in wisdom, virtue, and piety] and walking in the respect and reverential fear of the Lord and in the consolation and exhortation of the Holy Spirit, continued to increase and was multiplied.
A devout man who venerated God and treated Him with reverential obedience, as did all his household; and he gave much alms to the people and prayed continually to God.
For [the Spirit which] you have now received [is] not a spirit of slavery to put you once more in bondage to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption [the Spirit producing sonship] in [the bliss of] which we cry, Abba (Father)! Father!
Now sin is the sting of death, and sin exercises its power [upon the soul] through [the abuse of] the Law.
Therefore, being conscious of fearing the Lord with respect and reverence, we seek to win people over [to persuade them]. But what sort of persons we are is plainly recognized and thoroughly understood by God, and I hope that it is plainly recognized and thoroughly understood also by your consciences (your inborn discernment).
Therefore, since these [great] promises are ours, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that contaminates and defiles body and spirit, and bring [our] consecration to completeness in the [reverential] fear of God.
Therefore, my dear ones, as you have always obeyed [my suggestions], so now, not only [with the enthusiasm you would show] in my presence but much more because I am absent, work out (cultivate, carry out to the goal, and fully complete) your own salvation with reverence and awe and trembling (self-distrust, with serious caution, tenderness of conscience, watchfulness against temptation, timidly shrinking from whatever might offend God and discredit the name of Christ).
And also that He might deliver and completely set free all those who through the [haunting] fear of death were held in bondage throughout the whole course of their lives.
Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still holds and is offered [today], let us be afraid [ to distrust it], lest any of you should think he has come too late and has come short of [reaching] it.
In the days of His flesh [Jesus] offered up definite, special petitions [for that which He not only wanted but needed] and supplications with strong crying and tears to Him Who was [always] able to save Him [out] from death, and He was heard because of His reverence toward God [His godly fear, His piety, in that He shrank from the horrors of separation from the bright presence of the Father].
It is a fearful (formidable and terrible) thing to incur the divine penalties and be cast into the hands of the living God!
There is no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (complete, perfect) love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear brings with it the thought of punishment, and [so] he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love [is not yet grown into love's complete perfection].
[Strive to] save others, snatching [them] out of [the] fire; on others take pity [but] with fear, loathing even the garment spotted by the flesh and polluted by their sensuality.
And he cried with a mighty voice, Revere God and give Him glory (honor and praise in worship), for the hour of His judgment has arrived. Fall down before Him; pay Him homage and adoration and worship Him Who created heaven and earth, the sea and the springs (fountains) of water.
Who shall not reverence and glorify Your name, O Lord [giving You honor and praise in worship]? For You only are holy. All the nations shall come and pay homage and adoration to You, for Your just judgments (Your righteous sentences and deeds) have been made known and displayed.
Then from the throne there came a voice, saying, Praise our God, all you servants of His, you who reverence Him, both small and great!
Watsons
FEAR, a painful apprehension of danger. It is sometimes used for the object of fear; as, "the fear of Isaac," that is, the God whom Isaac feared, Ge 31:42. God says that he will send his fear before his people, to terrify and destroy the inhabitants of Canaan. Job speaks of the terrors of God, as set in array against him, Job 6:4; the Psalmist, that he had suffered the terrors of the Lord with a troubled mind, Ps 88:15. Fear is used, also, for reverence: "God is greatly to be feared" in the assembly of his saints. This kind of fear, being compatible with confidence and love, is sometimes called filial fear; while "the fear which hath torment," being the result of conscious guilt, and the anticipation of punishment, is removed by that "love" to God which results from a consciousness of our reconciliation to him.
The filial fear of God is a holy affection, or gracious habit, wrought in the soul by God, Jer 32:40, whereby it is inclined and enabled to obey all God's commandments, even the most difficult, Ge 22:12; Ec 12:13; and to hate and avoid evil, Ne 5:15; Pr 8:13; 15:6. Slavish fear is the consequence of guilt; it is a judicial impression from the sad thoughts of the provoked majesty of the heaven; it is an alarm within that disturbs the rest of a sinner. Fear is put for the whole worship of God: "I will teach you the fear of the Lord," Ps 34:11; I will teach you the true way of worshipping and serving God. It is likewise put for the law and word of God: "The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever," Ps 19:9. The law is so called, because it is the object, the cause, and the rule of the grace of holy fear.
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And He said, Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear and revere God, since you have not held back from Me or begrudged giving Me your son, your only son.
And if the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Dread [lest he should fall] and Fear [lest he offend] of Isaac, had not been with me, surely you would have sent me away now empty-handed. God has seen my affliction and humiliation and the [wearying] labor of my hands and rebuked you last night.
But the former governors lived at the expense of the people and took from them food and wine, besides forty shekels of silver [a large monthly official salary]; yes, even their servants assumed authority over the people. But I did not so because of my [reverent] fear of God.
[But it is] because the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison which my spirit drinks up; the terrors of God set themselves in array against me.
The [reverent] fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the ordinances of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you to revere and worshipfully fear the Lord.
I was afflicted and close to death from my youth up; while I suffer Your terrors I am distracted [I faint].
The reverent fear and worshipful awe of the Lord [includes] the hatred of evil; pride, arrogance, the evil way, and perverted and twisted speech I hate.
In the house of the [uncompromisingly] righteous is great [priceless] treasure, but with the income of the wicked is trouble and vexation.
All has been heard; the end of the matter is: Fear God [revere and worship Him, knowing that He is] and keep His commandments, for this is the whole of man [the full, original purpose of his creation, the object of God's providence, the root of character, the foundation of all happiness, the adjustment to all inharmonious circumstances and conditions under the sun] and the whole [duty] for every man.
And I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will not turn away from following them to do them good, and I will put My [reverential] fear in their hearts, so that they will not depart from Me.