📖 Biblical Definition
The fear of God is reverential awe and holy dread before the infinite holiness, power, and majesty of the Creator — the proper and foundational response of every creature. It is not merely intellectual respect; it includes trembling at His word (Isa 66:2), departure from evil (Prov 8:13), and the recognition that He is the ultimate Judge of all things. Scripture declares this the "beginning of wisdom" (Prov 1:7) and the "beginning of knowledge" — meaning no true understanding of reality is possible apart from it. It is simultaneously the starting point of salvation and the continuous posture of the mature believer (Phil 2:12). Isaiah saw the Lord enthroned and cried, "Woe is me, for I am ruined!" — and was then commissioned (Isa 6:5–8).
📜 KJV Continual Tense
In KJV: feareth — the abiding posture of reverence.
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The fear of the LORD in Scripture is rarely a moment of trembling. It is a sustained posture of reverence. Acts 10:35: "in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him." Cornelius was a continuous fearer.
Psalm 34:9 — rendered through KJV continuous force — "O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him." Not "feared him once at conversion" but "are fearing him as a way of life."
The continuous tense protects against thinking the fear of the LORD is ever finished work.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
FEAR, n.
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FEAR, n. The fear of God is a holy awe or reverence of God and His laws, which springs from just views of His nature and attributes, and which, combined with a belief and love of God, forms a powerful motive to obedience and to sanctification of heart and life. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." — Psalms 111:10.
📖 Key Scripture
Proverbs 1:7 — "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; fools despise wisdom and instruction."
Psalm 111:10 — "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who practice it."
Ecclesiastes 12:13 — "Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man."
Isaiah 6:1–5 — "I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up... And I said: 'Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips.'"
Philippians 2:12 — "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern Christianity has neutered the fear of God into mere "respect" — stripping it of its trembling, its urgency, an...
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Modern Christianity has neutered the fear of God into mere "respect" — stripping it of its trembling, its urgency, and its judicial weight. Therapeutic theology teaches that God would never make us afraid, producing a generation that treats God as a buddy rather than the Holy One. The result is casual worship, comfortable sin, and a loss of genuine awe. Paradoxically, those who do not fear God are mastered by every other fear: fear of man, fear of failure, fear of death — because only the fear of God casts out all lesser fears (Ps 27:1, 1 John 4:18).
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
H3374 — yir'ah (יִרְאָה) — fear, reverence; the fear of God; awe before the Holy H6343 — pachad (פַּחַד) ...
Usage
"A man who does not fear God will fear everything else — because nothing smaller than God can anchor a human soul."
"The fear of the LORD is not the beginning of timidity — it is the beginning of courage. Moses feared God, and he stood before Pharaoh."
"To fear God is to see Him accurately: as the Holy One who holds all life, all judgment, and all mercy in His hand."