Hebrew yir'ah, fear / reverence / awe, particularly the yir'at YHWH (fear of the LORD), the central wisdom-theological concept of the OT and the foundational disposition of the godly creature toward his Creator. The fear of the LORD is the great theme of OT wisdom literature: the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge (Proverbs 1:7); the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom (Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 9:10); the fear of the LORD prolongeth days (Proverbs 10:27); the fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death (Proverbs 14:27); the fear of the LORD tendeth to life (Proverbs 19:23). The biblical yir'ah is not the cringing terror of the slave before the tyrant; it is the substantive reverential awe of the creature before the LORD whose holiness, majesty, glory, and judgment are real and whose love, faithfulness, and grace are equally real. Both terms hold together. Ecclesiastes 12:13 closes the entire book of Ecclesiastes with the great conclusion: Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. The NT continues and deepens the theology: the fear of the Lord is the disposition of the early church (Acts 9:31, walking in the fear of the Lord); perfect love casteth out fear (1 John 4:18) addresses servile cringing-terror, not reverential awe; let us serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:28-29). The patriarchal-Reformed reader recovers yir'ah as the foundational creaturely disposition before the Creator-Redeemer LORD: reverent, awe-filled, obedient, devout, joyful in the LORD's grace and trembling at His holiness simultaneously.