The Hebrew yare (יָרֵא) functions as both adjective and participle, describing one who fears — particularly one who fears God. It is the adjectival form of the verb yara (H3372), "to fear, revere." A yare Elohim or yare Yahweh is one who stands in reverential awe before God, ordering their life around that holy fear. The term became a technical description for devout individuals and even for Gentile worshipers of the God of Israel (God-fearers).
The yare Yahweh — the God-fearer — is one of the Old Testament's central portraits of a righteous person. The "fear of the LORD" is not dread but rather reverential awe that produces moral order, wisdom, and covenant faithfulness. Proverbs declares that this fear is "the beginning of wisdom" (9:10). The book of Job opens by describing Job as a man who was yare Elohim — fearing God and turning from evil (Job 1:1,8). In Acts, "God-fearers" (Greek: phoboumenoi ton Theon) were Gentiles drawn to Israel's monotheism who became among the first Gentile converts to Christianity.