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trust in God, through the indwelling Spirit of God, Acts 9:31; Rom. 3:18; 2 Cor. 7:1; Eph.
5:21 (
RV
, “the fear of Christ”); Phil. 2:12; 1 Pet. 1:17 (a comprehensive phrase: the
reverential “fear” of God will inspire a constant carefulness in dealing with others in His
“fear”); 3:2, 15; the association of “fear and trembling,” as, e.g., in Phil. 2:12, has in the
Sept. a much sterner import, e.g., Gen. 9:2; Exod. 15:16; Deut. 2:25; 11:25; Ps. 55:5; Isa.
19:16; (2) of superiors, e.g., Rom. 13:7; 1 Pet. 2:18. See
TERROR
.
2.
(
&
, 1167), “fearfulness” (from
, “fright”), is rightly rendered
“fearfulness” in 2 Tim. 1:7,
RV
(for
KJV
, “fear”). That spirit is not given us of God. The
word denotes “cowardice and timidity” and is never used in a good sense, as No. 1 is.¶
Cf.
, B, No. 2, below, and
, to be fearful (
KJV
, “afraid”), John 14:27.¶
3.
$
(
' 1
, 2124) signifies, firstly, “caution”; then, “reverence, godly
fear,” Heb. 5:7; 12:28, in best mss., “reverence”; in general, “apprehension, but
especially holy fear,” “that mingled fear and love which, combined, constitute the piety
of man toward God; the OT places its emphasis on the fear, the NT … on the love,
though there was love in the fear of God’s saints then, as there must be fear in their love
now” (Trench,
- !
Sec.xlviii).¶ In the Sept., Josh. 22:24; Prov. 28:14.¶
Note:
In Luke 21:11,
(akin to No. 1) denotes a terror,
RV
, “terrors,” for
KJV
, “fearful sights,” i.e., objects or instruments of terror.¶
B. Adjectives.
1.
(
$
, 5398), “fearful” (akin to A, No. 1), is used only in the active
sense in the NT, i.e., causing “fear,” terrible, Heb. 10:27, 31; 12:21,
RV
, “fearful,” for
KJV
, “terrible.”¶
2.
(
, 1169), “cowardly” (see A, No. 2), “timid,” is used in Matt. 8:26;
Mark 4:40; Rev. 21:8 (here “the fearful” are first in the list of the transgressors).¶
3.
(
+
, 1630), signifies “frightened outright” ( , “out,” intensive,
and A, No. 1), Heb. 12:21 (with
, “I am”), “I exceedingly fear” (see No. 4); Mark
9:6, “sore afraid.”¶
4.
(
+
$
, 1790), “trembling with fear” ( , “in,” intensive, and
,
“to tremble, quake”; Eng., “tremor,” etc.), is used with
, “to become,” in Acts
7:32, “trembled”; 16:29,
RV
, “trembling for fear”; with
, “to be,” in Heb. 12:21,
“quake” (some mss. have
here). See
QUAKE
,
TREMBLE
.¶ The distinction
between No. 3 and No. 4, as in Heb. 12:21, would seem to be that
stresses the
intensity of the “fear,”
the inward effect, “I inwardly tremble (or quake).”
C. Adverb.
(
/
, 880) denotes “without fear” ( , negative, and A, No. 1), and is
said of serving the Lord, Luke 1:74; of being among the Lord’s people as His servant, 1
Cor. 16:10; of ministering the Word of God, Phil. 1:14; of the evil of false spiritual
shepherds, Jude 12.¶ In the Sept., Prov. 1:33.¶
D. Verbs.