φόβος G5401
fear, dread, reverence — the emotion of alarm before danger or awe before the divine
Phobos covers the full spectrum of fear, from sheer terror at the sight of an angel (Luke 1:12) or a storm-walking figure (Matt 14:26) to the trembling reverence that falls on communities after a divine act (Luke 7:16; Acts 2:43). Its 47 New Testament occurrences reveal a word that refuses to split neatly into 'negative fear' and 'positive awe' — the women at the empty tomb experience both simultaneously, departing 'with fear and great joy' (Matt 28:8). Classical Greek distinguished phobos (panic, visceral dread) from deos (cautious apprehension), but the LXX and New Testament collapsed that boundary, letting phobos carry the weight of yir'at YHWH. Spanish 'temor,' French 'crainte,' and German 'Furcht' each replicate this same breadth, blending terror and reverence in a single word.
Senses
1. fear, dread, reverence — The full emotional range from panic dread to reverential awe, encompassing terror before supernatural manifestations (Matt 14:26 the disciples' fear on the sea; Matt 28:4 the guards at the tomb), communal awe following miracles or divine judgments (Luke 7:16; Acts 5:11), and the godly reverence commended as an ethical posture (Rom 13:7 'fear to whom fear'; Phil 2:12 'with fear and trembling'). The multilingual evidence — Spanish 'miedo/temor,' French 'crainte,' German 'Furcht' — uniformly renders all 47 occurrences with a single term, confirming that the semantic unity of phobos resists subdivision into separate lexical senses. 47×
AR["الخَوفِ","الخَوْفِ","خَوفٌ","خَوفٍ","خَوفُ","خَوفِ","خَوْفًا","خَوْفٌ","خَوْفٍ","خَوْفِ","مَخَافَةِ"]·ben["ভয়","ভয়ে","ভয়ের"]·DE["Furcht"]·EN["a-fear","fear"]·FR["crainte"]·heb["יִרְאַת","פַּחַד"]·HI["डर","दर","बड़ा","भय"]·ID["ketakutan","ketakutan,","takut","takut-akan"]·IT["timore"]·jav["ajrih","ajrih,","raos-ajrih","wedi"]·KO["두려움","두려움-에서","두려움-으로","두려움-이","두려움과","두려움에서","두려움을","두려움이"]·PT["com-temor","medo","temor","temor,","terror"]·RU["-благому","-страха","страх","страх,","страха","страхе","страхом"]·ES["miedo","temor"]·SW["hofu"]·TR["korku","korkudan","korkunun","korkusu","korkusunda","korkusundan","korkuya","korkuyla"]·urd["خوف","خوف-کے","دہشت","ڈر"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
φόβος, ὁ, (φέβομαι) panic flight, the usual sense in Refs 8th c.BC+; φόβονδ᾽ ἔχε μώνυχας ἵππους Refs; μή τι φόβονδ᾽ ἀγόρευε counsel not to flight,Refs 5th c.BC+ __2 Φόβος personified, as son of Ares, Refs 8th c.BC+; worshipped at Selinus, Refs __II panic fear, [στρατῷ] φ. ἐμβάλλειν Refs 5th c.BC+; generally, fear, terror (distinguished from δέος (which see)), τορὸς ὀρθόθριξ φ. Refs 5th c.BC+;…