H0928 H0928
Sudden terror, dismay, or calamity — alarming ruin that strikes without warning
Denotes a sudden, overwhelming terror or catastrophic ruin that overtakes its victims with shocking swiftness. In Leviticus 26:16 it heads a list of covenant curses God will appoint against the disobedient. Psalm 78:33 pairs it with futility — years consumed 'in sudden terror.' Isaiah 65:23 promises that the redeemed will not bear children 'for calamity,' reversing the curse. The Assyrian cognate beltu ('terror') confirms the visceral dread this word carries. Multilingual renderings — Spanish 'terror,' German 'Schrecken' — uniformly point to alarming, destabilizing fear.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Sudden terror, dismay, or catastrophic ruin arriving without warning. Part of the covenant-curse vocabulary in Leviticus 26:16, it also appears in Psalm 78:33 where God ends Israel's years 'in sudden terror,' and in Jeremiah 15:8 describing the panic brought upon a mother of warriors. Isaiah 65:23 uses the word in negation — the blessed will not bring forth children for calamity. German 'Schrecken' and Spanish 'terror' consistently render this as overwhelming, destabilizing dread. 4×
AR["بِالرُّعْبِ", "رُعْبًا", "لِ-رُعْبٍ", "وَ-رُعُبًا"]·ben["আর-আতঙ্ক", "ত্রাসে", "বিপদের-জন্য", "ভয়"]·DE["Schrecken", "[ובהלות]", "[לבהלה]", "in-Schrecken"]·EN["and-terrors", "for-calamity", "in-terror", "terror"]·FR["[ובהלות]", "[לבהלה]", "dans-effroi", "terreur"]·heb["ב-בהלה", "בהלה", "ו-בהלות", "ל-בהלה"]·HI["आतंक", "और-आतंक", "भय-में", "विपत्ति-के-लिए"]·ID["dalam-kengerian", "dan-kengerian", "dengan-ketakutan", "untuk-malapetaka"]·IT["[בבהלה]", "[ובהלות]", "[לבהלה]", "terror"]·jav["ing-kasusahan", "kagetan", "kangge-cilâka", "lan-kagila-gila"]·KO["공포-안에서", "그리고-공포들을", "두려움을", "에-경악을-위해"]·PT["e-terrores.", "em-terror", "para-terror", "terror"]·RU["в-ужасе", "для-hа-ужаса", "и-ужасы", "ужас"]·ES["en-terror", "para-calamidad", "terror", "y-terrores"]·SW["hofu", "katika-hofu", "kwa-hofu", "na-hofu"]·TR["dehset-icin", "dehsette", "dehsette-", "ve-korkular"]·urd["اور-دہشت", "بِ-خوف", "خوف-کے-لیے", "دہشت"]
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
† בֶּֽהָלָה n.f. dismay, sudden terror or ruin (cf. Assyrian bêltu, terror, DlPr 32)—בּ׳ abs. Lv 26:16 + 2 times; pl. וּכֶֽהָלוֹת Je 15:8;—sudden terror Lv 26:16 וְהִפְקַדְתִּ֫י עֲלֵיכֶם בּ׳ (appositives follow); cf. Je 15:8; Is 65:23 לֹא יֵֽלְדוּ לַבֶּהָלָה, ψ 78:33 וַיְכַל־בַּהֶבֶל יְמֵיהֶ֑ם וּשְׁנוֹתָם בַּבֶּהָלֶה and he ended their days in a breath, and their years in sudden terror.