HEBREW LEXICON - STRONGS NUMBER 3372
3372 yare' {yaw-ray'} aer"y a primitive root; TWOT -- 907,908; verb
1) to fear, revere, be afraid
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to fear, be afraid
1a2) to stand in awe of, be awed
1a3) to fear, reverence, honor, respect
1b) (Niph)
1b1) to be fearful, be dreadful, be feared
1b2) to cause astonishment and awe, be held in awe
1b3) to inspire reverence/godly fear/awe
1c) (Piel) to make afraid, terrify
2) (TWOT) to shoot, pour
Strongs: 3372 yare
yaw-ray' a primitive root; to fear; morally, to revere; caus. to frighten:
KJV words used:- affright, be (make) afraid, dread(-ful), (put in) fear(-ful, -fully, -ing), (be had in) reverence(-end), X see, terrible (act, -ness, thing).
RN Dictionary: yare' (3372)
"to be afraid, stand in awe, fear." This verb occurs in Ugaritic and Hebrew
(both biblical and post-biblical). The Bible attests it approximately 330 times
and in all periods.
Basically, this verb connotes the psychological reaction of "fear." Yare' may
indicate being afraid of something or someone. Jacob prayed: "Deliver me, I pray
you, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he
will come and smite me, and the mother with the children" (Gen. 32:11).
Used of a person in an exalted position, yare' connotes "standing in awe." This
is not simple fear, but reverence, whereby an individual recognizes the power
and position of the individual revered and renders him proper respect. In this
sense, the word may imply submission to a proper ethical relationship to YAHWEH;
the mal'ak of YAHWEH told Abraham: " ...I know that you fearest YAHWEH, seeing
you hast not withheld your son, your only son from me" (Gen. 22:12). The verb
can be used absolutely to refer to the heavenly and holy attributes of something
or someone. So Jacob said of Bethel: "How [awesome] is this place! this is none
other but the house of YAHWEH, and this is the gate of heaven" (Gen. 28:17). The
people who were delivered from Egypt saw YAHWEH'S great power, "feared YAHWEH,
and believed YAHWEH, and his servant Moses" (Exod. 14:31). There is more
involved here than mere psychological fear. The people also showed proper
"honor" ("reverence") for YAHWEH and "stood in awe of' Him and of His servant, a
their song demonstrates (Exod. 15). After experiencing the thunder, lightning
flashes, sound of the trumpet, and smoking mountain, they were "afraid" and drew
back; but Moses told them not to be afraid, "for YAHWEH is come to prove you,
and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not" (Exod. 20:20). In
this passage, the word represents "fear" or "dread" of YAHWEH. This sense is
also found when YAHWEH says, "fear not" (Gen. 15:1).
Yare' can be used absolutely (with no direct object), meaning "to be afraid."
Adam told YAHWEH: "...I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself' (Gen.
3:10-the first occurrence). One may be "afraid" to do something, as when Lot
"feared to dwell in Zoar" (Gen. 19:30).