יָרֵא
to fear
also: revere, be afraid fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Qal verb in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Verb
- An action or state-of-being word.
- Adjective
- A word that describes or qualifies a noun.
Stem
- Qal
- The basic, simple active stem — the plain form of the verb (“he wrote”). Here: ‘fear’
- Niphal
- Usually the simple passive or reflexive of the Qal (“he was written”). Here: ‘be fearful’
- Piel
- An intensive or resultative active stem.
Form
- Jussive
- A third- or second-person volitional form expressing wish or command (“let him write”).
- Sequential Imperfect
- An imperfect with prefixed waw — the standard past-narrative form (waw-consecutive imperfect).
- Participle Active
- A verbal adjective expressing ongoing or characteristic action (“writing / one who writes”).
- Infinitive Construct
- A bound verbal noun, frequently with prepositions (“to write / in writing”).
- Imperfect
- An incomplete, ongoing, or future action (“he will / would write”).
- Perfect
- A completed action or state — Hebrew marks aspect (completeness) more than strict tense (“he wrote”).
- Sequential Perfect
- A perfect with prefixed waw continuing a preceding imperfect or command (waw-consecutive perfect).
- Imperative
- A direct command (“write!”).
- Cohortative
- A first-person volitional form expressing wish or resolve (“let me / let us write”).
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
- Construct
- A noun bound to a following noun in a possessive / “of” relationship (the construct chain).
Person
- 2nd Person
- The one addressed (“you”).
- 3rd Person
- The one spoken about (“he / she / it / they”).
- 1st Person
- The speaker (“I / we”).
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
- Feminine
- Grammatically feminine.
- Common
- Either gender — not distinguished for this form.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
30 verses where H3372 appears in the Qal stem in the Book of Deuteronomy. Filtered view — show all forms. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
Deuteronomy
- Deuteronomy 1:21 תִּירָ֖א Qal juss 2ms Behold, Yahweh your God has set the land before you: go up, take possession, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you; don't be afraid, neither be dismayed.
- Deuteronomy 1:29 תִֽירְא֖וּ/ן Qal impf 2mp + sfx n Then I said to you, Don't dread, neither be afraid of them.
- Deuteronomy 2:4 וְ/יִֽירְא֣וּ conj + Qal impf 3mp Command you the people, saying, You are to pass through the border of your brothers the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir; and they will be afraid of you: take good heed to yourselves therefore;
- Deuteronomy 3:2 תִּירָ֣א Qal juss 2ms Yahweh said to me, Don't fear him; for I have delivered him, and all his people, and his land, into your hand; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.
- Deuteronomy 3:22 תְִּירָא֑וּ/ם Qal impf 2mp + sfx pers 3mp You shall not fear them; for Yahweh your God, he it is who fights for you.
- Deuteronomy 4:10 לְ/יִרְאָ֣ה prep + Qal inf.cs the day that you stood before Yahweh your God in Horeb, when Yahweh said to me, Assemble me the people, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.
- Deuteronomy 5:5 יְרֵאתֶם֙ Qal pf 2mp (I stood between Yahweh and you at that time, to show you the word of Yahweh: for you were afraid because of the fire, and didn't go up onto the mountain;) saying,
- Deuteronomy 5:29 לְ/יִרְאָ֥ה prep + Qal inf.cs Oh that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children forever!
- Deuteronomy 6:2 תִּירָ֜א Qal impf 2ms that you might fear Yahweh your God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, you, and your son, and your son's son, all the days of your life; and that your days may be prolonged.
- Deuteronomy 6:13 תִּירָ֖א Qal impf 2ms You shall fear Yahweh your God; and him shall you serve, and shall swear by his name.
- Deuteronomy 6:24 לְ/יִרְאָ֖ה prep + Qal inf.cs Yahweh commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Yahweh our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as at this day.
- Deuteronomy 7:18 תִירָ֖א Qal impf 2ms you shall not be afraid of them: you shall well remember what Yahweh your God did to Pharaoh, and to all Egypt;
- Deuteronomy 8:6 וּ/לְ/יִרְאָ֥ה conj + prep + Qal inf.cs You shall keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.
- Deuteronomy 10:12 לְ֠/יִרְאָה prep + Qal inf.cs Now, Israel, what does Yahweh your God require of you, but to fear Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
- Deuteronomy 10:20 תִּירָ֖א Qal impf 2ms You shall fear Yahweh your God; him shall you serve; and to him shall you cleave, and by his name shall you swear.
- Deuteronomy 13:4 תִירָ֑אוּ Qal impf 2mp You shall walk after Yahweh your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and you shall serve him, and cleave to him.
- Deuteronomy 13:11 וְ/יִֽרָא֑וּ/ן conj + Qal impf 3mp + sfx n All Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall not do any more such wickedness as this is in the midst of you.
- Deuteronomy 14:23 לְ/יִרְאָ֛ה prep + Qal inf.cs You shall eat before Yahweh your God, in the place which he shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there, the tithe of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock; that you may learn to fear Yahweh your God always.
- Deuteronomy 17:13 וְ/יִרָ֑אוּ conj + Qal impf 3mp All the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously.
- Deuteronomy 17:19 לְ/יִרְאָה֙ prep + Qal inf.cs and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life; that he may learn to fear Yahweh his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them;
- Deuteronomy 19:20 וְ/יִרָ֑אוּ conj + Qal impf 3mp Those who remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil in the midst of you.
- Deuteronomy 20:1 תִירָ֖א Qal impf 2ms When you go forth to battle against your enemies, and see horses, and chariots, [and] a people more than you, you shall not be afraid of them; for Yahweh your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
- Deuteronomy 20:3 תִּֽירְא֧וּ Qal juss 2mp and shall tell them, Hear, Israel, you draw near this day to battle against your enemies: don't let your heart faint; don't be afraid, nor tremble, neither be scared of them;
- Deuteronomy 21:21 וְ/יִרָֽאוּ conj + Qal impf 3mp All the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones: so shall you put away the evil from the midst of you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.
- Deuteronomy 28:10 וְ/יָֽרְא֖וּ conj + Qal wpf 3cp All the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of Yahweh; and they shall be afraid of you.
- Deuteronomy 28:58 לְ֠/יִרְאָה וְ/הַ/נּוֹרָא֙ prep + Qal inf.cs conj + ptcl def.art + Niphal ptcp.act ms If you will not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, YAHWEH YOUR GOD;
- Deuteronomy 31:6 תִּֽירְא֥וּ Qal juss 2mp Be strong and of good courage, don't be afraid, nor be scared of them: for Yahweh your God, he it is who does go with you; he will not fail you, nor forsake you.
- Deuteronomy 31:8 תִירָ֖א Qal impf 2ms Yahweh, he it is who does go before you; he will be with you, he will not fail you, neither forsake you: don't be afraid, neither be dismayed.
- Deuteronomy 31:12 וְ/יָֽרְאוּ֙ conj + Qal wpf 3cp Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little ones, and your foreigner who is within your gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear Yahweh your God, and observe to do all the words of this law;
- Deuteronomy 31:13 לְ/יִרְאָ֖ה prep + Qal inf.cs and that their children, who have not known, may hear, and learn to fear Yahweh your God, as long as you live in the land where you go over the Jordan to possess it.
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
At its core, ירא (yârêʼ) means “to fear.” Where the King James Version says “fear,” newer translations reach for “be afraid” (Berean Standard Bible); the renderings breakdown has the detail. It appears 318 verses across 34 books of the Hebrew Bible, among its common vocabulary. First canonically at Genesis 3:10, it enters the text early. Read the stem: it spans 5 stems, including Qal and Niphal. Each statement above links to its evidence; the full detail follows below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H3372 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 318
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 318 distinct verses.
- 34 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 34 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #150
- by frequency
- Top 250 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 150 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 318 occurrences in the concordance →
Most concentrated in
- Psalms 46 verses 14%
- Deuteronomy 35 verses 11%
- Isaiah 24 verses 8%
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 318 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 147 verses · 46%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 93 verses · 29%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 78 verses · 25%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
BDB lists this Strong’s number as 3 distinct words (homographs). Each count above pools all of them and is not split by sense — see the Senses section below. A low-frequency rendering may belong to a different one of those words, not the primary meaning.
- King James Version†: Fear 82×, Be not afraid 16×, Feared 16×
- American Standard Version†: Fear 58×, Terrible 17×, Be not afraid 14×
- Berean Standard Bible†: Be afraid 76×, Fear 66×, Awesome 20×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text†: Fear 103×, Do 43×, Be afraid 35×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H3372 across 313† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 83 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 1 further occurrence.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H3372 across 313† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 94 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H3372 across 312† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 61 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 3 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H3372 across 454† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 63 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
22 senses and sub-senses in the full BDB
Hebrew verbs can shift meaning by stem (binyan): Qal is the basic action, Niphal is often passive or reflexive, Piel often intensifies or makes it factitive, and Hiphil is typically causative. The senses below are grouped under the stem BDB assigns to each. This entry also uses Hophal (the passive of Hiphil).
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 22 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
ירא I fear (NH id.
Qal
- Pf. יר׳ Gn 19:30 + 14 times; 3 f. יָֽרְאָה Je 3:8 ψ 76:9; יָרֵ֑אָה Gn 18:15; pl. 2 m. יְרֵאתֶם Nu 12:8 + 2 times; + 23 times Pf.; Impf. יִירָא Am 3:8 + 3 times; וַיִּירָא Gn 28:17 + 5 times; וַיִּרָא Je 26:21 + 5 times; pl. יִירְאוּ (יִֽרְאוּ) 23:4 +; יִרָאוּן Dt 13:12, +, etc.; 136 times Impf.; Imv. יְרָא Pr 3:7 + 3 times; יְראוּ Jos 24:14 + 2 times; Inf. cstr. יְרֹא Jos 22:25; לֵרֹא 1 S 18:29 (Ges§ 69, R. i.); לְיִרְאָה Dt 4:10 + 13 times; sf. יִרְאָתוֹ 2 S 3:11; יִרְאָתָם Is 29:13; יְרָאתֶם Jos 4:24 (read יִרְאָתָם Bö§ 1081 a Ew337 b Di etc.); Pt. יָרֵא Gn 32:12 + 15 times; cstr. יְרֵא 22:12 + 10 times; pl. יְרֵאִים Je 42:11 + 6 times; cstr. יִרְאֵי Ex 18:21 + 12 times; f. cstr. יִרְאַת Pr 31:30;— e.g. Genesis 19:30
- 1. fear, be afraid (not in P):
- a. abs. Gn 3:10; 18:15; 32:8; 43:18 Ex 14:10 (J), Gn 20:8; 28:17; 42:35 Ex 2:14 Jos 10:2 (E), Dt 20:8; 31:8 Ju 7:3; 8:20 1 S 4:7; 17:11, 24; 23:3; 28:5; 31:4 = 1 Ch 10:4, 2 K 10:4 2 Ch 20:3 Ne 2:2; 6:13 Is 54:14 Je 3:8; 23:4; 26:21 Am 3:8 Jon 1:5, 10 ψ 27:3; 46:3; 49:6 (but Bae reads ראה) 56:4, 5, 12; 64:5, 10; 76:9; 112:8; 118:6 Pr 14:16 Jb 6:21; 11:15; (וּ, י)אַל־תִּירָא fear not Gn 15:1; 21:17; 35:17; 50:19, 21 Ex 20:20 Jos 10:25 (E), Gn 26:24; 43:23 Ex 14:13 Jos 8:1 (J), Dt 1:21; 20:3; 31:6 Ju 4:18; 6:23 1 S 4:20; 12:20; 22:23; 23:17; 28:13 2 S 9:7; 13:28 1 K 17:13 2 K 6:16 1 Ch 22:13; 28:20 2 Ch 20:17 Is 7:4; 35:4; 40:9; 41:10, 13, 14; 43:1, 5; 44:2; 54:4 Je 30:10; 46:27, 28 Jo 2:21, 22 Zp 3:16 Hg 2:5 Zc 8:13, 15 ψ 49:17 La 3:57 Dn 10:12, 19 Ru 3:11; יִשְׁמְעוּ וי׳ hear and fear Dt 13:12; 17:13; 19:20; 21:21; (י)ראו וי׳ see and fear ψ 40:4; 52:8 Is 41:5 Zc 9:5. e.g. Genesis 3:10
- b. c. acc. rei or pers. Nu 14:9(×2) (J), 21:34 (E), Dt 3:2, 22 Ju 6:27 1 S 15:24 2 S 3:11 1 K 1:51 Is 8:12; 51:7; 57:11 Ez 3:9; 11:8 Hb 3:2 (acc. פעלךָ in corrected rhythm), ψ 23:4 Dn 1:10; acc. of God (י׳) 1 S 12:18 2 S 6:9 = 1 Ch 13:12 Is 57:11 Je 5:22 Jon 1:16 Jb 9:35; 37:24. e.g. Numbers 14:9
- c. with מִן be afraid of, Dt 1:29; 2:4; 7:18; 20:1; 28:10 Jos 10:8 (D) 1 S 28:20 2 K 25:24 Is 10:24; 51:12 Je 10:5; 42:11, 16 Ez 2:6(×3) Mi 7:17 ψ 3:7; 27:1; 65:9; 91:5; 112:7; 119:120 Pr 3:25; 31:21 Jb 5:21, 22 Ec 12:5; with מִפְּנֵי Dt 5:5; 7:19 Jos 9:24; 11:6 (D), 1 S 7:7; 18:29; 21:13 1 K 1:50 2 K 1:15; 19:6 (= Is 37:6) 25:26 2 Ch 20:15; 32:7 Ne 4:8 Je 1:8; 41:18; 42:11(×2); מִלִּפְנֵי 1 S 18:12, with בְּ because of, for Je 51:46. e.g. Deuteronomy 1:29
- d. with inf. and לְ fear to do a thing Gn 19:30; 26:7 (J), Nu 12:8 (E), Ju 7:10 2 S 1:14; 10:19; 12:18; with infin. and מִן, afraid of doing Gn 46:3 Ex 3:6 (E), 1 S 3:15 Je 40:9 Jb 32:6. e.g. Genesis 19:30
- e. with פֶּן fear lest Gn 31:31 (E) 32:12 (J). e.g. Genesis 31:31
- 2. stand in awe of, with מן and inf. וַיִּירְאוּ מִגֶּשֶׁת אֵלָיו Ex 34:30 (P) and they stood in awe of drawing nigh unto him; יִירְאוּ מֵיהוה וגו׳ ψ 33:8 let all the earth stand in awe of Yahweh; וְיָרֵאתָ מֵאֱלהֶיךָ and thou shalt stand in awe of thy God Lv 19:14, 32; 25:17, 36, 43 (all H); with מִפְּנֵי, of the king Solomon 1 K 3:28; מִפְּנֵי י׳ אלהים Ex 9:30 (J?); מפני י׳ Hg 1:12; (אלהים) י׳ מלפני stand in awe before (God) Ec 3:14; 8:12, 13. e.g. Exodus 34:30
- 3. fear, reverence, honour, e.g. parents Lv 19:3 (H), Moses and Joshua Jos 4:14(×2), the oath 1 S 14:26 Ec 9:2, commandment Pr 13:13, the sanctuary Lv 19:30; 26:2 (H), other gods Ju 6:10 2 K 17:7, 35, 37, 38; elsewhere of God: e.g. Leviticus 19:3
- a. abs. Je 44:10. e.g. Jeremiah 44:10
- b. with acc. (ה)אלהים Gn 42:18 Ex 1:17, 21; 18:21 (E), Dt 25:18 ψ 55:20; 66:16 Jb 1:1, 8, 9; 2:3 Ec 5:6; 7:18; 8:12; 12:13 Ne 7:2; יר׳ יהוה Ex 14:31 (J), Jos 22:25 (P), 24:14 (E), 1 S 12:14, 24 1 K 18:3, 12 2 K 4:1; 17:25, 28, 32, 33, 34, 41 Is 50:10 Je 26:19 Ho 10:3 Jon 1:9 Mal 3:16(×2) ψ 15:4; 22:24; 25:12; 34:10; 112:1; 115:11, 13; 118:4; 128:1, 4; 135:20 Pr 3:7; 14:2; 24:21; 31:30; יר׳ י׳ אֱלֹהֶיךָ (and other sfs.) Dt 6:2, 13, 24; 10:12, 20; 14:23; 17:19; 31:12, 13 Jos 4:24 (D), 2 K 17:39 Je 5:24; with sfs. referring to Yahweh or Elohim Dt 4:10; 5:26; 8:6; 13:5 1 K 8:40, 43 = 2 Ch 6:31, 33, 2 K 17:36 Is 25:3; 29:13 Je 10:7; 32:39 Mal 2:5; 3:5 Zp 3:7 ψ 22:26; 25:14; 31:20; 33:18; 34:8, 10; 60:6; 67:8; 72:5; 85:10; 103:11, 13, 17; 111:5; 119:63, 74, 79; 145:19; 147:11; הַיָּרֵא אֶת־דְּבַר י׳ Ex 9:20 he that feared the word of Yahweh (J); the name (of Yahweh) Dt 28:58 Is 59:19 Mal 3:20 ψ 61:6; 86:11; 102:16 Ne 1:11. e.g. Genesis 42:18
Niphal
- Impf. 2 m. תִּוָּרֵא ψ 130:4; Pt. נוֹרָא Gn 28:17 + 33 times; f. נוֹרָאָה Is 21:1; pl. נוֹרָאוֹת 64:2 + 5 times; נוֹרָאֹת Dt 10:21; נֹרָאוֹת 2 S 7:23; sf. נוֹרְאוֹתֶיךָ ψ 145:6;— e.g. Psalms 130:4
- 1. be fearful, dreadful, e.g. wilderness Dt 1:19; 8:15, land Is 21:1, people 18:2, 7 Hb 1:7, ice (in sim.) כְּעֵין הַקֶּרַח הנ׳ Ez 1:22 (del. 𝔊 Co). e.g. Deuteronomy 1:19
- 2. cause astonishment and awe: of Yahweh himself ψ 47:3; 68:36; 76:8; נוֹרָא תְהִלֹּת awe-inspiring in praises Ex 15:11 (song); עַל־אלוהּ נוֹרָא הוֹד awe-inspiring majesty (is) upon Eloah Jb 37:22; c. לְ, to kings of the earth ψ 76:13; c. על of hostile nations Zp 2:11; of י׳’s doings Ex 34:10 (J) ψ 66:3, 5; (ה)נוראות wonderful, glorious things, of Messianic king 45:5; of Yahweh himself Dt 10:21 2 S 7:23 = 1 Ch 17:21 Is 64:2 ψ 106:22; 145:6; נו׳ adverbially in ψ 65:6; 139:14 Ges§ 118. 5. b DaSynt. § 70(b); יוֹם י׳ הגדול והנורא the great and awful day of Yahweh Jo 3:4 Mal 3:23 cf. Jo 2:11. e.g. Psalms 47:3
- 3. inspire reverence, godly fear, and awe:
- a. as attribute of God, לְמַעַן תִּוָּרֵא that thou mightest be revered ψ 130:4; (ה)גָּדוֹל ו(ה)נוֹרָא (the) great and awful (God) Dt 7:21; 10:17 Ne 1:5; 4:8; 9:32 Dn 9:4; with עַל, above all gods ψ 96:4 = 1 Ch 16:25; above the angels round about him ψ 89:8. e.g. Psalms 130:4
- b. of the name of Yahweh Dt 28:58 ψ 99:3; 111:9 Mal 1:14. e.g. Deuteronomy 28:58
- c. of sacred things: מלאךְ האלהים Ju 13:6; place of theophany Gn 28:17 (E). e.g. Judges 13:6
Piel
- Pf. 3 m. sf. יֵֽרְאֻנִי 2 S 14:15; Inf. sf. לְיָֽרְאֵנִי Ne 6:19; לְיָֽרְאָם 2 Ch 32:18; Pt. pl. מְיָֽרְאִים Ne 6:9, 14 make afraid, terrify, with acc. e.g. 2 Samuel 14:15
ירא II verb. v. supr. Pt.
ירא III shoot, pour (Aramaic orthogr. of יָרָה q.v.)
Qal
- Inf. cstr. לִירוֹא בַּחִצִּים 2 Ch 26:15 shoot with arrows. e.g. 2 Chronicles 26:15
Hiphil
- Impf. וַיֹּרא֯וּ 2 S 11:24 and they shot at (אֶל־); Pt. pl. הַמּוֹרִא֯ים v 24 the shooters, archers; Kt to be read וַיֹּרִאוּ, הַמּוֹרִאִים; but Mas, noting א as superfluous, would read וַיֹּרוּ, הַמּוֹרִים from יָרָה (Bö§ 1083 (8), (9)). e.g. 2 Samuel 11:24
Hophal
- Impf. only in וּמַרְוֶה גַּם הוּא יוֹרֶ֑א Pr 11:25 he that watereth shall himself also be watered (Fl De MV al. derive—‘non bene,’ Thes—from √ רוה, q.v., יוֹרֶא for יָרְוֶה; but v. Thes Ew§ 131 f. Bö§ 161 (4) SS Buhl Köi. 585; cf. ירה 4). e.g. Proverbs 11:25
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
I. vb. fear (NH id.; Assyrian îrû, id.; Hpt KAT2 Gloss i., COTGloss)—
II. adj. verb. v. supr. Pt.
I. vb. shoot, pour (Aramaic orthogr. of יָרָה q.v.)—
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Origin: a primitive root
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
יָרֵא
- (b. h.) to tremble, fear; to revere; to shun. Sabb. 88ᵃ (ref. to Ps. LXXVI, 9) אם יָרְאָה וכ׳ if she (the earth) trembled, how could she be at rest, &c.?—Ber. 16ᵇ ליִרְאָה את שמך so as to fear thy name.—(Usu. as participle or adjective) יָרֵא m. Ned. 8ᵇ (ref. to Mal. III, 20) אלו … שהן יְרֵאִין להוציא וכ׳ who are afraid to utter the name of the Lord in vain.—יְרֵא חֵטא shunning sin, of careful conduct, conscientious. Ab. II, 5. Ib. 8; a. fr.—יְרֵא שָׁמַיִם God-fearing, pious. Ber. 8ᵃ גדול … יותר מי׳ ש׳ he who lives on the (honest) labor of his hand, stands higher than the pious man. Succ. 49ᵇ, v. יָרַע; a. fr.—Fem. יְרֵאָה, constr. יְרֵאַת. Lam. R. to II, 13 (play on י̇ר̇ושׁל̇ם̇) הבת שי̇ר̇אה ומשׁול̇מ̇ת לי the daughter that fears (me) and is at peace with me. Ib. כשאת יְרֵיאָה את מושלמת לי Ar. (missing in ed.) when thou art God-fearing, thou art at peace with me. Yeb. 62ᵇ.—Part. pass. יָראוּי. Ber. 33ᵇ; Meg. 25ᵃ Ms. M. (v. Rabb. D. S. a. l. note). e.g. Psalms 76:9
- , fut. יִוָּרֵא to be feared. Koh. R. to IX, 7; Pesik. Ul’kaḥ., p. 183ᵇ, a. e. למען תִּוָּרֵא וכ׳ (Ps. CXXX, 4) ‘in order that thou mayest be feared’, that the fear of thee be put on mankind.—Part. נוֹרָא fearful, awe-inspiring. Ber. l. c. Yoma 69ᵇ לא אמר נ׳ Jeremiah did not say nora (only gadol a. gibbor, Jer. XXXII, 18).—Fem. pl. ניֹרָאוֹת awe-inspiring deeds. Ib. אתא … נכרים … איה נוֹרְאוֹתָיו came Jeremiah and said, Strangers dance on His temple ruins, where are His awful deeds?; Y. Ber. VII, 11ᶜ. Ib. לזה נאה לקרות נורא בנ׳ וכ׳ (Daniel said) Him it is becoming to call awe-inspiring for the awful deeds He performed for us &c.; Midr. Till. to Ps. XIX; a. fr. e.g. Psalms 130:4
- , Nithpa. נִתְיָירֵא
- 1. to be feared, revered. Zeb. 115ᵇ (ref. to Ps. LXVIII, 36) בשעה … מִתְיָירֵא ומתעלה וכ׳ when the Lord executes judgment on His saints, He is feared and praised &c.; Yalk. Lev. 525. e.g. Psalms 68:36
- 2. to be afraid. Ber. 61ᵇ אי אתה מתי׳ מפני וכ׳ art thou not afraid of the (Roman) government?—Midr. Till. l. c. שנכנסו … וכא נִתְיָירְאוּ the enemy entered His house and were not afraid (of the Lord). Ex. R. s. 29 אם המטרונה מִתְיָירֵאת וכ׳ if the queen is afraid, what shall the servants … do?; a. fr.
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 212 distinct written forms H3372 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that stem’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
The 60 most common forms are shown; 152 rarer forms follow in the full concordance.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H3372, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derived from this word
Proper names from this root
People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 5 — not the complete family. 2 of the same-root words are proper names (people or places). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 294 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 318 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
- Genesis 3:10
- Exodus 1:17
- Leviticus 19:3
- Numbers 12:8
- Deuteronomy 1:19
- Joshua 4:14
- Judges 4:18
- Ruth 3:11
- 1 Samuel 3:15
- 2 Samuel 1:14
- 1 Kings 1:50
- 2 Kings 1:15
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
