“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” says Proverbs 9:10-12.

One of the most troubling things in the bible for a lot of people is the idea that we are called to “fear the Lord”.  

How can that be?  I mean, isn’t our God a loving God who seeks relationship with us and longs for us to share a spirit of compassion with the world?  Why would we fear God?

Part of the problem with this and other references to fearing God in the bible is that they come from the Hebrew language and we tend to assign a narrow English meaning to Hebrew words in general.  Compared to English, Hebrew has very few words.  English has around three-quarters of a million words, all told.  Hebrew on the other hand has around 85,000.  

It is because English has so many words that we give each one a relatively narrow meaning.  Hebrew, having comparatively fewer words, can assign multiple meanings to each word.

The word for “fear” is a good example.  In English, that word means to recoil in dread or terror.  In Hebrew, the word is “yare.”  It can mean to be afraid of something but it can also mean to revere something (or someone).  It can also mean astonishment or awe or honor.

If we take that broader meaning and apply it to the Proverbs verse, it becomes: “Reverence for the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”  I believe that’s more accurate because it takes away the idea that there is some awful punishment ready to be meted out if we “disobey” our divine parent.  God, for me at least, doesn’t work that way.

This concept appears in the New Testament, too.  The New Testament was written in Greek and the Greek word for “fear” is “phobos”.  Interestingly, this word, like “yare”, can mean to be afraid but it can also mean awe and reverence as well.

The English “fear” makes sense in, say, 1 John 4:18:

There is no fear (phobos) in love; but perfect love casts out fear (phobos), because fear (phobos) involves punishment, and the one who fears (phobeó) is not perfected in love.”

The English “awe,” however, works better in, say, Acts 2:43:

Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe (phobos); and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.”

In the end, the plethora of English words narrows the definitions we assign to them unlike in Hebrew or ancient Greek where multiple meanings are assigned to each word.

The bottom line?  We rightly run away from things we fear and we rightly draw close things we are in awe of.  We should never fear God.  Instead, we should draw close to God in reverence and awe because of the unending love that God offers.

See you in church,

–Rev. Dominic