Hebrew word · H1091
בַּלָּהָה
valahah
terror
From a root meaning to be terrified or to come to a sudden end. The noun (nearly always plural) means terrors, dreadful calamity, sudden destruction. It describes the horror of what happens and the horror one becomes to others.
Appears 10 times in 10 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
terror, destruction, calamity, dreadful event
Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
From the study of Ezekiel 27:36
- Range of meaning
From a root meaning to be terrified or to come to a sudden end. The noun (nearly always plural) means terrors, dreadful calamity, sudden destruction. It describes the horror of what happens and the horror one becomes to others.
- Against the English
KJV 'a terror' and NASB's rendering make it sound like Tyre becomes frightening or frightened. BSB/WEB/ESV 'a horrible/terrible/dreadful end' catch the catastrophe but lose the image of Tyre herself turned into a spectacle of horror. YLT's 'wastes' is a loose guess.
- How it drifted
In modern English 'a terror' can mean a menace or even a naughty child, and 'terror' is tied to terrorism, so the KJV phrase now misleads.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Job 18:11, 14 (terrors that hunt the wicked; 'the king of terrors', i.e. death); Job 24:17; 27:20; 30:15; Ps 73:19 ('swept away utterly by terrors'); Isa 17:14. In Ezekiel it closes all three Tyre units: 26:21 ('I will make you terrors'), 27:36, and 28:19 (to the king of Tyre).
- Range of meaning
Sudden terror. It names both the feeling of horror and the horrifying event or power that causes it: calamity, catastrophic ruin, deadly danger. It is related to a root meaning 'to be terrified, dismayed'. It is almost always plural and almost always found in poetry.
- Against the English
English 'terrors' today usually means feelings, or else acts of terrorism. In older English 'terrors' could mean frightening things, which is closer. The Hebrew holds both, and the dreadful event often comes first.
- How it drifted
Modern English has narrowed 'terror' toward inner emotion. Hebrew poetry treats ballahot as forces that come at a person from outside.
- Used elsewhere in the period
In Job: 18:14 ('king of terrors'), 24:17 ('terrors of deep darkness'), 27:20 ('terrors overtake him like a flood'), 30:15 (Job: 'terrors are turned upon me'). Elsewhere: Psalm 73:19 (the wicked 'swept away utterly by terrors'); Isaiah 17:14 ('at evening, behold, terror'); Ezekiel 26:21; 27:36; 28:19 ('I will make you a terror', meaning a horrifying ruin). It is consistently linked with sudden destruction and death.
- Range of meaning
A sudden terror, dreadful catastrophe or horrifying end. It probably comes from a root meaning 'to be terrified, alarmed', related to bāhal. It is almost always plural and refers to events or forces that cause terror more than to a feeling. In Job the terrors are partly personified: they chase, startle and drag down the wicked.
- Against the English
All the major English versions say 'terrors'. NASB adds 'sudden', which fits the word's sense of suddenness. To modern ears 'terrors' can sound like an inner emotion, when the word mainly names the calamities themselves.
- How it drifted
English 'terror' is now mostly psychological, or political ('terrorism'). The Hebrew ballāhôt are disasters that overwhelm, sometimes pictured as agents of death.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Job 18:11, 14: 'Terrors frighten him on every side… he is brought to the king of terrors' (death). Job 27:20: 'Terrors overtake him like a flood; in the night a whirlwind carries him off.' Isa 17:14: 'At evening time, behold, terror; before morning, they are no more!' Ezek 26:21, 27:36, 28:19: of wealthy Tyre, 'I will make you a terror (ballāhôt), and you shall be no more.'
Where it appears
Job · 5
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Job 18:11 בַלָּה֑וֹת sudden terror<s>
Terrors frighten him on every side and harass his every step.
Here: The grammatical subject of both verbs, held back until after the first verb for effect. It means the dreadful things themselves (disasters, deadly events) as well as the panic they cause. Here they act like living pursuers, and in v. 14 they serve the 'king of terrors'.
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Job 18:14 בַּלָּהֽוֹת׃ sudden terror<s>
He is torn from the shelter of his tent and is marched off to the king of terrors.
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Job 24:17 בַּלְה֥וֹת [the] terrors of
For to them, deep darkness is their morning; surely they are friends with the terrors of darkness!
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Job 27:20 בַּלָּה֑וֹת sudden terror<s>
Terrors overtake him like a flood; a tempest sweeps him away in the night.
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Job 30:15 בַּלָּ֫ה֥וֹת sudden terror<s>
Terrors are turned loose against me; they drive away my dignity as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed like a cloud.
Psalms · 1
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Psalm 73:19 בַּלָּהֽוֹת׃ sudden terror<s>
How suddenly they are laid waste, completely swept away by terrors!
Here: 'Terrors' in the plural: sudden disasters that cause terror. Elsewhere they are pictured almost as pursuers, and death itself is called 'the king of terrors' (Job 18:14). The word fills the verse with the dread of a sudden end.
Isaiah · 1
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Isaiah 17:14 בַלָּהָ֔ה sudden terror
In the evening, there is sudden terror! Before morning, they are no more! This is the portion of those who loot us and the lot of those who plunder us.
Ezekiel · 3
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Ezekiel 26:21 בַּלָּה֥וֹת terrors
I will make you an object of horror, and you will be no more. You will be sought, but will never be found,’ declares the Lord GOD.”
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Ezekiel 27:36 בַּלָּה֣וֹת terrors
Those who trade among the nations hiss at you; you have come to a horrible end and will be no more.’”
Here: A plural that intensifies: utter horror, catastrophic ruin. Tyre has not merely suffered terror. She has become a horror, a byword for sudden doom.
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Ezekiel 28:19 בַּלָּה֣וֹת terrors
All the nations who know you are appalled over you. You have come to a horrible end and will be no more.’”
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.