Hebrew word · H1161

בִּעוּתִים

bi'uteikha

terror

Terrors, sudden alarms. From bāʿat, 'to startle, terrify', a verb often used of the sudden terror that seized Saul (1 Sam 16:14–15) or of dread in the night (Job 7:14).

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

terrors, alarms (occasioned by God)

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 Psalm 88:16

Range of meaning

Terrors, sudden alarms. From bāʿat, 'to startle, terrify', a verb often used of the sudden terror that seized Saul (1 Sam 16:14–15) or of dread in the night (Job 7:14).

Against the English

Most versions say 'terrors'. ESV's 'dreadful assaults' brings out that the terrors attack, but adds the idea of violence. NLT turns the effect into paralysis.

Used elsewhere in the period

Found only here and in Job 6:4: 'the arrows of the Almighty are in me… the terrors of God are arrayed against me.' Verse 15 just before uses the related word ʾêmîm ('your terrors, I have borne').

Where it appears

Job · 1

  1. Job 6:4 בִּעוּתֵ֖י [the] terrors of

    For the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me; my spirit drinks in their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.

    Here: 'The terrors of': sudden, overwhelming dread, or the things that cause it. The word occurs only here and in Psalm 88:16, where 'your terrors' destroy the speaker.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 88:16 בִּ֝עוּתֶ֗יךָ terrors your

    Your wrath has swept over me; Your terrors have destroyed me.

    Here: 'Your terrors'. The root means to startle or terrify suddenly. The noun appears elsewhere only in Job 6:4 ('the terrors of God are arrayed against me'). They are attacks of dread that the sufferer traces straight back to God.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.