Hebrew word · H1204

בָּעַת

teva'atani

to terrify

To fall on someone with sudden fear, terrify, startle, overwhelm with dread (HALOT: "to startle, terrify"). It is almost always intensive in form, and the related noun means terror.

Appears 16 times in 16 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to terrify, startle, fall upon, dismay, be overtaken by sudden terror

1a) (Niphal) to be terrified

1b) (Piel)

1b1) to fall upon, overwhelm

1b2) to terrify

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 1 Samuel 16:14

Range of meaning

To fall on someone with sudden fear, terrify, startle, overwhelm with dread (HALOT: "to startle, terrify"). It is almost always intensive in form, and the related noun means terror.

Against the English

KJV and WEB "troubled" is now far too weak, because modern "troubled" means bothered or worried. YLT "terrified" and NASB "terrorized" are closest. BSB, NIV and ESV "torment" catch how severe and repeated it was, though not the specific note of panic.

How it drifted

In 1611 "trouble" still meant to agitate, disturb or throw into turmoil. Over the centuries the English word weakened, and the Hebrew word did not.

Used elsewhere in the period

Job uses it for being terrified by God: "you terrify me with visions" (Job 7:14; also 9:34; 13:11, 21; 33:7). In Ps 18:4 / 2 Sam 22:5 "torrents of destruction terrified me." In Isa 21:4 "horror has overwhelmed me." The Septuagint reads epnigen auton, "was choking him", and Josephus describes Saul's attacks as "suffocations and stranglings" (Antiquities 6.166). Both treat the attacks as physical and violent.

From the study of Job 3:5

Range of meaning

In the intensive verb form, to terrify, startle, fill with sudden dread: an evil spirit terrifying Saul (1 Samuel 16:14–15), terror from God overwhelming a person (Job 9:34; 13:21; 18:11). It describes panic that strikes suddenly.

Against the English

KJV/WEB/ESV/NASB 'terrify'; BSB 'overwhelm'. 'Overwhelm' reads smoothly but loses the note of panic.

Used elsewhere in the period

Clustered in Job (3:5; 7:14; 9:34; 13:11, 21; 15:24; 18:11; 33:7). It is a key word for the terror Job feels coming at him from God.

From the study of Psalm 18:4

Range of meaning

In the intensive (piel) stem: to terrify, startle, fall upon with sudden dread. It is used of an evil spirit tormenting Saul (1 Sam 16:14-15), of terror from God (Job 9:34; 13:21), and of nightmares (Job 7:14).

Against the English

'Made me afraid' (KJV, WEB, YLT) is too mild. 'Overwhelmed' (BSB, NIV) fits the flood but drops the fear. 'Terrified' (NASB) or 'assailed' (ESV) come closer in different ways. The Hebrew carries both the attack and the panic it causes.

Used elsewhere in the period

The noun form bəʿātāh, 'terror', appears in Jeremiah 8:15 and 14:19. The same verb is used in the Saul narratives for the dread that came over him.

Where it appears

1 Samuel · 2

  1. 1 Samuel 16:14 וּבִֽעֲתַ֥תּוּ and it terrified him

    Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a spirit of distress from the LORD began to torment him.

    Here: "And it would terrify him". This is an intensive verb form, and the way it follows the previous verb marks repeated or ongoing action: attacks of terror that kept coming back, not a single event. Hence BSB's "began to torment him".

  2. 1 Samuel 16:15 מְבַעִתֶּֽךָ׃ [is] terrifying you

    Saul’s servants said to him, “Surely a spirit of distress from God is tormenting you.

2 Samuel · 1

  1. 2 Samuel 22:5 יְבַעֲתֻֽנִי׃ they overwhelmed me

    For the waves of death engulfed me; the torrents of chaos overwhelmed me.

1 Chronicles · 1

  1. 1 Chronicles 21:30 נִבְעַ֔ת he was terrified

    but David could not go before it to inquire of God, because he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the LORD.

Esther · 1

  1. Esther 7:6 נִבְעַ֔ת he was terrified

    Esther replied, “The adversary and enemy is this wicked man—Haman!” And Haman stood in terror before the king and queen.

    Here: Struck with sudden terror and panic, overwhelmed by dread. This is a strong word used for Daniel collapsing before an angel (Dan 8:17), not ordinary nervousness.

Job · 8

  1. Job 3:5 יְ֝בַעֲתֻ֗הוּ let them terrify it

    May darkness and gloom reclaim it, and a cloud settle over it; may the blackness of the day overwhelm it.

    Here: 'May they terrify it.' The day itself is pictured as a living thing that can be struck with sudden panic, a word Job uses again and again for the terror he feels from God (7:14; 9:34; 13:21).

  2. Job 7:14 תְּבַעֲתַֽנִּי׃ you will terrify me

    then You frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions,

  3. Job 9:34 תְּבַעֲתַֽנִּי׃ it terrify me

    Let Him remove His rod from me, so that His terror will no longer frighten me.

  4. Job 13:11 תְּבַעֵ֣ת will it terrify

    Would His majesty not terrify you? Would the dread of Him not fall upon you?

  5. Job 13:21 תְּבַעֲתַֽנִּי׃ it terrify me

    Withdraw Your hand from me, and do not let Your terror frighten me.

  6. Job 15:24 יְֽ֭בַעֲתֻהוּ they terrify him

    Distress and anguish terrify him, overwhelming him like a king poised to attack.

  7. Job 18:11 בִּֽעֲתֻ֣הוּ they terrify him

    Terrors frighten him on every side and harass his every step.

    Here: An intensive verb form with 'him' attached: the terrors throw him into sudden panic. The Hebrew is a perfect, used here for what always happens to such a man, so English can say 'terrify' (present) or 'shall terrify' (future, as in KJV). It is the same verb Job had used to complain that God terrifies him (7:14; 9:34; 13:11, 21).

  8. Job 33:7 תְבַעֲתֶ֑ךָּ it will terrify you

    Surely no fear of me should terrify you; nor will my hand be heavy upon you.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 18:4 יְבַֽעֲתֽוּנִי׃ they overwhelmed me

    The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of chaos overwhelmed me.

    Here: 'They were terrifying me' or 'they kept terrifying me.' This intensive verb means sudden, paralysing terror, the kind that strikes when disaster hits. Its unfinished (imperfect) form, set against the completed verb of line one, makes the terror feel ongoing and repeated, wave after wave.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 21:4 בִּֽעֲתָ֑תְנִי it has overwhelmed me

    My heart falters; fear makes me tremble. The twilight I desired has turned to horror.

    Here: A strong verb for sudden, overpowering terror, used of the troubling spirit that seized Saul (1 Samuel 16:14–15) and of terrors in Job. Its feminine form agrees with 'shuddering': horror has struck him with terror.

Daniel · 1

  1. Daniel 8:17 נִבְעַ֔תִּי I was terrified

    As he came near to where I stood, I was terrified and fell facedown. “Son of man,” he said to me, “understand that the vision concerns the time of the end.”

    Here: "I was struck with terror." The form is passive: terror came on him from outside. It is a strong word for sudden, overwhelming dread, much stronger than KJV's "afraid".

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