Hebrew word · H2730

חָרֵד

chared

trembling

Trembling, quaking.

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated October 31, 2026

What it means

trembling, fearful, afraid

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: Trembling, quaking. The related verb 'charad' covers physical shaking (Sinai quaking, Exod 19:18; the people trembling, Exod 19:16), sudden fright (Isaac, Gen 27:33), anxious concern (Eli's heart trembling over the ark, 1 Sam 4:13), and even solicitous care (the Shunammite has 'taken all this trouble' over Elisha, 2 Kgs 4:13, literally 'trembled all this trembling').
Against the English: 'Trembles at my word' (KJV, BSB, ESV, NIV, NASB) is accurate. A modern reader may hear only nervous fear. The Hebrew combines awe at God's speech with eager, anxious concern to keep it.
Used elsewhere in the period: Isa 66:5, 'Hear the word of the LORD, you who tremble at his word… your brothers who hate you and cast you out'. Ezra 9:4, 'everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel'. Ezra 10:3, 'those who tremble at the commandment of our God'. In the Persian period this seems to have become a label for a devout circle. The modern term 'Haredi' (ultra-Orthodox) Judaism takes its name from this word in Isa 66:2, 5.

Range of meaning: 'Trembling', from harad 'to tremble, quake, be terrified', used of fear in battle, alarm at sudden news (Gen 27:33), and reverent awe before God's word.
Against the English: 'Those who tremble' is accurate. English readers may hear only nervousness. In Hebrew it is a mark of the devout, who take God's word with complete seriousness.
Used elsewhere in the period: Ezra 9:4 'everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel gathered to me'. Isa 66:2, 5: 'the one who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word'. Isa 66:5 shows tremblers in conflict with their own kin. Modern ultra-Orthodox Jews take the name Haredim from these verses.

Range of meaning: An adjective from the verb ḥarad, 'to tremble, quake, shudder'. The verb covers physical shaking (Mount Sinai 'quaked', Exod 19:18), sudden fright (Gen 27:33; 42:28), and anxious concern (1 Sam 4:13, Eli's heart 'trembling' for the ark; 2 Kgs 4:13). The adjective means 'fearful, trembling' (Judg 7:3: 'whoever is fearful and trembling, let him go home'). With 'at the word(s)' of God it describes someone who takes God's words with shaking seriousness.
Against the English: All the major English versions say 'trembled', which is accurate. The danger lies in softening it to 'respected' or 'revered'. The Hebrew keeps real fear in the picture: these people believed the covenant warnings (Deut 7:4: 'the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you') could actually fall on the community.
Used elsewhere in the period: The phrase appears almost word for word in Isa 66:2 ('the one who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word') and Isa 66:5 ('you who tremble at his word'), both from the same post-exilic period. Ezra 10:3 speaks of 'those who tremble at the commandment of our God'. The Sinai scene (Exod 19:16, the whole people 'trembled') sits behind the idea. Much later, ultra-Orthodox Jews took the name Haredim ('tremblers') from Isa 66:5.

Judges · 1

Judges 7:3 וְחָרֵ֔ד and trembling

Now, therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the men: ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand of them turned back, but ten thousand remained.

1 Samuel · 1

1 Samuel 4:13 חָרֵ֔ד trembling

When he arrived, there was Eli, sitting on his chair beside the road and watching, because his heart trembled for the ark of God. When the man entered the city to give a report, the whole city cried out.

Ezra · 2

Ezra 9:4 חָרֵד֙ [person] trembling

Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel gathered around me because of the unfaithfulness of the exiles, while I sat there in horror until the evening offering.

Here: An adjective used as a noun: 'a trembler'. It describes someone who shakes with fear and awe at what God has said, and takes his words with deadly seriousness.
Ezra 10:3 וְהַחֲרֵדִ֖ים and the [people] trembling

So now let us make a covenant before our God to send away all the foreign wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the command of our God. Let it be done according to the Law.

Here: 'The tremblers': the people who had gathered around Ezra because they 'trembled at the words of the God of Israel' (9:4). It describes deep reverent alarm before God's word, and is close to a name for a pious group.

Isaiah · 2

Isaiah 66:2 וְחָרֵ֖ד and a [person] trembling

Has not My hand made all these things? And so they came into being,” declares the LORD. “This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at My word.

Here: Quaking, trembling. It describes someone who takes God's word with deep seriousness, awe and anxious concern. The word is picked up as a group label in verse 5 and in Ezra 9:4; 10:3.
Isaiah 66:5 הַחֲרֵדִ֖ים O [people] trembling

You who tremble at His word, hear the word of the LORD: “Your brothers who hate you and exclude you because of My name have said, ‘Let the LORD be glorified that we may see your joy!’ But they will be put to shame.”

Here: A name for a group: 'the tremblers'. These are people whose devotion to God's word makes them shake with reverent, anxious seriousness. It repeats 66:2, where God says he looks to 'the one who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at My word.'

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