Hebrew word · H2731

חֲרָדָה

charadah

trembling

Trembling, shuddering, alarm, panic, anxious agitation. The related verb ḥārad means to tremble or shake (of people, of a mountain, of birds fluttering out of a hiding place).

Appears 9 times in 8 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) fear, anxiety, quaking, trembling, (extreme) anxiety, anxious care

1a) trembling, quaking

1b) anxious care

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 Proverbs 29:25

Range of meaning

Trembling, shuddering, alarm, panic, anxious agitation. The related verb ḥārad means to tremble or shake (of people, of a mountain, of birds fluttering out of a hiding place). The noun runs from sudden terror (Isaac "trembled with a very great trembling", Gen 27:33) to God-sent panic in battle (1 Sam 14:15, "a trembling of God"). It can also mean anxious, fussy concern: Elisha tells the Shunammite woman, "you have been anxious for us with all this anxiety" (2 Kgs 4:13).

Against the English

Every major English version translates it "fear". That is accurate, but it hides the fact that Proverbs' famous phrase "the fear of the LORD" uses a different word, yirʾah. English readers naturally hear "fear of man" as the mirror image of "fear of the LORD". The Hebrew does not set up that pairing. Ḥărādāh is the jittery, shaking kind of fear, not the reverent, loyal awe of yirʾat YHWH.

How it drifted

The drift comes from translation: one English word, "fear", covers both Hebrew words. Sermons then build a symmetry ("fear man or fear God") the verse itself does not make. The verse's actual opposite of dread of people is trust.

Used elsewhere in the period

Gen 27:33; 1 Sam 14:15; 2 Kgs 4:13; Isa 21:4; Jer 30:5; Ezek 26:16; Dan 10:7. The Septuagint here paraphrases it with two verbs, "fearing and being ashamed before people". That shows its translators understood a social fear tied to honour and shame.

From the study of Daniel 10:7

Range of meaning

Trembling, shaking, fright, anxious alarm. From charad, 'to tremble, shudder, be startled'. The word joins the bodily shaking and the fear that causes it. It can also mean anxious care, as when Elisha tells the Shunammite woman 'you have taken all this trouble (charadah) for us' (2 Kings 4:13).

Against the English

BSB 'great terror' and NASB 'great dread' stress the emotion. KJV/WEB 'great quaking' and YLT 'great trembling' keep the physical shaking, which is closer to the root.

Used elsewhere in the period

Genesis 27:33: Isaac 'trembled with a very great trembling' (charadah gedolah). 1 Samuel 14:15: a 'trembling of God', a panic sent by God, runs through the Philistine camp, and the earth itself quakes. Isaiah 21:4 and Ezekiel 26:16 describe people 'clothed with tremblings'. The verb is used of Israel trembling at Sinai (Exodus 19:16).

From the study of Ezekiel 26:16

Range of meaning

Ḥaradah means trembling, shuddering or terror, from the verb ḥarad, 'to tremble, quake, startle.' The plural here strengthens it. Lavash is the ordinary verb for putting on clothes. Hebrew often uses it for 'wearing' a quality: righteousness (Job 29:14; Ps 132:9), shame (Ps 35:26; 109:29; Job 8:22), strength (Isa 51:9), and desolation (Ezek 7:27, where the prince 'is clothed with desolation').

Against the English

KJV and WEB: 'clothe themselves with trembling.' BSB: 'Clothed with terror.' Both keep the clothing image. 'Terror' puts the weight on the inner feeling, and 'trembling' on the visible shaking. The Hebrew covers both.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ezekiel 7:27 is the closest parallel within the book. Psalm 109:18–19 pictures cursing worn like a garment. Genesis 27:33 uses the root for Isaac's violent trembling.

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 27:33 חֲרָדָה֮ trembling

    Isaac began to tremble violently and said, “Who was it, then, who hunted the game and brought it to me? Before you came in, I ate it all and blessed him—and indeed, he will be blessed!”

1 Samuel · 2

  1. 1 Samuel 14:15 חֲרָדָ֨ה לְחֶרְדַּ֥ת trembling, <into> a trembling of

    Then panic struck the Philistines in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. Even those in the outposts and raiding parties trembled. Indeed, the earth quaked, and panic spread from God.

2 Kings · 1

  1. 2 Kings 4:13 הַחֲרָדָ֣ה the care

    and Elisha said to Gehazi, “Now tell her, ‘Look, you have gone to all this trouble for us. What can we do for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or the commander of the army?’” “I have a home among my own people,” she replied.

    Here: The noun from the same root as the verb: 'you have trembled all this trembling.' Repeating the root piles up the idea. Her care has been intense and anxious, well beyond ordinary politeness.

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 29:25 חֶרְדַּ֣ת fear of

    The fear of man is a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is set securely on high.

    Here: The verse's first word is the shaking, anxious kind of fear. It is not yirʾah, the word in "the fear of the LORD". The form is tied grammatically to the next word: "trembling of a person".

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 21:4 לַחֲרָדָֽה׃ <into> trembling

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

    Here: Trembling dread, the shaking of someone panicked (compare Isaac's 'great trembling' in Genesis 27:33). The calm evening has been turned 'into trembling.'

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 30:5 חֲרָדָ֖ה fear

    Yes, this is what the LORD says: “A cry of panic is heard—a cry of terror, not of peace.

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 26:16 חֲרָד֤וֹת׀ trembling<s>

    All the princes of the sea will descend from their thrones, remove their robes, and strip off their embroidered garments. Clothed with terror, they will sit on the ground, trembling every moment, appalled over you.

    Here: 'Tremblings.' The plural strengthens it: shaking upon shaking. It is placed first for emphasis, and it takes the place of the robes.

Daniel · 1

  1. Daniel 10:7 חֲרָדָ֤ה terror

    Only I, Daniel, saw the vision; the men with me did not see it, but a great terror fell upon them, and they ran and hid themselves.

    Here: Bodily shaking from fright: a trembling that takes over the body, not just a feeling. KJV/WEB 'quaking' and YLT 'trembling' keep the physical side.

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