Hebrew word · H3025

יָגֹר

yagoreti

to fear

To fear or dread something threatening, usually something expected to happen. It is rarer and more pointed than the common verb for fear (yārēʾ). It never has the sense of reverence or awe. It is simply being afraid of harm.

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

(Qal) to fear, dread, be afraid

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 Job 9:28

Range of meaning

To fear or dread something threatening, usually something expected to happen. It is rarer and more pointed than the common verb for fear (yārēʾ). It never has the sense of reverence or awe. It is simply being afraid of harm.

Against the English

KJV/WEB "I am afraid of", BSB "I would still dread", YLT "I have been afraid of". "Dread" fits best, because the word looks ahead to harm that is coming.

Used elsewhere in the period

It occurs only five times in the Hebrew Bible. Deuteronomy 9:19: Moses says "I was in dread of the anger and wrath" of the LORD. Deuteronomy 28:60: the diseases of Egypt "which you dreaded." Job 3:25: "what I dreaded has come upon me." Psalm 119:39: "the reproach which I dread." In each case it is fear of a blow from God or a disaster.

From the study of Psalm 119:39

Range of meaning

To be afraid of or dread something threatening. It is rare, used only a handful of times, always for apprehensive dread of a specific harm: Moses dreading the LORD's anger against Israel (Deut 9:19), Israel dreading the diseases of Egypt (Deut 28:60), Job's "what I dreaded has come upon me" (Job 3:25) and "I dread all my sufferings" (Job 9:28).

Against the English

"Dread" (BSB, WEB, NASB, ESV, NIV) fits well. KJV "which I fear" is fine but blurs it into the very common Hebrew word for fear. Here the word is different from the one used for reverent fear of God.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deut 9:19; 28:60; Job 3:25; 9:28; Ps 119:39. The LXX renders it here with hypōpteusa, "I suspected / apprehended", which suggests a fear of something looming rather than already present.

Where it appears

Deuteronomy · 2

  1. Deuteronomy 9:19 יָגֹ֗רְתִּי I was afraid

    For I was afraid of the anger and wrath that the LORD had directed against you, enough to destroy you. But the LORD listened to me this time as well.

  2. Deuteronomy 28:60 יָגֹ֖רְתָּ you were afraid

    He will afflict you again with all the diseases you dreaded in Egypt, and they will cling to you.

Job · 2

  1. Job 3:25 יָ֝גֹ֗רְתִּי I dreaded

    For the thing I feared has overtaken me, and what I dreaded has befallen me.

  2. Job 9:28 יָגֹ֥רְתִּי I dread

    I would still dread all my sufferings; I know that You will not acquit me.

    Here: "I dread / I am in dread." A rare, strong verb for fear of something bad that is coming. It is the same word Job used in 3:25: "what I dreaded has come upon me." Here it completes the "if" of verse 27: even if I tried to cheer up, I would still be gripped by dread.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 119:39 יָגֹ֑רְתִּי I dread

    Turn away the disgrace I dread, for Your judgments are good.

    Here: "I have dreaded". This is a perfect form of a verb for a mental state, so it describes a dread that has taken hold and still holds: "the disgrace I dread" (present) or "have come to dread" (YLT "have feared"). It is a rare word for anxious dread of something harmful.

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