Hebrew word · H6345

פַּחְדָּה

fachdati

dread

Dread or trembling awe. It appears only here in the Hebrew Bible, a feminine form of the common pachad (dread, terror, trembling), also used in "the Fear (pachad) of Isaac" (Gen 31:42, 53). Pachad is generally stronger and more physical than yir'ah, the usual word for the "fear" of the LORD.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

dread, fear, awe, religious awe

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 Jeremiah 2:19

Range of meaning

Dread or trembling awe. It appears only here in the Hebrew Bible, a feminine form of the common pachad (dread, terror, trembling), also used in "the Fear (pachad) of Isaac" (Gen 31:42, 53). Pachad is generally stronger and more physical than yir'ah, the usual word for the "fear" of the LORD.

Against the English

KJV/WEB "my fear", BSB "fear of Me", NASB "dread of Me", NIV "awe of me". "Dread" keeps the force best. "Awe" leans toward the respectful sense and softens the trembling.

Used elsewhere in the period

The word itself occurs only here, so its meaning is drawn from pachad: Deut 28:66–67; Isa 2:10, 19, 21 ("the dread of YHWH"); Ps 36:1 (no pachad of God before his eyes); Jer 33:9; Jer 36:16, 24 (officials who "did not dread").

Where it appears

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 2:19 פַחְדָּתִי֙ awe of me

    Your own evil will discipline you; your own apostasies will reprimand you. Consider and realize how evil and bitter it is for you to forsake the LORD your God and to have no fear of Me,” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts.

    Here: "My dread": the trembling awe that is properly felt toward me. The noun appears only here in the Bible. It comes from pachad, a stronger word for fear than the usual yir'ah.

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