To fear
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Phobeo means to fear, be afraid, be alarmed, or show reverent regard. The New Testament uses it for terror before danger, reverent fear of God, fear of people, respect within ordered relationships, and holy warning against arrogance.
Reader summary
Full entry for φοβέω (G5399) · Open the biblical lexicon
Phobeo means to fear, be afraid, be alarmed, or show reverent regard. The New Testament uses it for terror before danger, reverent fear of God, fear of people, respect within ordered relationships, and holy warning against arrogance.
The BSB source-word alignment has 95 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include be afraid (17), fear (13), they were afraid (9), do not be afraid (7), fearing (3).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 1:20. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (23), Matthew (18), Acts (14), Mark (12).
This entry includes 2 verse guides that explain exact original-language forms in context.
Phobeo means to fear, be afraid, be alarmed, or show reverent regard. The New Testament uses it for terror before danger, reverent fear of God, fear of people, respect within ordered relationships, and holy warning against arrogance. The word must be handled by context because fear can be sinful, natural, protective, reverent, or commanded. Angels tell frightened people not to fear because God is acting in mercy.
Jesus tells disciples not to fear human persecutors but to fear God. Acts speaks of God-fearing Gentiles whom God welcomes. Paul warns believers not to be arrogant but to fear. Peter can command fear of God while also calling believers to honor others. Phobeo therefore helps readers reorder fear under God's authority rather than deny fear or be ruled by it.
Phobeo ranges from dread to reverence. In Scripture, fear is not simply removed; it is reordered so God is feared rightly and lesser fears lose mastery.
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Jesus commands disciples not to fear those who can kill the body but to fear the One with final authority.
But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.
The angel tells the women not to be afraid at the empty tomb, because resurrection turns terror into witness.
But welcomes those from every nation who fear Him and do what is right.
Peter says God welcomes those from every nation who fear Him and do what is right.
That is correct: They were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid.
Paul warns Gentile believers not to be arrogant but to fear, keeping grace from becoming presumption.
Treat everyone with high regard: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.
Peter commands believers to honor everyone, love the brotherhood, fear God, and honor the king.
And he said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come. Worship the One who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and the springs of waters.”
The angel summons the world to fear God and give Him glory because the hour of judgment has come.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Greek word. Reverential fear of God distinct from mere terror; conveys both awe and obedient respect.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 93 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I fear, am terrified
Read verseI fear, am terrified
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Read verseI fear, am terrified
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Read verseI fear, am terrified
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Read verseI fear, am terrified
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Read verseI fear, am terrified
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Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How this verb appears across 94 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Representative Scripture witnesses for this entry: passage, original form, and sense in context.
φοβέω is built from this root:
Distinguishes proper reverent fear from misplaced human fear.Acts 10:1-23
Demonstrates sincere reverence that still requires gospel fulfillment.Luke 12:4–7
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
The core insight of phobeo is that Scripture does not treat fear as a single spiritual problem with one solution. Some fear must be refused: do not fear persecutors, do not fear at the empty tomb, do not be ruled by those who threaten. Some fear must be embraced: fear God, tremble at His judgment, do not become arrogant before His kindness and severity. Some fear is redirected into reverence and obedience.
The gospel does not produce careless people who fear nothing. It produces people whose deepest fear belongs to God and whose lesser fears are put in their proper place. Phobeo therefore gives teachers a careful vocabulary for courage, reverence, humility, and worship.
Matthew.10.28
Phobeo can describe being afraid, becoming alarmed, revering, or showing respectful regard. Its range requires careful attention to object and context: fear of God, fear of people, and fear before revelation do not carry the same pastoral force.
The fear of the Lord is a central Old Testament theme tied to wisdom, covenant faithfulness, worship, and awe. The New Testament continues that reverence while showing how Christ's resurrection and God's fatherly care displace enslaving fear.