Definition

to frighten, i.e. (passively) to be alarmed; by analogy, to be in awe of, i.e. revere

Etymology

from G5401 (φόβος);

Where the KJV renders it

• be (+ sore) afraid
• fear (exceedingly)
• reverence

Every distinct English word the King James Version uses to translate this Greek term. The variety shows what readers in English receive across many different surface words — the same underlying word, scattered across the English Bible under different names.

What the first audience heard

A deep-dive treatment of this word is in the works. The featured chapter above carries the long form of what this word meant to its first audience.