Fear
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.”
Proverbs 9:10
Are you shaking in your boots? Probably not. It’s no secret that the Hebrew word that’s translated “fear” does not necessarily mean you should be afraid. It just depends on the context in which it’s used. As Lois Tverberg tells us:
“To us, ‘fear’ is the opposite of trust, and its synonyms are fright, dread and terror. But the Hebrew equivalent, yirah (YEER-ah) encompasses a wide range of meanings from negative (dread, terror) to positive (worship, reverence) and from mild (respect) to strong (awe).”
That explanation of Old Testament “fear of the LORD” has such wide acceptance that most Christians apply it to the New Testament as well. Consequently, most Christians know they should have great reverence for God, but they don’t walk around in literal fear of Him.
Fear and Trembling
While there’s no reason to fear that understanding of Biblical “fear”, throw in the word “trembling” and some Christians start to, well, tremble. They find the following verse to be especially worrisome:
“So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”
Philippians 2:12
Some Christians interpret that verse to mean they must live life a certain way or live in fear of losing their salvation. That’s an understandable concern. However, it stands to reason that if the Hebrew word translated “fear” can have multiple meanings, then the Hebrew phrase translated “fear and trembling” can too. As Tverberg explains in this abbreviated quote:
“Most likely ‘fear and trembling’ is a hendiadys, a type of idiom that[‘s used] for intensification. ‘Fear and trembling’ isn’t likely about being afraid and also shaking. It simply means to have ‘great fear,’ which can be either positive (awe) or negative (fright, dread).”
So, just as the Hebrew word translated “fear” can mean awe or reverence, the Hebrew idiom translated “fear and trembling” can mean great awe or great reverence. Consequently, at least two versions of the Bible translate those words as “awe and reverence” instead of “fear and trembling”. Let’s examine scriptures that demonstrate this.
Fear and Trembling = Great Awe
“Serve the LORD with reverence. And rejoice with trembling.”
Psalms 2:11
In this case the translator decided to use “reverence” instead of fear, but it is the same Hebrew word. As for rejoicing, it’s an oxymoron to rejoice with fear. It’s much more likely the Psalmist wants us to rejoice with great awe.
“It [Jerusalem] will be to Me a name of joy, praise and glory before all the nations of the earth which will hear of all the good that I do for them, and they will fear and tremble because of all the good and all the peace that I make for it.”
Jeremiah 33:9
If “fear and tremble” in that verse means literal fear and trembling, then somehow God’s prophesied goodness to Jerusalem is going to make other nations afraid. That doesn’t make sense. The millennium of which that verse speaks will be a golden age for ALL nations. Accordingly, some respected Jewish scholars translate Jeremiah 33:9 this way:
“And she shall gain through Me renown, joy, fame, and glory above all the nations on earth, when they hear of all the good fortune I provide for them. They will thrill and quiver because of all the good fortune and all the prosperity that I provide for her.”
JPS Tanakh (emphasis added)
With the possible exception of Luke, the Bible’s authors were Jewish. Whether they we’re writing the Old Testament or New, it was only natural for them to use Jewish idioms. Moving on to the New Testament, the story of the woman in Mark 5 has our third example in which fear and trembling means great awe.
“She came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak. And immediately she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. The woman, fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.”
Mark 5 (abbreviated)
That woman’s illness made her an outcast, not to mention broke and miserable. She had heard of Jesus’s miracles and how He welcomed outcasts. So she touched the edge of His cloak and felt good for the first time in over a decade. Was she then afraid of Jesus? Of course not! She was overwhelmed by His goodness.
Fear and Trembling = Great Reverence
“I also was with you in weakness and fear, and in great trembling,”
1 Corinthians 2:3
Quite obviously Paul the Apostle didn’t literally fear Corinthian parishioners. His great reverence may have been for the Corinthians, but I think it was actually for his mission of spreading the gospel.
“His [Titus’s] affection abounds all the more toward you, as he remembers the obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling.”
2 Corinthians 7:15
Similarly, Corinthian churchgoers weren’t afraid of Titus. Titus was a missionary, a church leader, and a companion of Paul the Apostle. The Corinthian church received him with great reverence.
Fear and Trembling Summary
The meaning of any word or phrase depends on the culture it came from and the context in which it’s used. And in some cases, differing contexts can cause the exact same word(s) to mean something completely opposite. That may be confusing at first, but we do it in modern American English too. Just imagine how confusing it would be for an ancient Israelite to learn that our “bad” can mean good and our “literally” can mean metaphorically.
As we’ve read, the Biblical words translated “fear and trembling” can also mean something completely opposite. There are verses like this where “fear and trembling” is indeed a terrible thing. And then there are other verses where it’s a wonderful thing. There’s no doubt “fear and trembling” can be either good or bad. I suspect there may even be Bible verses where that phrase means both at the same time. It all depends on the context.
Fear and Trembling and Salvation
With our better understanding of the Biblical concept of fear and trembling, let’s return to a shortened version of Philippians 2:12:
“So then work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”
How do we know which definition of fear and trembling to apply? The verses before and after verse 12 give us clues. Let’s use those clues to paraphrase verse 12 into three color-coded parts.
“So then“
That’s a conjunction. That means verse 12 should be read with the preceding verses in mind. Verses 5 through 11 all exclaim the great and mighty things Christ did to save us and how God esteemed Him for it. I’ll summarize verses 5 – 11 to explain what “so then” refers to this way:
“Christ has done great and mighty things to secure your salvation, so“
“work out your own salvation“
The Greek word translated “work out” means “to do that from which something results”. That something in this verse is salvation. So when Paul tells us to work out our salvation, he’s telling us to do that which results from salvation.
Of course there are many things we should do as a result of our salvation. Verses 14 through 16 tell us some of those things, including behave well. I’ll summarize verses 14 – 16 and use that summary to paraphrase “work out your own salvation” this way:
“behave well as a saved person should“
“with fear and trembling“
The good behavior just discussed should be carried out with fear and trembling, but which definition of fear and trembling is Paul using? Let’s complete the paraphrase by applying our two Biblical definitions of fear and trembling:
Paraphrase 1:
“Christ has done great and mighty things to secure your salvation, so behave well as a saved person should with great awe and reverence.“
Paraphrase 2:
“Christ has done great and mighty things to secure your salvation, so behave well as a saved person should with great fear and dread.“
Much of Paul’s writing is beautifully poetic. He certainly gets harsh in parts of Romans and Galatians and perhaps elsewhere, but his overall style is almost always gracious. Philippians is no exception. Given that, I believe the first paraphrase of Philippians 2:12 makes the most sense. I hope you do too. God doesn’t want His children to fear Him. God wants His children to revere Him.