Is in the Old Testament used as a designation of true piety ( Proverbs 1:7 ; Job 28:28 ; Psalm 19:9 ). It is a fear conjoined with love and hope, and is therefore not a slavish dread, but rather filial reverence. (Compare Deuteronomy 32:6 ; Hosea 11:1 ; Isaiah 1:2 ; 63:16 ; 64:8 .) God is called "the Fear of Isaac" ( Genesis 31:42,53 ), i.e., the God whom Isaac feared. A holy fear is enjoined also in the New Testament as a preventive of carelessness in religion, and as an incentive to penitence ( Matthew 10:28 ; 2 Corinthians 5:11 ; 7:1 ; Philippians 2:12 ; Ephesians 5:21 ; Hebrews 12:28,29 ).
Source
- part_of
source-manifest/easton— Easton's Bible Dictionary (PD)