Meaning
Fear of the Lord the is in the Old Testament used as a designation of true piety (Prov 1:7; Job 28:28; Ps 19:9). It is a fear conjoined with love and hope, and is therefore not a slavish dread, but rather filial reverence. (Comp. Deut 32:6; Hos 11:1; Isa 1:2; 63:16; 64:8.) God is called "the Fear of Isaac" (Gen 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 (Matt 10:28; 2Cor 5:11; 7:1; Phil 2:12; Eph 5:21; Heb 12:28, 29).
