fear (of God)

The Hebrew and Greek that are translated as “fear (of God)” (or: “honor,” “worship,” or “respect”) is translated as “to have respect/reverence for” (Southern Subanen, Western Highland Purepecha, Navajo (Dinė), Javanese, Tboli), “to make great before oneself” (Ngäbere), “fear-devotion” (Kannada — currently used as a description of the life of piety), “those-with-whom he-is-holy” (those who fear God) (Western Apache) (source for this and above: Reiling / Swellengrebel), “revere God” (Lalana Chinantec), “worship God” (Palantla Chinantec) (source for this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), “obey” (Chichewa) (source: Ernst Wendland), “having/showing respect (for God)” (Makonde) (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext), or with a term that communicates awe (rather than fear of an evil source) (Chol) (source: Robert Bascom).

Bullard / Hatton (2008, p. 8) say the following about this concept: “As the writer of Proverbs states in 1:7, ‘The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.’ (…) ‘The fear of the Lord,’ that is, human fear of God, is an exceptionally difficult concept to express, at least in English. Other languages may have more appropriate terms. The idea probably is rooted in the most ancient days when people were indeed afraid of any deity. But in Israel the concept of fearing God was transformed by God’s revelation into a much fuller idea. Basically, as used in the Bible, the fear of God refers to the proper attitude of reverence and awe before the Holy One. To fear God is to recognize one’s own place as a mere mortal before the Creator, one’s place as a sinner before the Judge, one’s place as a child before the Father, one’s place as the recipient of God’s love. It thus involves submission, repentance, trust, and grateful love toward the One who is fearsome in holiness, in justice, in power that both protects and punishes, and in love. Using the word “fear” is sometimes as good as we can do, but often we will alternate that word with terms like ‘reverence’ or ‘awe.’”

See also fear of the LORD (Isa 11:2) and complete verse (Genesis 22:12) et al.

complete verse (Isaiah 8:12)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 8:12:

  • Kupsabiny: “‘Do not think that everything is a conspiracy,
    like some people are saying/claiming.
    Do not fear the words/things that those people fear,
    or be afraid like them.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “You must not trust any of the plots
    these people are thinking up.
    Do not fear what they fear
    and do not let your heart panic [lit.: beat with a flapping sound]. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Do- not -believe to what they are-saying that you (plur.) are traitors. You (plur.) do- not -be-afraid of what- they -fear-for, and you (plur.) do- not -be-nervous.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “‘Do not say that everything that people do is conspiring/rebelling against the government,
    like other people say,
    and do not be afraid of/worry about the things that other people are afraid of.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Isaiah 8:12

The two halves of this verse are parallel. The second half is strengthened by the addition of the clause nor be in dread, which is synonymous with do not fear. The verbs fear and be in dread mean “be afraid of.”

Do not call conspiracy all that this people call conspiracy: The Hebrew word rendered conspiracy refers to acts of conspiring or plotting against those in authority. Revised English Bible and New American Bible say “alliance,” but this word fails to express the idea of conspiring against someone. The phrase this people seems to imply an accusation of plotting. But unless we know who does the plotting and against whom, it is difficult to be precise in our interpretation. In the introductory comments on this section [8.11-15] we noted that God speaks to Isaiah and his supporters here since the imperatives in this verse are plural. Some say he is referring to a conspiracy by Judah’s enemies (as in 7.2). Others believe King Ahaz himself is responsible for the scheming. Such a charge against Ahaz could have been brought by those in Judah who opposed the king’s refusal to join the Syrians and Israelites against Assyria. Most likely the conspiracy here refers to the opposition of Isaiah and his supporters to Ahaz’s plan for Assyrian help. Their critics accuse them of scheming against the state. This fits with the parallel call not to be afraid of these people. However, we cannot be sure about the situation here. Since this is true, it is probably best to render this clause in a general way. Good News Translation offers a good model. Bible en français courant is also helpful with “Do not imitate [plural] these people when they speak of threats against the established order.”

And do not fear what they fear: Here God tells Isaiah and his followers not to be afraid of whatever the people fear. We cannot tell from the text itself whether they are afraid of a person, a group, or some other thing. It could refer to Ahaz’s fear of the enemy alliance. That seems a logical object here, but again we have to admit the situation cannot be determined beyond doubt. A general rendering is best, and in this case a fairly literal rendering will serve.

Nor be in dread is synonymous with to do not fear, so it emphasizes the call to trust and not be afraid. In languages where a synonymous expression is not available, the last two clauses in this verse may be combined, as Contemporary English Version has done with “don’t be afraid of something, just because they are.”

Translation examples for this verse are:

• “You [plural] must not regard as conspiracy what these people consider conspiracy; you need not fear what they fear nor dread it.

• “What these people consider to be a conspiracy is something you [plural] should not so consider; you do not need to be afraid of what scares them; do not be in dread.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .