Emphobos describes persons gripped by fear in encounters, alarming events, and the prospect of judgment.

The term consistently marks people as fearful: individuals react to a heavenly encounter or the coming judgment, while groups fear a perceived spirit, an encounter at the tomb, or an earthquake.

1. Fearful in a disturbing encounter or event · dominant

   The singular nominative form occurs of a man who gazes at a figure and asks, “What is it, Lord?” in Acts 10:4, and of Felix as reasoning about the coming judgment leads him to dismiss the speaker in Acts 24:25. Plural forms describe troubled disciples who think they see a spirit in Luke 24:37, women who bow their faces to the earth in Luke 24:5, and survivors after an earthquake in Revelation 11:13; in these verses the APB renders the reactions with “afraid” or “terrified.”

   Acts 10:4Acts 24:25Luke 24:37Luke 24:5Revelation 11:13

In the Anselm Project Bible: Across these verses, the APB presents the reaction as “afraid” and, after the earthquake, “terrified.” These renderings confirm the clauses’ fearful response rather than establish separate lexical senses.