ya.re denotes fearing God in reverent obedience, fearing people or danger, and in some forms being fearsome or causing fear.

The predominant use concerns fearing God in contexts of serving, obeying, walking in his ways, or recognizing his name. Other occurrences describe fear of people, enemies, threatening events, or a king; participial forms describe God or a wilderness as fearsome, and Piel forms show people being made afraid.

1. Fearing God in obedience and worship · dominant

   Qal forms occur in commands and stated patterns of conduct directed toward God. In Deuteronomy 10:20 the APB renders a sequence in which fearing the LORD is joined with serving, clinging to, and swearing by him; in 1 Samuel 12:24 it is joined with serving him wholeheartedly. In 2 Kings 17:35 and 2 Kings 17:36, fear of other gods is prohibited while fear of the LORD is commanded alongside bowing down and sacrificing to him.

   Deuteronomy 10:201 Samuel 12:242 Kings 17:352 Kings 17:361 Kings 8:43Ecclesiastes 12:13
2. Being afraid in the face of threat · common

   Qal forms describe persons recoiling from danger, enemies, or anticipated harm. In 1 Samuel 17:24 the APB renders Israel's men as fleeing from the Philistine and fearing greatly; in 1 Kings 1:50 it renders Adonijah as afraid of Solomon before he takes hold of the altar's horns. Negative jussives address the same response in danger, as in 2 Chronicles 20:15 before a great multitude.

   1 Samuel 17:241 Kings 1:501 Chronicles 10:42 Chronicles 20:152 Kings 19:6Deuteronomy 20:1
3. Fear aroused by a person, ruler, or event · occasional

   The term can mark fear prompted by a perceived authority or overwhelming event without the obedience framing of the first cluster. In 1 Kings 3:28, after hearing the king's judgment and seeing God's wisdom in him, all Israel fears before the king; in Deuteronomy 28:10 the peoples of the land see that the LORD's name is called upon Israel and fear because of Israel. Amos 3:8 sets the response beside a lion's roar: the APB asks, "who will not fear?"

   1 Kings 3:28Deuteronomy 28:10Amos 3:81 Samuel 12:18Deuteronomy 5:5
4. Fearsome or awesome in description · occasional

   Niphal participles characterize what evokes fear. In Deuteronomy 10:17 the APB describes God as "the one to be feared," while Deuteronomy 1:19 calls the wilderness "fearsome." In 1 Chronicles 17:21, the feminine plural participle occurs in the clause about making a great and "awesome" name.

   Deuteronomy 10:17Deuteronomy 1:191 Chronicles 17:211 Chronicles 16:25Daniel 9:4
5. Making someone afraid · rare

   Piel forms explicitly place the action upon people who are made fearful. In 2 Chronicles 32:18, hostile speakers cry out to the people on Jerusalem's wall "to frighten them and to dismay them" in order to capture the city. In 2 Samuel 14:15, the woman says that the people have made her afraid.

   2 Chronicles 32:182 Samuel 14:15

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly uses "fear," "afraid," and "do not be afraid" for clauses involving danger or commands, while Niphal participles appear as "to be feared," "fearsome," or "awesome." These English expressions confirm the clauses' overall presentation rather than supplying a separate definition for each form.