3025. yagor
Lexical Summary
yagor: To fear, to be afraid

Original Word: יָגֹר
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: yagor
Pronunciation: yah-GOHR
Phonetic Spelling: (yaw-gore')
KJV: be afraid, fear
NASB: afraid, dread
Word Origin: [a primitive root]

1. to fear

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
be afraid, fear

A primitive root; to fear -- be afraid, fear.

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
a prim. root
Definition
to be afraid, fear
NASB Translation
afraid (3), dread (2).

Brown-Driver-Briggs
[יָגֹר] verb be afraid, fear (Phoenician in proper name יגר אשמן = he feareth Eshmun; Arabic metuens cavit, Frey LagBN 26.30; compare III. גּוּר) —

Qal Perfect2masculine singularיָגֹרְתָּ Deuteronomy 28:60; יָגֹּרְתִּי Deuteronomy 9:19 3t.; — be afraid, followed byמִמְּנֵי before, of; of wrath of ׳י Deuteronomy 9:19; of diseases of Egypt Deuteronomy 28:60; fear, followed by accusative Job 3:25; Job 9:28; Psalm 119:39.

Topical Lexicon
Semantic scope

Used only five times in the Old Testament, יָגֹר portrays an acute, almost paralyzing dread that seizes a person when overwhelming danger or divine judgment looms. It does not describe the reverent awe that characterizes true worship but an instinctive, visceral fear of disaster.

Canonical distribution

Deuteronomy 9:19 – Moses’ dread before the LORD’s wrath after the golden-calf incident.
Deuteronomy 28:60 – the terror Israel would experience if covenant curses fell.
Job 3:25 – Job’s personal dread of calamity before it arrived.
Job 9:28 – Job’s anxiety that God would not hold him innocent.
Psalm 119:39 – the psalmist’s fear of reproach and longing for God’s judgments to prevail.

Contexts and emphases

1. National covenant setting (Deuteronomy)

Moses recalls “I dreaded the anger and wrath of the LORD” (Deuteronomy 9:19). The terror is linked to holy indignation provoked by sin. Later, the same term describes the collective horror that would grip Israel under covenant penalties (Deuteronomy 28:60). The word therefore frames both sides of Israel’s story: Moses’ intercession averts destruction, yet the threat remains real for future disobedience.

2. Personal lament (Job)

Job voices dread twice. First, “For the thing I feared has overtaken me” (Job 3:25), revealing how inward apprehension predated external ruin. Later he protests, “I dread all my sufferings; I know You will not leave me unpunished” (Job 9:28, adapted from), capturing the tension between perceived innocence and divine sovereignty. In Job, dread wrestles with faith, exposing the limits of human understanding when righteousness suffers.

3. Devotional petition (Psalm 119:39)

“Turn away the disgrace I dread, for Your judgments are good”. Here dread is redirected toward God in prayer, transformed from crippling anxiety into supplication grounded in confidence that the LORD’s rulings are “good.” The verse shows that Scripture never leaves dread unchecked; it channels fear into dependence on divine mercy.

Theological threads

• Reality of divine wrath. The verb underscores that God’s anger against sin is not theoretical; it evokes genuine dread even in the heart of an intercessor like Moses.
• Covenant accountability. Israel’s dread is tied to covenant violations, affirming that blessings and curses are historically consequential.
• Human frailty. Job’s usage highlights the fragility of security built on circumstances; dread can precede and even exacerbate suffering.
• Redemption through intercession. Moses’ successful plea (Deuteronomy 9:19) foreshadows the greater Mediator whose advocacy removes every cause for ultimate dread (Hebrews 7:25).
• Transforming fear into prayer. The psalmist demonstrates that even legitimate anxiety can be sanctified when brought before God.

Historical significance

Ancient Near Eastern cultures often personified fear as an unpredictable deity; Scripture instead roots dread in holy encounter with the living God. The term therefore functions apologetically, contrasting pagan fatalism with covenantal ethics: dread is not fate but a response to moral reality.

Ministry applications

• Preaching holiness. The word reminds congregations that divine anger against sin is neither obsolete nor negotiable; it must inform evangelistic urgency.
• Pastoral care. Job’s experience legitimizes conversations about anticipatory anxiety among believers and invites lament without rebuke.
• Prayer life. Psalm 119:39 models turning dread into intercession, encouraging believers to confront fears with God’s revealed character.
• Discipleship. By tracing dread from Moses to the Psalms, teachers can show how the gospel addresses both objective guilt and subjective terror: “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

Related vocabulary

While יָגֹר speaks of dread, Scripture balances it with trust (בָּטַח), hope (תִּקְוָה), and peace (שָׁלוֹם), ensuring that fear never has the final word for God’s people.

Forms and Transliterations
יָ֝גֹ֗רְתִּי יָגֹ֑רְתִּי יָגֹ֖רְתָּ יָגֹ֗רְתִּי יָגֹ֥רְתִּי יגרת יגרתי yā·ḡō·rə·tā yā·ḡō·rə·tî yaGoreta yāḡōrətā yaGoreti yāḡōrətî
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Interlinear GreekInterlinear HebrewStrong's NumbersEnglishman's Greek ConcordanceEnglishman's Hebrew ConcordanceParallel Texts
Englishman's Concordance
Deuteronomy 9:19
HEB: כִּ֣י יָגֹ֗רְתִּי מִפְּנֵ֤י הָאַף֙
NAS: For I was afraid of the anger
KJV: For I was afraid of the anger
INT: for was afraid of of the anger

Deuteronomy 28:60
HEB: מִצְרַ֔יִם אֲשֶׁ֥ר יָגֹ֖רְתָּ מִפְּנֵיהֶ֑ם וְדָבְק֖וּ
NAS: of which you were afraid, and they will cling
KJV: of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of;
INT: of Egypt of which were afraid of will cling

Job 3:25
HEB: וַיֶּאֱתָיֵ֑נִי וַאֲשֶׁ֥ר יָ֝גֹ֗רְתִּי יָ֣בֹא לִֽי׃
NAS: upon me, And what I dread befalls
KJV: is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come
INT: comes and what dread befalls

Job 9:28
HEB: יָגֹ֥רְתִּי כָל־ עַצְּבֹתָ֑י
NAS: I am afraid of all my pains,
KJV: I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know
INT: I am afraid of all my pains

Psalm 119:39
HEB: חֶ֭רְפָּתִי אֲשֶׁ֣ר יָגֹ֑רְתִּי כִּ֖י מִשְׁפָּטֶ֣יךָ
NAS: which I dread, For Your ordinances
KJV: my reproach which I fear: for thy judgments
INT: my reproach which dread For your ordinances

5 Occurrences

Strong's Hebrew 3025
5 Occurrences


yā·ḡō·rə·tā — 1 Occ.
yā·ḡō·rə·tî — 4 Occ.

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