Lexical Summary pachdah: dread Original Word: פַחְדָּה Strong's Exhaustive Concordance fear Feminine of pachad; alarm (i.e. Awe) -- fear. see HEBREW pachad NAS Exhaustive Concordance Word Originfrom pachad Definition dread, (religious) awe NASB Translation dread (1). Brown-Driver-Briggs [מַּחְדָּה] noun feminine dread, religious awe, suffix לֹא מַּחְדָּתִי אֵלַיִךְ Jeremiah 2:19 no awe of me (came) unto thee. Topical Lexicon Canonical Context פַחְדָּה appears once, in Jeremiah 2:19, within a covenant lawsuit in which the prophet indicts Judah for apostasy. The noun denotes intense dread or terror, but it is directed vertically—an absence of holy fear toward the LORD rather than a horizontal panic toward enemies. The single occurrence situates the term at a theological crossroads: the fear of God is fundamental to covenant fidelity (Proverbs 1:7), and its absence is portrayed as a root cause of national decay. Historical Setting Jeremiah delivers this oracle during the late seventh century B.C., when Judah was politically entangled with Egypt and spiritually compromised by syncretism. The exhortation comes before the Babylonian onslaught, warning that failing to fear the LORD would self-inflict discipline more painful than any foreign invader. Thus, פַחְדָּה functions as a diagnostic term revealing the spiritual climate of pre-exilic Judah. Literary Setting in Jeremiah Chapter 2 unfolds as a courtroom scene: the LORD, as plaintiff, recounts Israel’s faithless history and presents evidence of broken covenant vows. In verse 19 the prophet juxtaposes two internal correctives—“wickedness” and “apostasies”—with the missing external corrective: “fear of Me.” The word פַחְדָּה anchors the crescendo: “Know therefore and see that it is evil and bitter for you to forsake the LORD your God and to have no fear of Me,” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts. (Jeremiah 2:19) The rhetorical force heightens responsibility: Judah’s misery is self-inflicted because reverence was withheld. Semantic and Theological Themes 1. Covenant Reverence: Fear of the LORD is never mere fright; it blends awe, loyalty, and moral restraint (Deuteronomy 10:12; Psalm 34:11). פַחְדָּה underscores the catastrophic vacuum created when that reverence evaporates. Prophetic Application Jeremiah uses פַחְדָּה not to terrify but to recall Judah to covenant intimacy. Fear in this sense guards love; without it, love toward God turns sentimental and unstable. The prophet exposes Judah’s root problem—indifference toward God’s majesty—before predicting Babylonian judgment (Jeremiah 5:22-25). Intertestamental and New Testament Echoes Although פַחְדָּה itself is not taken into Greek Scripture, its concept surfaces in the Septuagint’s phobos Kyriou and is carried into New Testament exhortations. Paul appeals, “Let us cleanse ourselves…perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1), echoing Jeremiah’s diagnosis that holiness decays when fear is absent. Hebrews 10:31 underscores the continuity: “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Pastoral and Devotional Implications • Examination: Believers should assess whether disciplinary hardships may stem from neglecting reverential awe. Homiletical Suggestions 1. “Self-Inflicted Wounds”: Preach Jeremiah 2:19 alongside Romans 1:24-32 to show how the absence of godly fear leads to cascading sin and societal breakdown. Related Terms • יִרְאָה (yir’ah) often translated “fear” in a worshipful sense (Proverbs 9:10). פַחְדָּה shares the thematic field yet uniquely spotlights the covenant rupture produced by fearless apostasy. Forms and Transliterations פַחְדָּתִי֙ פחדתי fachdaTi p̄aḥ·dā·ṯî p̄aḥdāṯîLinks Interlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel TextsEnglishman's Concordance Jeremiah 2:19 HEB: אֱלֹהָ֑יִךְ וְלֹ֤א פַחְדָּתִי֙ אֵלַ֔יִךְ נְאֻם־ NAS: your God, And the dread of Me is not in you, declares KJV: thy God, and that my fear [is] not in thee, saith INT: your God not and the dread you declares 1 Occurrence |
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