Word study · Greek
phobeō
to fear, to be afraid
Say it: fo-BEH-oh (approximate)
φοβέω
What it means
To be afraid, and also to revere or stand in awe. Mark is full of fear: in the storm (4:41), among the Gerasenes (5:15), at the empty tomb (16:8, the last word of the book in the earliest manuscripts). The word can mean ordinary terror or the awe due to God, and Mark often lets both meanings sit together.
Range of meaning
- Be afraidFeel terror or alarm.
- RevereStand in awe, as before God.
In Mark
- Chapter 4
"Why are you so afraid?" and "they feared exceedingly" (4:40-41).
- Chapter 5
The region is afraid; the woman comes trembling; Jairus is told not to fear (5:15, 5:33, 5:36).
- Chapter 16
"They were afraid" (16:8).
Every verse (12)
- Mark 4:41
- Mark 5:15
- Mark 5:33
- Mark 5:36
- Mark 6:20
- Mark 6:50
- Mark 9:32
- Mark 10:32
- Mark 11:18
- Mark 11:32
- Mark 12:12
- Mark 16:8
Verses where G5399 is tagged in the Hebrew text: STEPBible Data (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0. About our sources