Bible Strands
Job 13:11
Would His majesty not terrify you? Would the dread of Him not fall upon you?
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Job speaks to his three friends during their prolonged debate over his suffering and divine justice. He uses rhetorical questions to confront them about their attitude toward God's authority.
The words — תְּבַעֵ֣ת (teva'et) translates literally as "terrify" or "dread," paired with יִפֹּ֥ל (yippol), "will it fall," describing how divine awe descends upon a person. These terms frame God's majesty as an inescapable weight rather than a distant concept.
The thread — The motif of dread falling on people appears in Exodus 15:16, while personal trembling before God's judgments recurs in Psalms 119:120 and Job 31:23. Scripture consistently links reverence with the physical and psychological response to divine presence.
Why it lands — The text states that God's majesty and dread naturally fall upon those who face Him, requiring acknowledgment of His authority. It asks readers to stop minimizing divine judgment and to recognize that reverence is the baseline posture before God.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Shall not his excellency make you afraid? and his dread fall upon you?
Cross-references
- Job 31:23 For calamity from God terrifies me, and His splendor I cannot overpower.
- Psalms 119:120 My flesh trembles in awe of You; I stand in fear of Your judgments.
- Exodus 15:16 and terror and dread will fall on them. By the power of Your arm they will be as still as a stone until Your people pass by, O LORD, until the people You have bought pass by.
- Job 13:21 Withdraw Your hand from me, and do not let Your terror frighten me.
- Isaiah 8:13 The LORD of Hosts is the One you shall regard as holy. Only He should be feared; only He should be dreaded.
- Jeremiah 5:22 Do you not fear Me?” declares the LORD. “Do you not tremble before Me, the One who set the sand as the boundary for the sea, an enduring barrier it cannot cross? The waves surge, but they cannot prevail. They roar but cannot cross it.
- Jeremiah 10:10 But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and eternal King. The earth quakes at His wrath, and the nations cannot endure His indignation.
- Matthew 10:28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
- Revelation 15:3 and they sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb: “Great and wonderful are Your works, O Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the nations!