Bible Strands
Job 4:14
fear and trembling came over me and made all my bones shudder.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Eliphaz addresses Job, recounting a nocturnal vision that occurs when deep sleep falls upon him. He describes a moment of intense physical distress during this supernatural encounter.
The words — The Hebrew פַּחַד (paḥad) and רְעָדָה (rĕʿādâ) denote fear and trembling, while הִפְחִיד (hipḥîd) describes the active causing of bones to shudder. These terms emphasize the involuntary physical manifestation of terror.
The thread — The trembling of bones and fear from visions reappears in Job 33:19 as chastening and Job 7:14 as divine terror. Revelation 1:17 contrasts this physical paralysis with a command to overcome fear.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition of human vulnerability before the divine, where spiritual encounters produce immediate physiological collapse. It requires the reader to acknowledge that terror precedes revelation and that physical reaction is the baseline response to the unseen.
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
Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.
Cross-references
- Job 33:19 A man is also chastened on his bed with pain and constant distress in his bones,
- Revelation 1:17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. But He placed His right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last,
- Job 7:14 then You frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions,
- Psalms 119:120 My flesh trembles in awe of You; I stand in fear of Your judgments.
- Isaiah 6:5 Then I said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.”
- Daniel 10:11 He said to me, “Daniel, you are a man who is highly precious. Consider carefully the words that I am about to say to you. Stand up, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he had said this to me, I stood up trembling.
- Habakkuk 3:16 I heard and trembled within; my lips quivered at the sound. Decay entered my bones; I trembled where I stood. Yet I must wait patiently for the day of distress to come upon the people who invade us.
- Luke 1:12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and gripped with fear.
- Luke 1:29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.