Fear and trembling (biblical phrase)

Paul, shown as an older man with a long beard and hair, his right hand on a sword
The phrase "fear and trembling" is frequently used in New Testament works by or attributed to Paul the Apostle (painted here by Peter Paul Rubens).

Fear and trembling (Ancient Greek: φόβος και τρόμος, romanised: phobos kai tromos)[1] is a phrase used throughout the Bible and the Tanakh, and in other Jewish literature. In Jewish writing, it commonly refers to the reaction of those facing superior military force, or of sinners fearing the imminent vengeance of God; in the New Testament, it is frequently used, especially by Paul the Apostle, to denote the reverence human beings should feel before God, or before a formidable task in his service. The idea was also used by Edmund Spenser in his poem The Faerie Queene, and as the title of Søren Kierkegaard's 1843 treatise Fear and Trembling, both of which have been interpreted as referring to its use in the New Testament.

  1. ^ Savage 2009, p. 72.