- Name 11 of 70The Fear of Isaac
- HebrewPachad Yitschaq
- In plain wordsThe God whom Isaac feared and honored
- Where to find itGenesis 31:42 and 31:53, on mount Gilead
The fear of Isaac is one of the most unusual names for God in the Bible. Jacob used it on the worst day of his journey home, when his uncle Laban chased him down with a band of men. It means "the God whom Isaac feared," the God Jacob's father held in deep, trembling respect. The words appear only twice, both in Genesis 31, and they say a lot about how faith passes from one generation to the next.
Twenty years with a dishonest uncle
Jacob had left home in a hurry as a young man, running from his brother Esau. He ended up working for his mother's brother, Laban, in a land called Padan-aram. Laban turned out to be a hard boss and a slippery relative. Jacob worked seven years to marry Rachel, was tricked into marrying her older sister Leah first, and then worked seven more years for Rachel. After that he stayed six more years tending Laban's flocks for a share of the animals.
Over those years Laban kept changing the deal. Jacob later told him to his face, thou hast changed my wages ten times
. Even so, God blessed Jacob, and his flocks grew. Laban's sons grew jealous, and Laban's attitude toward Jacob turned cold. Then God spoke.
And the LORD said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee.
Genesis 31:3
So while Laban was away shearing his sheep, Jacob packed up his wives, his children and his herds, and left without saying goodbye.
Caught on mount Gilead
When Laban found out, he gathered his relatives and chased Jacob for seven days' journey
until he caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead, east of the Jordan River. Jacob's family was in real danger. Laban even admitted it: It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt
. But in the same breath he explained why he would not. God had come to him in a dream the night before and warned him not to harm Jacob.
Laban then searched Jacob's tents for some household idols that had gone missing. He did not know that Rachel had taken them and was sitting on them. When he found nothing, twenty years of frustration poured out of Jacob. He listed every hardship: the heat by day, the frost by night, the sleepless watches, the animals lost to wild beasts that he had paid for himself. Then he told Laban who had kept him alive.
Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight.
Genesis 31:42
Affliction here means hard suffering. Jacob was saying that without God on his side, Laban would have sent him home with nothing.
In the end the two men made peace. They piled up stones as a marker and promised not to cross it to harm each other. Laban swore by the God of his own family line. Jacob made his promise a different way.
The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac.
Genesis 31:53
Pachad: a word bigger than nervous
In Hebrew the name is Pachad Yitschaq. Yitschaq is Isaac's name, which means "he laughs." Pachad is the word for fear, and it is not a mild one. Strong's dictionary defines it as a sudden alarm, and the King James translates it with words like "fear," "dread" and "terror." It comes from a verb that means to be startled or to tremble.
Here is the key detail. Lexicons explain that pachad can mean the feeling of fear, or the thing that causes it. So "the fear of Isaac" does not describe Isaac as a frightened man. It names the One Isaac stood in awe of. God Himself is Isaac's Fear. An ancient Aramaic translation of Genesis, read in Jewish synagogues, put it in just that way: the One whom Isaac feared.
Why would Isaac feel that kind of awe? Think back to when he was young, a lad
, as the Bible calls him. His father Abraham had tied him up and laid him on an altar on a mountain, and only God's voice stopped the knife.
And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
Genesis 22:12
Someone who lived through that would never treat God as small or tame. Years later, when Isaac discovered that Jacob had tricked him out of the family blessing, the Bible says Isaac trembled very exceedingly
. He knew God's plans could not be pushed around.
The Bible uses a gentler word, yirah, for ordinary reverence, as in The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge
(Proverbs 1:7). Pachad is the stronger cousin. It is the same word in the promise Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night
(Psalm 91:5).
Verses on holy fear in the King James
And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.
Exodus 20:20
This verse sounds like a contradiction until you read it slowly. Moses tells the people not to be afraid, and also to have God's fear in front of them. The panic of thinking God is out to hurt you is wrong. The respect that keeps you from sin is right. To "prove" means to test.
The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.
Psalm 25:14
Holy fear does not push people away from God. This psalm says it draws them close enough to hear His secrets, the way a trusted friend is let in on plans.
Borrowed faith and the faith you pass on
Some people treat God like a friendly assistant who is there when they need something. He is kind and near, but He is also holy, and this name brings that side back into view. If God never changes what you do when nobody is watching, it may be worth asking whether you have made Him too small.
The name carries a second lesson. Jacob described God through his father's eyes. Many of us met God that way too, through a parent, a grandparent, a coach or a youth leader whose respect for God was obvious. That is a gift. But it cannot stay borrowed forever. Jacob had met God in a dream at Bethel, and God had spoken to him in Haran (Genesis 31:3 and 31:11 to 13). Soon after this day he wrestled with God through a whole night (Genesis 32), and before long he was calling God by a name that was his own.
- Ask yourself honestly: what do I fear more than God? Bad news, other people's opinions, the future?
- Think of the person whose faith first showed you God was real, and thank God for them, or thank them directly.
- Consider who is watching your life now, and what they are learning about God from it.
This is name 11 in the book, after the Judge of all the earth. The next name is the one Jacob gave the altar he built once he was home: Elelohe-Israel. You can see the full list on the names of God in the Bible page.
