ḥared

This word describes a person by what their body is doing. They are shaking. It is the describing word built from the verb for trembling (חָרַד), so it does not name the fear itself but points at the one who is gripped by it. Gideon uses it to thin out an army: anyone who is scared and shaking should go home before the fighting starts.

Four of its six appearances turn that picture in an unexpected direction. In Ezra and in the closing chapter of Isaiah, the shaking is not fright at an enemy but a response to what God has said. These people are not running away. They are the ones God says he will look to, and in Ezra they are the ones who gather around the reformer and commit themselves to act on what they have heard. The modern Hebrew name for the strictly observant, Haredi, comes from this use.

Between those two poles sits Eli at the gate of Shiloh. His heart is shaking, but not for himself. He is waiting for news of the ark of God, and here the word carries anxious dread for something precious that has passed out of his hands.

One word covers all three because it is describing the same shaking body and letting the situation say what the shaking means:

• In Gideon's army it means frightened, and the frightened are sent away.
• In Eli's chest it means sick with worry over what may have been lost.
• In Ezra and Isaiah it means reverent, and the reverent are the ones God honors.