What Does Exodus 20:20 Mean?
And Moses said to the people, Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that his awe may be upon your faces, and that you do not miss the mark.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
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.THE KEY
The same Hebrew root stands behind “Fear not” and “his fear”: the verse turns fear from a force that grips you into awe of God that guards your way.
THE MEANING
God’s presence brings the reader into a testing that makes their stance visible, while awe of God stands before the face as a steadying boundary. The verse distinguishes terror that overwhelms from reverence that keeps a person from missing the way. Both directions of fear remain in the same root, so the verse holds the tension instead of erasing it.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The false belief is that “fear not” means fear has no place in a life with God; the verse distinguishes dread from awe and gives awe a guarding role.
THE ROOT
תִּירָאוּ
tira'u
GROWS FROM
ירא
y-r-ʾ
To fear, revere, or stand in awe.
“Do not fear” in this verse is tira'u. English repeats “fear,” but Hebrew uses one root in both clauses: the first form is negated, while the second names awe of God set before the faces. The shift is from fear’s grip to awareness of God as the governing presence.
ALSO GROWS
yare: To fear or revere.
יָרֵא
This verb shares the seed of both clauses and shows that the verse’s change lies in fear’s direction and function.
yir'ah: Fear, reverence, or awe.
יִרְאָה
This noun names the awe of God that the verse places before the reader’s face.
נַסּוֹת
nasot
GROWS FROM
נסה
n-s-h
To test, try, or put to proof.
“Prove” carries the sense of putting someone to a test, making the tested stance visible. The verse presents testing as the setting in which awe becomes present before the face.
ALSO GROWS
vayenassu: They tested or put to the test.
וַיְנַסּוּ
This form shows the root in an act of testing, connecting the verse’s proving to a revealed response.
massah: Testing or trial; also the name Massah, associated with testing.
מַסָּה
This noun carries the same testing seed into a name, showing how a moment of proving can mark a whole place.
תֶחֱטָאוּ
techeta'u
GROWS FROM
חטא
ḥ-ṭ-ʾ
To miss, err, or miss the mark.
“miss the mark” in this verse is techeta'u. The verb rendered “sin” belongs to missing and erring language, so the final clause describes a miss that awe guards against. The passage links reverence with keeping the way from being missed.
ALSO GROWS
chet: A miss, error, or sin.
חֵטְא
This noun makes the “missing” beneath the verse’s final warning visible.
chote: One who misses or errs; a sinner.
חֹטֵא
This word describes the person through the same root of missing that the verse says awe helps prevent.
THE PATTERN
Awe of God takes fear out of panic and turns it into an orientation that guards the way.
The awe of the LORD is the head of knowledge, but fools make light of wisdom and straightening.The head of wisdom is awe of the LORD. All who do his commandments have good insight. His praise stands for ages.Therefore, receiving an unshakable governance, let us hold favor, through which we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe.THE THREAD
But the midwives stood in awe of God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had spoken to them, but kept the boys alive.The same Hebrew root ירא (yare, “to fear or revere”) appears as “feared God,” where awe redirects action away from the king’s command. Beside Exodus 20:20, it shows awe holding the face and hand under God rather than under fear of human power.
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