A very common struggle newcomers have with Christianity is reconciling the terrifying God of the Old Testament with the loving God of the New Testament.

Most of the problem lays, in my opinion, at the word choice when translating the Hebrew transliterated word “yir’ah”.

According to my concordance “yir’ah” is used 45 times in the Old Testament, but certainly most popularly in Proverbs 9:10, “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom...”

According to my dictionary, the word can be translated as “fear”; but it can also be translated as “awe”, “esteem”, or “respect”.

Since the word choice of “fear” seems to directly call Jesus a liar when he says that God loves us better than sinful parents love their children (Luke 11:12-13), why was it used in **Christian** translations historically?