FEAR, a painful emotion or passion, excited by the apprehension of impending evil, and attended with a desire of avoiding it. It is used in Scripture for awe, reverence,
veneration; as in the expression—"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."
FEAR was deified by the Pagans. Tullius Hostilius introduced the worship of this deity at Rome; and the Ephori of Sparta erected a temple to Fear near their tribunal, in order to strike awe into those who approached it. Fear was likewise worshipped at Corinth and elsewhere.