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fa-ra · W154

fara · fear/awe, forceful affect · ✅

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Domain general / affect / theology
Class state / affect
Type compound
Register general
First use S408 — fa-ra go ka-se lo-Elohim (fear/awe because deliberately looking at Elohim = Moses was afraid to look at God)

Composition

fa (affective substrate) + ra (energy/force) = felt-interior-force = forceful affect = fear / awe. Distinct from fa-de-ra (W155: suffering = affect-decrease-force, i.e. force draining away); fa-ra is the presence of overwhelming force, not its diminishment.

Definition

fear; awe; forceful affect. The intense interior state of overwhelming force arising in the affective substrate. Covers both fear (aversive overwhelming force) and awe (overwhelm with a positive or sublime valence) — context provides the valence.

Notes

Moses hid his face because of fa-ra: the affect-force of the divine presence was overwhelming. fa-ra covers the full range from primal fear to profound awe — both are the same affective structure (intense inner force); the valence (is this threatening or sublime?) is context-determined, not encoded in the compound.

fa (primitive: affective substrate), ra (primitive: energy/force), fa-de-ra (W155: suffering, affect-decrease-force — contrasting form), fa-wi-zi (W136: lust, affect-desire-to-couple)

In the corpus

2 attestations.

S# Tonesu
S408 la-na-Moses ka-ko lo-se-lu-ze / fa-ra go ka-se lo-Elohim
Moses hid his face; he was afraid to look at God.
S708 wi-ra : fa-ra su nu-be fa-vo
As for authority: fear has more structural reliability than love.
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