Proverbs 1:7: "The Fear of the Lord"

Certain scriptures and phrases in the Bible have yet to be explained to me to my satisfaction. I therefore spend a fair amount of time reading, studying, cross-referencing, thinking, praying, and otherwise seeking plausible explanations. God says, "Seek, and ye shall find" and so I do, very glad to have His blessing. One such scripture is the first half of Proverbs 1:7, which says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." What was Solomon really saying there at the end of his Prologue? How does "fear of the Lord" line up in the same parade with the flag-bearers of an all-loving, all-forgiving God? Is Solomon talking about the fear of disappointing a loving father - as in a healthy and wholesome dread of displeasing him? Or is he talking about sheer and unadulterated let's-all-hide-under-the-bed Terror? Or something else, or something in between?

My VINES reference lists a few Greek words for "fear" but none of them cross-ref back to this verse in Proverbs, so let's quickly look at each. "Phobos" is equivalent to "flight" and has connotations of both "dread" and "fright." The word "deilia" comes from "deos" and literally means fearfulness, but it primarily denotes timidity and/or cowardice which (the notes say) is not given us of/by God (see 2 Timothy 1:7). And "eulabelia" means caution, reverence, or godly fear: "a mingling of fear and love which constitute the piety of men toward God."

This last Word seems something like what we'd expect from a Proverb. It refers to a reverential respect for God as a controlling motive in life and spiritual matters. Rather than causing terror and flight, it influences and inspires the seeking of the indwelling of the Spirit of God...causing carefulness of word and deed. (Is it not true that once we discover we are Sheep, we are wise to tread carefully and to fear straying too far from the Shepherd?)