Judaism evolved out of earlier Canaanite polytheistic beliefs with a pantheon of deities, some of whom had malevolent or destructive aspects. As the Israelites

Judaism evolved out of earlier Canaanite polytheistic beliefs with a pantheon of deities, some of whom had malevolent or destructive aspects. As the Israelites transitioned to monotheism, Yahweh - previously one of many gods - took dominance and absorbed personas and aspects of the other gods. The written texts continued to refer to other deities ("El" and "Elohim") but reframed them as other names for the same god. That feels to me a more satisfying explanation for the "fear" of god in the Torah.