Word study
Anger
11 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: anger, angered. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “anger” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- אַף aphnostril, nose, face, angertranslated this way 174 times of its 243 uses · Strong’s H639Noun · Translated: anger 165, facedown 14, nostrils 11, nose 10Full study and all 238 verses →
Genesis 39:19 When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is what your slave did to me,” he burned with anger.
Exodus 4:14 Then the anger of the LORD burned against Moses, and He said, “Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well, and he is now on his way to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.
- כַּעַס kaasbe vexed, angrytranslated this way 25 times of its 53 uses · Strong’s H3707Verb · Translated: provoke me to anger 9, provoked 8, provoking him to anger 6, provoking 6Full study and all 52 verses →
Deuteronomy 4:25 After you have children and grandchildren and you have been in the land a long time, if you then act corruptly and make an idol of any form— doing evil in the sight of the LORD your God and provoking Him to anger—
1 Kings 16:2 “Even though I lifted you out of the dust and made you ruler over My people Israel, you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have caused My people Israel to sin and to provoke Me to anger by their sins.
- חָרוֹן chârôn(burning of) angertranslated this way 15 times of its 41 uses · Strong’s H2740Noun · Translated: fierce 10, burning anger 8, fierce anger 7, fury 4Full study and all 40 verses →
Deuteronomy 13:17 Nothing devoted to destruction shall cling to your hands, so that the LORD will turn from His fierce anger, grant you mercy, show you compassion, and multiply you as He swore to your fathers,
Joshua 7:26 And they heaped over Achan a large pile of rocks that remains to this day. So the LORD turned from His burning anger. Therefore that place is called the Valley of Achor to this day.
- כַּעַס kaasvexation, angertranslated this way 6 times of its 26 uses · Strong’s H3708Noun · Translated: grief 5, anger 5, sorrow 5Full study and all 26 verses →
Deuteronomy 32:19 When the LORD saw this, He rejected them, provoked to anger by His sons and daughters.
1 Kings 15:30 because of the sins Jeroboam had committed and had caused Israel to commit, and because he had provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger.
- קֶצֶף qetsephwrathtranslated this way 5 times of its 30 uses · Strong’s H7110Noun · Translated: wrath 17, anger 5Full study and all 29 verses →
Psalm 38:1 A Psalm of David, for remembrance. O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger or discipline me in Your wrath.
Ecclesiastes 5:17 Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness, with much sorrow, sickness, and anger.
- חֵמָה chêmâhheat, ragetranslated this way 4 times of its 121 uses · Strong’s H2534Noun · Translated: wrath 69, fury 22, venom 5, rage 4Full study and all 114 verses →
2 Samuel 11:20 if the king’s anger flares, he may ask you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Did you not realize they would shoot from atop the wall?
Esther 1:12 Queen Vashti, however, refused to come at the king’s command brought by his eunuchs. And the king became furious, and his anger burned within him.
- חָרָה chârâhburn, be kindledtranslated this way 3 times of its 89 uses · Strong’s H2734Verb · Translated: burned 26, angry 15, kindled 11, furious 6Full study and all 87 verses →
2 Samuel 19:42 And all the men of Judah replied to the men of Israel, “We did this because the king is our relative. Why does this anger you? Have we ever eaten at the king’s expense or received anything for ourselves?”
Psalm 18:7 Then the earth shook and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains trembled; they were shaken because He burned with anger.
- זַעַם zaamindignationtranslated this way 3 times of its 22 uses · Strong’s H2195Noun · Translated: indignation 8, wrath 6, fury 3, anger 2Full study and all 22 verses →
Psalm 38:3 There is no soundness in my body because of Your anger; there is no rest in my bones because of my sin.
Lamentations 2:6 He has laid waste His tabernacle like a garden booth; He has destroyed His place of meeting. The LORD has made Zion forget her appointed feasts and Sabbaths. In His fierce anger He has despised both king and priest.
- קָצַף qâtsaphbe wrothtranslated this way 3 times of its 33 uses · Strong’s H7107Verb · Translated: angry 18, grew angry 2, provoked 2Full study and all 32 verses →
Psalm 106:32 At the waters of Meribah they angered the LORD, and trouble came to Moses because of them.
Isaiah 57:17 I was enraged by his sinful greed, so I struck him and hid My face in anger; yet he kept turning back to the desires of his heart.
- רוּחַ rûachbreath, wind, spirittranslated this way 2 times of its 368 uses · Strong’s H7307Noun · Translated: spirit 189, wind 83, breath 31, winds 8Full study and all 343 verses →
Judges 8:3 God has delivered Oreb and Zeeb, the two princes of Midian, into your hand. What was I able to do compared to you?” When he had said this, their anger against him subsided.
Proverbs 29:11 A fool vents all his anger, but a wise man holds it back.
- עֶבְרָה ebrâhoverflow, arrogance, furytranslated this way 2 times of its 34 uses · Strong’s H5678Noun · Translated: wrath 15, fury 10, anger 2, rage 2Full study and all 34 verses →
Proverbs 14:35 A king delights in a wise servant, but his anger falls on the shameful.
Isaiah 14:6 It struck the peoples in anger with unceasing blows; it subdued the nations in rage with relentless persecution.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ὀργή orgḗanger, wrath, passiontranslated this way 8 times of its 36 uses · Strong’s G3709Noun · Translated: wrath 25, anger 8, for 1, retribution 1Full study and all 34 verses →
Mark 3:5 Jesus looked around at them with anger and sorrow at their hardness of heart. Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was restored.
Ephesians 4:31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice.
- θυμός thymósan outburst of passion, wrathtranslated this way 3 times of its 17 uses · Strong’s G2372Noun · Translated: rage 4, wrath 4, anger 3, fury 3Full study and all 17 verses →
Romans 2:8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow wickedness, there will be wrath and anger.
Hebrews 11:27 By faith Moses left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw Him who is invisible.
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
What the Bible says about anger: passages by topic →
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.