Word study
Angry
9 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “angry”. 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 “angry” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- קָצַף qâtsaphbe wrothtranslated this way 23 times of its 33 uses · Strong’s H7107Verb · Translated: angry 18, grew angry 2, provoked 2Full study and all 32 verses →
Genesis 40:2 Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker,
Exodus 16:20 But they did not listen to Moses; some people left part of it until morning, and it became infested with maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.
- חָרָה chârâhburn, be kindledtranslated this way 19 times of its 89 uses · Strong’s H2734Verb · Translated: burned 26, angry 15, kindled 11, furious 6Full study and all 87 verses →
Genesis 4:5 but He had no regard for Cain and his offering. So Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell.
Numbers 16:15 Then Moses became very angry and said to the LORD, “Do not regard their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them or mistreated a single one of them.”
- אָנַף ânaphbe angrytranslated this way 14 times of its 14 uses · Strong’s H599Verb · Translated: angry 9, become angry 2, angry enough 1, grew angry 1Full study and all 14 verses →
Deuteronomy 1:37 The LORD was also angry with me on your account, and He said, “Not even you shall enter the land.
1 Kings 8:46 When they sin against You — for there is no one who does not sin — and You become angry with them and deliver them to an enemy who takes them as captives to his own land, whether far or near,
- אַף aphnostril, nose, face, angertranslated this way 4 times of its 243 uses · Strong’s H639Noun · Translated: anger 165, facedown 14, nostrils 11, nose 10Full study and all 238 verses →
Psalm 76:7 You alone are to be feared. When You are angry, who can stand before You?
Proverbs 22:24 Do not make friends with an angry man, and do not associate with a hot-tempered man,
- כַּעַס kaasbe vexed, angrytranslated this way 3 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 32:21 They have provoked My jealousy by that which is not God; they have enraged Me with their worthless idols. So I will make them jealous by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation without understanding.
2 Chronicles 16:10 Asa was angry with the seer and became so enraged over this matter that he put the man in prison. And at the same time Asa oppressed some of the people.
- זָעֵף zâêphout of humour, vexedtranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H2198Adjective · Translated: angry 2Full study and all 2 verses →
1 Kings 20:43 Sullen and angry, the king of Israel went home to Samaria.
1 Kings 21:4 So Ahab went to his palace, sullen and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had told him, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” He lay down on his bed, turned his face away, and refused to eat.
- זָעַם zâambe indignanttranslated this way 2 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s H2194Verb · Translated: denounce 3, angry 2Full study and all 11 verses →
Proverbs 25:23 As the north wind brings forth rain, so a backbiting tongue brings angry looks.
Zechariah 1:12 Then the angel of the LORD said, “How long, O LORD of Hosts, will You withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which You have been angry these seventy years?”
- קֶצֶף qetsephwrathtranslated this way 2 times of its 30 uses · Strong’s H7110Noun · Translated: wrath 17, anger 5Full study and all 29 verses →
Isaiah 34:2 The LORD is angry with all the nations and furious with all their armies. He will devote them to destruction; He will give them over to slaughter.
Zechariah 1:15 but I am fiercely angry with the nations that are at ease. For I was a little angry, but they have added to the calamity.’
- נָטַר nâṭarkeeptranslated this way 2 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s H5201Verb · Translated: angry 2Full study and all 8 verses →
Jeremiah 3:5 Will He be angry forever? Will He be indignant to the end?’ This you have spoken, but you keep doing all the evil you can.”
Jeremiah 3:12 Go, proclaim this message toward the north: ‘Return, O faithless Israel,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will no longer look on you with anger, for I am merciful,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will not be angry forever.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ὀργίζω orgízōI irritate, provoke, am angrytranslated this way 4 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s G3710Verb · Translated: enraged 3, angry 2, became angry 2, anger 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Matthew 5:22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ will be subject to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be subject to the fire of hell.
Luke 14:21 The servant returned and reported all this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’
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.
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.