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Bible Dictionaries
Wrath
Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words
or A. Noun.
Chêmâh (חֵמָה, Strong's #2534), “wrath; heat; rage; anger.” This noun occurs in Semitic languages with the meanings “heat, wrath, poison, venom.” The noun, as well as the verb yacham, denotes a strong emotional state. The noun is used 120 times, predominantly in the poetic and prophetic literature, especially Ezekiel.
The first usage of chêmâh takes place in the story of Esau and Jacob. Jacob is advised to go to Haran with the hope that Esau’s “anger” will dissipate: “And tarry with him a few days, until thy brother’s fury turn away” (Gen. 27:44).
The word indicates a state of anger. Most of the usage involves God’s “anger.” His “wrath” is expressed against Israel’s sin in the wilderness: “For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, wherewith the Lord was wroth against you to destroy you” (Deut. 9:19). The psalmist prayed for God’s mercy in the hour of God’s “anger”: “O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure” (Ps. 6:1). God’s “anger” against Israel was ultimately expressed in the exile of the Judeans to Babylon: “The Lord hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof” (Lam. 4:11).
The metaphor “cup” denotes the judgment of God upon His people. His “wrath” is poured out: “Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart” (Isa. 42:25); and the “cup of wrath” is drunk: “Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling …” (Isa. 51:17).
Thus, God as the Almighty Potentate is angered by the sins and the pride of His people, as they are an insult to His holiness. In a derived sense, the rulers on earth are also described as those who are angered, but their “anger” is aroused from circumstances over which they have no control. Naaman was angry with Elisha’s advice (2 Kings 5:11- 12); Ahasuerus became enraged with Vashti’s refusal to display her beauty before the men (Esth. 1:12).
Chêmâh also denotes man’s reaction to everyday circumstances. Man’s “rage” is a dangerous expression of his emotional state, as it inflames everybody who comes close to the person in rage. “Wrath” may arise for many reasons. Proverbs speaks strongly against chêmâh, as jealousy (6:34); cf. “Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?” (Prov. 27:4; cf. Ezek. 16:38). The man in rage may be culpable of crime and be condemned: “Be ye afraid of the sword: for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment” (Job 19:29). The wise response to “rage” is a soft answer: “A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger” (Prov. 15:1).
Chêmâh is associated with qin’ah, “jealousy,” and also with naqam, “vengeance,” as the angered person intends to save his name or avenge himself on the person who provoked him. In God’s dealing with Israel He was jealous of His Holy name, for which reason He had to deal justly with idolatrous Israel by avenging Himself: “That it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance; I have set her blood upon the top of a rock, that it should not be covered” (Ezek. 24:8); but He also avenges His people against their enemies: “God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth; the Lord revengeth, and is furious; the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies” (Nah. 1:2). Other synonyms of chêmâh are ’ap, “anger,” and qetsep, “wrath,” as in Deut. 29:27 and Jer. 21:5.
There are two special meanings of chêmâh: One is “heat,” as in “the Spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the Lord was strong upon me” (Ezek. 3:14). The other is “poison,” or “venom,” as in Deut. 32:33: “Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.”
The Septuagint gives the following translations: orge (“anger; indignation; wrath”) and thumos (“passion; anger; wrath; rage”). The KVJ gives these senses: “fury; wrath; poison.”
B. Verb.
Yâcham (יָחַם, Strong's #3179), “to be fiery, be hot.” This verb, which occurs only 10 times in biblical Hebrew, is the root of the noun chemah.
In Deut. 19:6 yâcham means “to be hot”: “Lest the avenger of the blood pursue the slayer while his heart is hot, and overtake him.…”
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Vines, W. E., M. A. Entry for 'Wrath'. Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/vot/w/wrath.html. 1940.
