I have been studying the use of the words “anger, wrath, hatred, fury, indignation” in the New Testament of the Holy Bible. Although, there are several words used in the original languages (Greek) that correspond to these translations, there are three common Greek words and their derivatives. Orge-noun and orgidzo-verb which are translated wrath, anger, indignation, fury-but most commonly “wrath”; miseo/misos which is translated as hate, hatred, etc.; and thumos which is translated passion, wrath, or anger (I only referenced the passages referring to “passion that stirs up anger”, not sensual passion).
Although these words are used at times interchangeably, they are not completely synonymous. I won’t go into the details of the comprehensive word searching and studying of each passage, but I did want to draw a few applications from my study.
Thirty one of the ninety-three instances (or thereabouts) refer specifically and uniquely to God’s wrath and anger in judgment. Most if not all of those references refer to ultimate or final judgment upon unbelief. Fifty-one instances reference mankind and anger, wrath, or hatred. I broke down these instances categorizing them as Command/Principle and Example/Illustration.