Biblical ‘Twins’
By Jerry Batson, Th.D.
Special to The Alabama Baptist
Last week we were thinking about the divine attributes of mercy and grace by suggesting a way of distinguishing them as aspects of God’s love. This week we think about the twin human reactions of wrath and anger, terms we commonly take as synonyms or identical verbal twins, sharing the same meaning. Both terms appear independently in the Bible. For example, James 1:19–20 admonishes, “Be … slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” On the other hand, Jesus warned, “I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment” (Matt. 5:22). In these instances wrath and anger translate two different Greek terms.
However, on occasion these terms occur together, implying that in some respect they are not totally identical. Ephesians 4:31 implies a difference between wrath and anger by naming both of them in its list of attitudes and actions that Christians should eliminate by exhorting, “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.” Colossians 3:8 also names wrath and anger with the implication that we are to understand some difference exists between them, “You yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.”
Distinguishing differences
Why would biblical admonitions name both wrath and anger if these are identical twins? The fact that each term translates a different Greek word further suggests they can somehow be distinguished from one another. This week we give some thought to a possible distinction between wrath and anger.
The Greek term for wrath (“thumos”) was sometimes used in ancient times to describe a passionate outburst of rage or a pitch of fury. So used, “wrath” seems to describe the expression of anger that rises suddenly to a fever pitch and is released in sudden passionate outbursts. In street language we might say “wrath” carries the idea of “losing it” or “flying off the handle.” Often such outbursts are short-lived as a fury that is quickly spent.
The Greek term for anger (“orge”) in James 1:19–20 is used in the admonition that reads, “Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness that God requires.”
Various English versions of the Bible sometimes translate “orge” as “wrath” and “thumos” as “anger.” This serves as a caution that we must be careful not to locate the distinction between wrath and anger in the dictionary definitions of these words.
Warning against
However, for a practical handle on one way to express why both terms show up in lists of human actions that the Bible warns us against, we can simply note that some people are given to sudden, almost violent outbursts of rage, but the fury is soon spent and they return to relative calm.
Contrariwise, some people experience a kind of quiet, inner anger that builds slowly and continues to seethe over time. Against this kind of manifestation of anger, we understand with greater force the instruction of Ephesians 4:26: “Do not let the sun go down on your anger.” Anger held onto over time works all sorts of havoc to one’s spiritual condition as well as one’s physical well-being.
Whether sudden and short-lived or quietly simmering over a long time, wrath and anger are not only unbecoming for members of God’s family, they also sabotage our witness to those around us.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Jerry Batson is a retired Alabama Baptist pastor who also has served as associate dean of Beeson Divinity School at Samford University and professor of several schools of religion during his career.
Share with others: