חֱמָא
che.ma
rage
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
ExploredThe Hebrew word "che.ma" (חֱמָא) connotes a feeling of intense fury or rage. It appears 125 times in the Bible, demonstrating its importance in the narrative. This emotion is typically portrayed as overwhelming and all-consuming, driven by anger, wrath, or fury. The usage of "che.ma" encompasses a broad range of contexts, from emotional responses to external stimuli to the manifestation of divine judgment. It often accompanies the concept of God's wrath, emphasizing His justice and reaction to human wrongdoing. As the most frequently occurring term in the Bible related to intense anger, "che.ma" plays a significant role in the narrative. Its frequency and association with divine judgment highlight its significance in the biblical text, underscoring the consequences of unchecked passion and the importance of a tempered emotional response.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
125 total occurrences across the text — showing 50
But a prophet of Yahweh was there, whose name was Oded; and he went out to meet the army that came to Samaria, and said to them, “Behold, because Yahweh, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, he has delivered them into your hand, and you have slain them in a rage which has reached up to heaven.
2 Chronicles 34:21“Go inquire of Yahweh for me, and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found; for great is Yahweh’s wrath that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept Yahweh’s word, to do according to all that is written in this book.”
2 Chronicles 34:25Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath is poured out on this place, and it will not be quenched.’ ” ’
2 Chronicles 36:16but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until Yahweh’s wrath arose against his people, until there was no remedy.
Esther 1:12But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s commandment by the eunuchs. Therefore the king was very angry, and his anger burned in him.
Esther 2:1After these things, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus was pacified, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what was decreed against her.
Esther 3:5When Haman saw that Mordecai didn’t bow down, nor pay him homage, Haman was full of wrath.
Esther 5:9Then Haman went out that day joyful and glad of heart, but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, that he didn’t stand up nor move for him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai.
Esther 7:7The king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden. Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen; for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king.
Esther 7:10So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath was pacified.
Job 6:4For the arrows of the Almighty are within me. My spirit drinks up their poison. The terrors of God set themselves in array against me.
Job 19:29be afraid of the sword, for wrath brings the punishments of the sword, that you may know there is a judgment.”
Job 21:20Let his own eyes see his destruction. Let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
Job 36:18Don’t let riches entice you to wrath, neither let the great size of a bribe turn you aside.
Psalms 37:8Cease from anger, and forsake wrath. Don’t fret; it leads only to evildoing.
Psalms 38:1Yahweh, don’t rebuke me in your wrath, neither chasten me in your hot displeasure.
Psalms 58:4Their poison is like the poison of a snake, like a deaf cobra that stops its ear,
Psalms 58:4Their poison is like the poison of a snake, like a deaf cobra that stops its ear,
Psalms 59:13Consume them in wrath. Consume them, and they will be no more. Let them know that God rules in Jacob, to the ends of the earth.
Psalms 76:10Surely the wrath of man praises you. The survivors of your wrath are restrained.
Psalms 76:10Surely the wrath of man praises you. The survivors of your wrath are restrained.
Psalms 78:38But he, being merciful, forgave iniquity, and didn’t destroy them. Yes, many times he turned his anger away, and didn’t stir up all his wrath.
Psalms 79:6Pour out your wrath on the nations that don’t know you, on the kingdoms that don’t call on your name;
Psalms 88:7Your wrath lies heavily on me. You have afflicted me with all your waves.
Psalms 89:46How long, Yahweh? Will you hide yourself forever? Will your wrath burn like fire?
Psalms 90:7For we are consumed in your anger. We are troubled in your wrath.
Psalms 106:23Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had Moses, his chosen, not stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, so that he wouldn’t destroy them.
Psalms 140:3They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent. Viper’s poison is under their lips.
Proverbs 6:34For jealousy arouses the fury of the husband. He won’t spare in the day of vengeance.
Proverbs 15:1A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
Proverbs 15:18A wrathful man stirs up contention, but one who is slow to anger appeases strife.
Proverbs 16:14The king’s wrath is a messenger of death, but a wise man will pacify it.
Proverbs 19:19A hot-tempered man must pay the penalty, for if you rescue him, you must do it again.
Proverbs 21:14A gift in secret pacifies anger, and a bribe in the cloak, strong wrath.
Proverbs 22:24Don’t befriend a hot-tempered man, and don’t associate with one who harbors anger:
Proverbs 27:4Wrath is cruel, and anger is overwhelming; but who is able to stand before jealousy?
Proverbs 29:22An angry man stirs up strife, and a wrathful man abounds in sin.
Isaiah 27:4Wrath is not in me, but if I should find briers and thorns, I would do battle! I would march on them and I would burn them together.
Isaiah 34:2For Yahweh is enraged against all the nations, and angry with all their armies. He has utterly destroyed them. He has given them over for slaughter.
Isaiah 42:25Therefore he poured the fierceness of his anger on him, and the strength of battle. It set him on fire all around, but he didn’t know. It burned him, but he didn’t take it to heart.”
Isaiah 51:13Have you forgotten Yahweh your Maker, who stretched out the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth? Do you live in fear continually all day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he prepares to destroy? Where is the fury of the oppressor?
Isaiah 51:13Have you forgotten Yahweh your Maker, who stretched out the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth? Do you live in fear continually all day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he prepares to destroy? Where is the fury of the oppressor?
Isaiah 51:17Awake, awake! Stand up, Jerusalem, you who have drunk from Yahweh’s hand the cup of his wrath. You have drunken the bowl of the cup of staggering, and drained it.
Isaiah 51:20Your sons have fainted. They lie at the head of all the streets, like an antelope in a net. They are full of Yahweh’s wrath, the rebuke of your God.
Isaiah 51:22Your Lord Yahweh, your God who pleads the cause of his people, says, “Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of staggering, even the bowl of the cup of my wrath. You will not drink it any more.
Isaiah 59:18According to their deeds, he will repay as appropriate, wrath to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies; he will repay the islands their due.
Isaiah 63:3“I have trodden the wine press alone. Of the peoples, no one was with me. Yes, I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath. Their lifeblood is sprinkled on my garments, and I have stained all my clothing.
Isaiah 63:5I looked, and there was no one to help; and I wondered that there was no one to uphold. Therefore my own arm brought salvation to me. My own wrath upheld me.
Isaiah 63:6I trod down the peoples in my anger and made them drunk in my wrath. I poured their lifeblood out on the earth.”
Isaiah 66:15For, behold, Yahweh will come with fire, and his chariots will be like the whirlwind; to render his anger with fierceness, and his rebuke with flames of fire.