Everyday life
Anger in the Bible
41 passages of the Berean Standard Bible, line by line, from Nave’s Topical Bible.
Sayings
- A gentle answer turns away anger; a harsh word stirs it upProv 15:1
The verses
Prov 15:1A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
- Slow to anger is better than a warriorProv 16:32, Prov 14:29
The verses
Prov 16:32He who is slow to anger is better than a warrior, and he who controls his temper is greater than one who captures a city.
Prov 14:29A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man promotes folly.
- A man without self-control is like a city with broken wallsProv 25:28
The verses
Prov 25:28Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who does not control his temper.
- A fool vents all his anger; a wise man holds it backProv 29:11
The verses
Prov 29:11A fool vents all his anger, but a wise man holds it back.
- As churning milk yields butter, stirring anger brings strifeProv 30:33
The verses
Prov 30:33For as the churning of milk yields butter, and the twisting of the nose draws blood, so the stirring of anger brings forth strife.”
- Anger settles in the lap of a foolEccl 7:9
The verses
Eccl 7:9Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger settles in the lap of a fool.
- Refrain from anger; it can only bring harmPs 37:8
The verses
Ps 37:8Refrain from anger and abandon wrath; do not fret—it can only bring harm.
- Do not let the sun set upon your angerEph 4:26
The verses
Eph 4:26“Be angry, yet do not sin.” Do not let the sun set upon your anger,
- Quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to angerJas 1:19–20
The verses
Jas 1:19–20My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteousness that God desires.
Examples
- Cain becomes very angry and kills his brother AbelGen 4:5–8
The verses
Gen 4:5–8but He had no regard for Cain and his offering. So Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell. “Why are you angry,” said the LORD to Cain, “and why has your countenance fallen? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you refuse to do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires you, but you must master it.” Then Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.
- Jacob to Rachel: “Am I in the place of God?”Gen 30:2
The verses
Gen 30:2Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld children from you?”
- Jacob, incensed, challenges LabanGen 31:36
The verses
Gen 31:36Then Jacob became incensed and challenged Laban. “What is my crime?” he said. “For what sin of mine have you so hotly pursued me?
- Jacob: Simeon and Levi “kill men in their anger”Gen 49:5–7
The verses
Gen 49:5–7Simeon and Levi are brothers; their swords are weapons of violence. May I never enter their council; may I never join their assembly. For they kill men in their anger, and hamstring oxen on a whim. Cursed be their anger, for it is strong, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will disperse them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.
- Joseph’s master burns with anger at his wife’s storyGen 39:19
The verses
Gen 39:19When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is what your slave did to me,” he burned with anger.
- Pharaoh to Moses: “Never see my face again”Exod 10:28
The verses
Exod 10:28“Depart from me!” Pharaoh said to Moses. “Make sure you never see my face again, for on the day you see my face, you will die.”
- Hot with anger, Moses leaves PharaohExod 11:8
The verses
Exod 11:8And all these officials of yours will come and bow before me, saying, ‘Go, you and all the people who follow you!’ After that, I will depart.” And hot with anger, Moses left Pharaoh’s presence.
- Moses smashes the tablets at the sight of the calfExod 32:19
The verses
Exod 32:19As Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he burned with anger and threw the tablets out of his hands, shattering them at the base of the mountain.
- Moses strikes the rock twiceNum 20:10–11
The verses
Num 20:10–11Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly in front of the rock, and Moses said to them, “Listen now, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff, so that a great amount of water gushed out, and the congregation and their livestock were able to drink.
- Balaam beats his donkey, and she speaksNum 22:27–29
The verses
Num 22:27–29When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam, and he became furious and beat her with his staff. Then the LORD opened the donkey’s mouth, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?” Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now!”
- Balak strikes his hands together in anger at BalaamNum 24:10
The verses
Num 24:10Then Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his hands together and said to Balaam, “I summoned you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have persisted in blessing them these three times.
- Gideon calms the angry men of Ephraim with a gentle answerJudg 8:1–3
The verses
Judg 8:1–3Then the men of Ephraim said to Gideon, “Why have you done this to us? Why did you fail to call us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they contended with him violently. But Gideon answered them, “Now what have I accomplished compared to you? Are not the gleanings of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer? God has delivered Oreb and Zeeb, the two princes of Midian, into your hand. What was I able to do compared to you?” When he had said this, their anger against him subsided.
- Eliab’s anger burns against his young brother David1 Sam 17:28
The verses
1 Sam 17:28Now when David’s oldest brother Eliab heard him speaking to the men, his anger burned against David. “Why have you come down here?” he asked. “And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and wickedness of heart—you have come down to see the battle!”
- Saul hurls a spear at his son Jonathan1 Sam 20:30–34
The verses
1 Sam 20:30–34Then Saul’s anger burned against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the disgrace of the mother who bore you? For as long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingship shall be established. Now send for him and bring him to me, for he must surely die!” “Why must he be put to death?” Jonathan replied. “What has he done?” Then Saul hurled his spear at Jonathan to kill him; so Jonathan knew that his father was determined to kill David. Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger and did not eat any food that second day of the month, for he was grieved by his father’s shameful treatment of David.
- David burns with anger at Nathan’s story of the rich man2 Sam 12:5
The verses
2 Sam 12:5David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan: “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die!
- Ahab, sullen and angry, refuses to eat1 Kgs 21:4
The verses
1 Kgs 21:4So 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.
- Naaman: aren’t the rivers of Damascus better than the Jordan?2 Kgs 5:11–12
The verses
2 Kgs 5:11–12But Naaman went away angry, saying, “I thought that he would surely come out, stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the spot to cure my leprosy. Are not the Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not have washed in them and been cleansed?” So he turned and went away in a rage.
- Asa throws a seer into prison2 Chr 16:10
The verses
2 Chr 16:10Asa 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.
- Uzziah rages at the priests with a censer in his hand2 Chr 26:19
The verses
2 Chr 26:19Uzziah, with a censer in his hand to offer incense, was enraged. But while he raged against the priests in their presence in the house of the LORD before the altar of incense, leprosy broke out on his forehead.
- Xerxes is furious when Queen Vashti refuses to comeEsth 1:12
The verses
Esth 1:12Queen Vashti, however, refused to come at the king’s command brought by his eunuchs. And the king became furious, and his anger burned within him.
- Haman is filled with rage when Mordecai will not bowEsth 3:5
The verses
Esth 3:5When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down or pay him homage, he was filled with rage.
- Elihu burns with anger against Job and his three friendsJob 32:2–3
The verses
Job 32:2–3This kindled the anger of Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram. He burned with anger against Job for justifying himself rather than God, and he burned with anger against Job’s three friends because they had failed to refute Job, and yet had condemned him.
- Nebuchadnezzar heats the furnace seven times hotterDan 3:13, Dan 3:19
The verses
Dan 3:13Then Nebuchadnezzar, furious with rage, summoned Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king,
Dan 3:19At this, Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He gave orders to heat the furnace seven times hotter than usual,
- Jonah over the withered plant: “angry enough to die”Jonah 4:1, Jonah 4:9
- Herod, outwitted by the Magi, is filled with rageMatt 2:16
The verses
Matt 2:16When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi.
- The synagogue of Nazareth tries to throw Jesus over a cliffLuke 4:28–29
The verses
Luke 4:28–29On hearing this, all the people in the synagogue were enraged. They got up, drove Him out of the town, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw Him over the cliff.
- Jesus looks around with anger at their hardness of heartMark 3:5
The verses
Mark 3:5Jesus looked around at them with anger and sorrow at their hardness of heart. Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was restored.
- The Sanhedrin, enraged, gnash their teeth at StephenActs 7:54–58
The verses
Acts 7:54–58On hearing this, the members of the Sanhedrin were enraged, and they gnashed their teeth at him. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” At this they covered their ears, cried out in a loud voice, and rushed together at him. They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
- Paul to the high priest: “You whitewashed wall!”Acts 23:3
The verses
Acts 23:3Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit here to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck.”
Sources
From Nave’s Topical Bible (Orville J. Nave, 1896; public domain): subjects chosen, lines shortened and put into modern words, lines of interpretation left out; each verse checked.
Berean Standard Bible · Public domain