What does θυμός (thymós) mean in the Bible?
Thymos names intense anger, rage, or wrath, often pictured as a heated surge. Luke describes Nazareth's synagogue filled with rage at Jesus' exposure of unbelief.
Greek · G2372
θυμός
Passion (as if breathing hard)
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θυμός G2372
Pronunciation thymós
What does θυμός (thymós) mean in the Bible?
Thymos names intense anger, rage, or wrath, often pictured as a heated surge. Luke describes Nazareth's synagogue filled with rage at Jesus' exposure of unbelief.
Reader summary
Full entry for θυμός (G2372) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2372?
The BSB source-word alignment has 18 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include wrath (4), anger (3), fury (3), rage (3), passion (2).
Where does θυμός (thymós) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Luke 4:28. Its strongest book concentrations include Revelation (10), 2 Corinthians (1), Acts (1), Colossians (1).
What This Word Actually Means
Thymos names intense anger, rage, or wrath, often pictured as a heated surge. Luke describes Nazareth's synagogue filled with rage at Jesus' exposure of unbelief. Acts depicts an Ephesian crowd enraged when the gospel threatens the honor and economy surrounding Artemis. Paul says God's wrath meets selfish rejection of truth, while his vice lists warn that outbursts of anger can fracture churches and belong to the works of the flesh.
The noun may refer to human rage or divine wrath, but those are not morally equivalent. Human thymos is frequently disordered, manipulated, and destructive. God's wrath is His righteous opposition to evil. Context must identify the subject and prevent human temper from borrowing divine authority.
How the Bible Uses It
Thymos describes burning anger in hostile crowds, sinful church conflict, and God's righteous judgment. Nazareth and Ephesus show rage mobilized against truth, while Paul treats explosive anger as fleshly and distinguishes it from God's impartial wrath.
- Luke.4.28
On hearing this, all the people in the synagogue were enraged.
Luke 4:28 says the synagogue was filled with rage when Jesus recalled God's mercy to Gentiles through Elijah and Elisha. Familiarity turns violent when His prophetic word confronts entitlement.
- Acts.19.28
When the men heard this, they were enraged and began shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
Acts 19:28 records the craftsmen and crowd becoming enraged and shouting for Artemis. Economic interest, civic identity, and religious devotion merge into a volatile public reaction.
- Rom.2.8
But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow wickedness, there will be wrath and anger.
Romans 2:8 says wrath and anger await those who are self-seeking, reject truth, and follow unrighteousness. Divine judgment is impartial and tied to truth, not a divine loss of control.
- 2Cor.12.20
For I am afraid that when I come, I may not find you as I wish, and you may not find me as you wish. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, rage, rivalry, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder.
Second Corinthians 12:20 includes outbursts of anger among rivalries, slander, gossip, pride, and disorder Paul fears finding in Corinth. Rage damages communal holiness and apostolic fellowship.
- Gal.5.20
Idolatry and sorcery; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions,
Galatians 5:20 lists fits of rage among works of the flesh, contrasted with the Spirit's fruit. The vice is not excused as temperament; it must be crucified and replaced.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It wrath 4× Revelation 14:19, Revelation 15:1, Revelation 15:7, Revelation 16:1
anger 3× Romans 2:8, Hebrews 11:27, Revelation 14:10
fury 3× Revelation 12:12, Revelation 16:19, Revelation 19:15
rage 3× 2 Corinthians 12:20, Ephesians 4:31, Colossians 3:8
passion 2× Revelation 14:8, Revelation 18:3
. . . 1× Luke 4:28
[and] rage 1× Galatians 5:20
enraged 1× Acts 19:28
Show sample aligned rows
Luke 4:28 θυμοῦ to . . . Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular Acts 19:28 θυμοῦ to enraged Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular Romans 2:8 θυμός to anger Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular 2 Corinthians 12:20 θυμοί to rage Noun - Nominative Masculine Plural Galatians 5:20 θυμοί to [and] rage Noun - Nominative Masculine Plural Ephesians 4:31 θυμὸς to rage Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular Colossians 3:8 θυμόν to rage Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular Hebrews 11:27 θυμὸν to anger Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular Revelation 12:12 θυμὸν to fury Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular Revelation 14:8 θυμοῦ to passion Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Luke 4:28
Aligned rows 18
Books represented 9
Luke 1 Acts 1 Romans 1 2 Corinthians 1 Galatians 1 Ephesians 1 Colossians 1 Hebrews 1 Revelation 10
Source forms
θυμοῦ 10x thymou Luke 4:28, Acts 19:28, Revelation 14:8, Revelation 14:10
θυμοί 2x thymoi 2 Corinthians 12:20, Galatians 5:20
θυμὸν 2x thymon Hebrews 11:27, Revelation 12:12
θυμὸς 2x thymos Ephesians 4:31, Revelation 15:1
θυμόν 1x thymon Colossians 3:8
θυμός 1x thymos Romans 2:8
Parsing patterns
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular 10x Luke 4:28, Acts 19:28, Revelation 14:8, Revelation 14:10
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular 3x Colossians 3:8, Hebrews 11:27, Revelation 12:12
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular 3x Romans 2:8, Ephesians 4:31, Revelation 15:1
Noun - Nominative Masculine Plural 2x 2 Corinthians 12:20, Galatians 5:20
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Do not claim divine authorization for personal rage, intimidation, or loss of control.
- Do not treat all strong emotion or firm confrontation as the fleshly outbursts condemned by Paul.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim divine authorization for personal rage, intimidation, or loss of control.
- Do not treat all strong emotion or firm confrontation as the fleshly outbursts condemned by Paul.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Intense, hot anger arising from passionate emotion; distinct from ὀργή's settled wrath
Strong's G2372
Lexical occurrences 18 verses Greek text appearances 18 times 16 shown below Word forms 4 forms 18 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Ephesians 4:25-32 Source Gloss
passion (as if breathing hard)
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 18 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Luke 4:28 Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
θυμοῦ qumou
an outburst of passion, wrath
Read verse Acts 19:28 Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
θυμοῦ, qumou
an outburst of passion, wrath
Read verse Romans 2:8 Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
θυμὸς qumov
an outburst of passion, wrath
Read verse 2 Corinthians 12:20 Noun Nominative Plural Masculine
θυμοί, qumoi
an outburst of passion, wrath
Read verse Galatians 5:20 Noun Nominative Plural Masculine
θυμοί, qumoi
an outburst of passion, wrath
Read verse Ephesians 4:31 Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
θυμὸς qumov
an outburst of passion, wrath
Read verse Colossians 3:8 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
θυμόν, qumon
an outburst of passion, wrath
Read verse Hebrews 11:27 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
θυμὸν qumon
an outburst of passion, wrath
Read verse Revelation 12:12 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
θυμὸν qumon
an outburst of passion, wrath
Read verse Revelation 14:8 Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
θυμοῦ qumou
an outburst of passion, wrath
Read verse Revelation 14:10 Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
θυμοῦ qumou
an outburst of passion, wrath
Read verse Revelation 14:19 Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
θυμοῦ qumou
an outburst of passion, wrath
Read verse Revelation 15:1 Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
θυμὸς qumov
an outburst of passion, wrath
Read verse Revelation 15:7 Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
θυμοῦ qumou
an outburst of passion, wrath
Read verse Revelation 16:1 Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
θυμοῦ qumou
an outburst of passion, wrath
Read verse Revelation 16:19 Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
θυμοῦ qumou
an outburst of passion, wrath
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 4 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns 4 Aligned forms 18 Case pattern Genitive (10) Number pattern Singular (16)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · Masculine Rom 2:8 · Eph 4:31 · Rev 15:1 3×
Nominative · Plural · Masculine 2 Cor 12:20 · Gal 5:20 2×
Genitive · Singular · Masculine Luke 4:28 · Acts 19:28 · Rev 14:8 · Rev 14:10 · Rev 14:19 · Rev 15:7 · Rev 16:1 · Rev 16:19 · Rev 18:3 · Rev 19:15 10×
Accusative · Singular · Masculine Col 3:8 · Heb 11:27 · Rev 12:12 3×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Passionate anger to be put away in Christian conduct and relationships
God's passionate anger administered through judgment on nations, metaphor of wine cup
Intense passion or anger compared in magnitude to other human emotions
Divine passionate anger poured out undiluted in eschatological judgment
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 18 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
θυμός is built from this root:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Thymos has heat and momentum. A hometown congregation moves from admiration to murderous rage when Jesus challenges its assumptions. An Ephesian trade dispute becomes a chanting crowd because gospel truth threatens profit, civic pride, and worship. Paul recognizes the same destructive energy within churches, where outbursts of anger travel with rivalry, gossip, and disorder.
God's wrath in Romans must not be reduced to that human volatility. It is His settled, impartial judgment against truth-rejecting evil. Christians therefore have no right to project their loss of control onto God or claim His authority for personal fury. They confess rage as a work of the flesh, address the desires and fears feeding it, seek repair where harm was done, and depend on the Spirit to cultivate patience, gentleness, and self-control.
Anchor passage
Gal.5.20
Doctrinal connections
- Human depravity: rage can defend religious privilege, economic interest, and communal pride against truth.
- Divine judgment: God's wrath is righteous, truthful, and impartial rather than capricious.
- Sanctification: fits of anger belong to the flesh and must be put to death.
- Holy Spirit: love, patience, gentleness, and self-control oppose destructive rage.
- Church unity: outbursts of anger travel with rivalry, slander, and disorder.
- Mission and idolatry: gospel proclamation exposes idols and may provoke organized hostility.
Thymos can denote passionate anger, rage, or wrath, sometimes emphasizing an intense outburst. It overlaps with orgē but should not be distinguished by a rigid formula in every text; author and context govern nuance.
From Old to New Testament
Cain's anger, mob violence, and prophetic denunciations show human rage's danger, while the prophets also announce God's holy wrath against covenant evil. Wisdom repeatedly commends slowness to anger and self-control.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain