G2372 — θυμός (thumos)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G2372
Original: θυμός
Transliteration: thymós
Pronunciation: thoo-mos'
Part of Speech: Masculine noun
Root: θύω (thýō, G2380) — to rush, breathe hard, blow, smoke; hence to sacrifice
Occurrences: 18 in NT
First Occurrence: Luke 4:28 — "all they in the synagogue... were filled with wrath (thumos)"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

Passion (as if breathing hard); fierceness, indignation, wrath. From θύω (G2380), "to rush/breathe hard." The root image is of heated breathing — the physical sensation of intense, boiling anger. Distinguished from ὀργή (orgē) as the more passionate, turbulent eruption of fury versus settled, deliberate anger.

Semantic Domains¶

Louw-Nida: - 88.24 — Anger, Be Indignant With (anger, fury, wrath) - 25.2 — Desire Strongly (passionate intensity)

Other words in 88.24: ὀργή (orgē, G3709), ὀργίζω (orgizō, G3710), ὀργίλος (orgilos, G3711), θυμόω (thumoō, G2373), θυμομαχέω (thumomacheō, G2371), παροργίζω (parorgizō, G3949)

UBS Semantic Domains: - [088] Moral and Ethical Qualities and Related Behavior - [025] Attitudes and Emotions

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
wrath	12	66.7%
fierceness	2	11.1%
with wrath	1	5.6%
of wrath	1	5.6%
indignation	1	5.6%
wraths	1	5.6%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Revelation	10	2.5
Luke	1	0.1
Acts	1	0.1
Romans	1	0.2
2 Corinthians	1	0.4
Galatians	1	0.7
Ephesians	1	0.6
Colossians	1	1.1
Hebrews	1	0.3

Heavily concentrated in Revelation (10/18, 56%), where it describes divine eschatological fury. The remaining 8 occurrences are distributed across Luke–Hebrews, split between human passionate outbursts (Luke, Acts, Hebrews) and vice-list usage (Pauline epistles). Absent from the Gospels except Luke and from all General Epistles.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Divine Eschatological Fury — Wrath Poured Out in Judgment¶

The dominant NT usage. God's fierce, overwhelming wrath executed in end-time judgment. - Rev 14:10 — "the wine of the wrath (thumos) of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation" - Rev 14:19 — "cast it into the great winepress of the wrath (thumos) of God" - Rev 15:1 — "seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath (thumos) of God" - Rev 15:7 — "seven golden vials full of the wrath (thumos) of God" - Rev 16:1 — "pour out the vials of the wrath (thumos) of God upon the earth" - Rev 16:19 — "the cup of the wine of the fierceness (thumos) of his wrath (orgē)" - Rev 19:15 — "he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness (thumos) and wrath (orgē) of Almighty God"

2. Corrupting/Intoxicating Passion — Babylon's Wine¶

Thumos as the maddening, intoxicating fury of Babylon's influence. - Rev 14:8 — "she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath (thumos) of her fornication" - Rev 18:3 — "all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath (thumos) of her fornication"

3. Satanic Rage — Desperate Fury¶

Rev 12:12 — "the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath (thumos), because he knoweth that he hath but a short time"

4. Human Passionate Outburst — Mob Fury¶

Sudden, intense flare of rage in response to provocation. - Luke 4:28 — "all they in the synagogue... were filled with wrath (thumos)" — mob response to Jesus - Acts 19:28 — "they were full of wrath (thumos), and cried out" — Ephesus silversmith riot - Heb 11:27 — "not fearing the wrath (thumos) of the king" — Moses defying Pharaoh's fury

5. Vice / Work of the Flesh — Sinful Disposition to Be Mortified¶

Thumos listed alongside other sins of the tongue and temper. - Gal 5:20 — "wrath (thumos), strife, seditions, heresies" — among works of the flesh - 2 Cor 12:20 — "wraths (thumos, plural), strifes, backbitings" — Paul fears finding this at Corinth - Eph 4:31 — "let all bitterness, and wrath (thumos), and anger (orgē)... be put away from you" - Col 3:8 — "put off all these; anger (orgē), wrath (thumos), malice, blasphemy" - Rom 2:8 — "indignation (thumos) and wrath (orgē)" — upon the unrighteous

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
θεός (theos)	G2316	7x	"wrath of God" (τοῦ θυμοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ)
μέγας (megas)	G3173	7x	"great wrath" (θυμὸν μέγαν)
ὀργή (orgē)	G3709	6x	paired: "fierceness and wrath," "indignation and wrath"
ἄγγελος (aggelos)	G32	6x	angels administering God's wrath (Rev 15–16)
οἶνος (oinos)	G3631	5x	"wine of wrath" (τοῦ οἴνου τοῦ θυμοῦ)
ἔθνος (ethnos)	G1484	4x	nations receiving/drinking wrath
ἐριθεία (eritheia)	G2052	3x	vice-list pairing: selfish ambition alongside wrath

The "wine of wrath" collocation (oinos + thumos) is distinctive to Revelation and draws on OT prophetic imagery (Jer 25:15 LXX uses thumos for God's cup of fury).

Word Family / Cognates¶

G2380 θύω (thýō) — root verb: to rush, breathe hard; hence to sacrifice (115x)
G2373 θυμόω (thymóō) — to enrage, make furious (1x: Matt 2:16, Herod "was exceeding wroth")
G2371 θυμομαχέω (thymomachéō) — to be violently angry, fight furiously (1x: Acts 12:20)
G1760 ἐνθυμέομαι (enthyméomai) — to ponder inwardly (compound: ἐν + θυμός)
G2115 εὔθυμος (eúthymos) — of good cheer (compound: εὖ + θυμός)

Synonyms¶

search_relationships.py surfaced the immediate wrath/anger field around θυμός: - G3709 ὀργή (orgē) — wrath; the nearest NT parallel, though typically more settled or judicial than θυμός - G3950 παροργισμός (parorgismos) — provocation to anger / wrath; a closely related anger term but narrower than θυμός - G2205 ζῆλος (zēlos) — zeal, jealousy; overlaps in heated emotional intensity - G3949 παροργίζω (parorgizō) — provoke to wrath; verbal counterpart in the same anger field

Antonyms¶

No antonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for G2372.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
ὀργή (orgē)	G3709	"wrath" (28x), "indignation" (1x)	orgē = settled, judicial anger; deliberate displeasure. thumos = passionate eruption, boiling fury. orgē is the verdict; thumos is the volcano.
παροργισμός (parorgismos)	G3950	"wrath" (1x)	parorgismos = provocation to anger, being provoked. thumos = the anger itself.

In Eph 4:31 and Col 3:8, thumos and orgē appear together as distinct but related: orgē is the slow-burning resentment, thumos is the explosive flare. In Rev 16:19 and 19:15, both terms are combined for maximal intensity: "the fierceness (thumos) of his wrath (orgē)."

Hebrew Source (via LXX)¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	PMI Score	Notes
חֵמָה (chemah)	H2534	27.7	Primary: heat, venom, fury (87x in OT). Closest semantic match — both connote boiling heat.
אַף (aph)	H639	27.0	Nose/nostril → anger (126x). The physical breathing-hard image parallels thumos etymology.
חָרוֹן (charon)	H2740	21.8	Burning anger (31x). Often paired with aph: "burning of anger."
עֶבְרָה (evrah)	H5678	13.9	Outburst of passion, overflowing rage (13x).
זַעַם (za'am)	H2195	13.3	Froth at the mouth, i.e. fury, indignation (10x).

The primary Hebrew equivalent is חֵמָה (chemah, H2534), sharing the core metaphor of heat/boiling. Both words picture anger as a physical, visceral experience rather than a judicial decision.